Product Description

The Canterbury Tales, compiled in the late fourteenth century, is an incisive portrait, infused with Chaucer's wry wit and vibrant, poetical languauge. He evokes a spectrum of colourful characters, from the bawdy Wife of Bath to the gallant Knight, the fastidious Prioress and the burly, drunken Miller. As they wend their way from Southwark to Canterbury, tales are told to pass the time, and the stories are as diverse as the narrators, encompassing themes such as adultery, revenge, courtly love, lechery, avarice and penitence. As humorous today as when it was written over six centuries ago, The Canterbury Tales remains one of the most popular and enjoyable of the classic works of literature.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26768 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From the Back Cover
Chaucer's tale of his motley band of travellers on their pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas a Becket have become legendary and still represent, in John Dryden's words, "God's plenty."

The Canterbury Tales, compiled in the late fourteenth century, is an incisive portrait, infused with Chaucer's wry wit and vibrant, poetical languauge. He evokes a spectrum of colourful characters, from the bawdy Wife of Bath to the gallant Knight, the fastidious Prioress and the burly, drunken Miller. As they wend their way from Southwark to Canterbury, tales are told to pass the time, and the stories are as diverse as the narrators, encompassing themes such as adultery, revenge, courtly love, lechery, avarice and penitence.

As humorous today as when it was written over six centuries ago, The Canterbury Tales remains one of the most popular and enjoyable of the classic works of literature.

About the Author
Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in about 1342. He was valued highly by Edward III, who paid part of his ransom when he was captured fighting in France in 1360. He rose in royal employment, becoming a Justice of the Peace and was buried in 1400 in Westminster Abbey.

Customer Reviews

An all-round good book
As with all of the Penguin Classics, this is a nicely presented book. An introduction at the start covers the life and works of Chaucer in good detail.

The text has been updated into modern English by Neville Coghill. It is easy to read and retains the effect of Chaucer's poetic language.

The modern English means that it is easy to understand but is not suitable for those needing to study the original English. There are, however, boooks with the original old English.

A very informative set of notes and annotations add to the efectiveness of the translation, and give essential detail needed to understand the text.

All of the tales are included, including the General Prologue.

Worth buying if you need to study the tales or are interested in reading them and understanding them properly.

Not A Translation
The two reviews currently available for this item are irrelevant (and misleading to potential buyers) insofar as they refer to the Nevill Cogill translation of the Canterbury Tales (which is another, quite different, volume in the Penguin Classics series). My completely new edition provides Chaucer's original Middle English text, with glosses on the page, a large glossary, and full notes--so this is for those who want to tackle the original (well worth the trouble!)
Jill Mann

Excellent edition
I am a university student currently studying English literature, and have found this edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales very accurate and helpful. I would highly recommend for anyone who wants to read the Tales with access to both a very helpful Chronology, Introduction, Notes on the text, and a very thorough Glossary at the back. It is also printed in full Medieval English, accurate to how Chaucer wrote it - in as much as it can be - but with very helpful word and phrase translations at the bottom of every page, for those who us who are not fluent!

Not only that, but for those who wish to read Chaucer purely for pleasure and not study, the notes and translations do not assume that the reader will have developed a cumulative knowledge of medieval language the further into the book you go. So for those of you who just fancy reading your favorite 'Tales' without having to plowing your way through the entire 1200+ page novel, will still be able to understand and appreciate them as much as anyone else who has read straight through from the beginning.

All in all in my opinion, a very concise, informative and accurate edition of 'The Canterbury Tales', that I would recommend to anyone who fancies reading/owning Chaucer most famous and unfinished piece of work, for whatever reason.