I racconti di Canterbury

I read this for a British author challenge; to read a narrative poetry. I have had this on my shelf for sometime. Not sure how long. My copy is a paperback, modern English translation by r.m. lumiansky (1948). Printing 1971. Canterbury Tales is really a collection of short stories told by a group of English pilgrims who are making the trip from a suburb of London to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury. So it is a frame story of sort. Each pilgrim was to tell 4 stories and someone was suppose to win. Written in the 1300's the stories give a cross-section of English society. England is Catholic at this time. Pilgrimages were encouraged. Maybe this explains why England is still a land of people who "walk". The Pilgrimage also accounts for the conglomeration of people that come together to tell these tales. You have Knights, Millers, Cooks, Man of Law, Prioress, Monk, Priest, Wife, Friar, Cleric, Merchants, Squires, Nun, Yeoman, etc as storytellers. The short story collection, 24 tales not all complete but these stories explore a variety of topics from moralizing, to religious, romance, bawdy. Some will seem very familiar because they have been borrowed from other sources. Chaucer wrote the works in Middle English. He did not write in Latin as was the custom, but wrote for the English people. I can't say I enjoyed all the stories but I enjoyed the fact that I read this book finally and now know what it is and I also appreciated that people were on a walk to see the shrine of Becket who I've read a bit about. Seems to fill in a spot for me. ( )

Classics

I always feel weird rating this sort of thing based on my own personal enjoyment of it, since I know its immense historical and literary value, but... this is hard to read, homies. ( )

This was my first (and possibly my last) Chaucer, and was a tough read. The English language has changed considerably since these stories, most in verse but a couple long ones in prose, were published between 1386 and 1390. The spelling, pronunciation, and many words he used have changed, with many words having become obsolete or changed their meanings. I'm glad there was a glossary of this "famous (Walter William) Skeat edition. The stories vary in quality--some are very good and some just okay--but they illustrate why Geoffrey Chaucer is the leading English poet. It's a classic of classics that demonstrates his mastery of rhythm. ( )

What can I add to the other 148 reviews? That many efforts begin to rival the bulk of the work itself. So I will merely record that when I dissolved an acquaintance's set of "Great Books of the Western World" I snapped up the Chaucer, The format is dignified, it is a parallel column edition, though done by 1934. Get one yourself , and enjoy it! ( )