Canterbury Tales Mass Market Paperback – June 1, 1990

It’s a really good book and just has a very enveloping history behind it that captures the attention of readers and allows you to emerse yourself into the book, 10/10

I have purchased several of these well-constructed little Penguin editions. For Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES I was expecting, perhaps, a bilingual version on opposing pages or an interlinear transliteration of the Middle English original, but these were not to be. Instead, this version contains a very readable "modern English" verse rendition by Nevill Coghill, the first printing of which occurred in 1951. It is certainly not the language of Chaucer, but Coghill does an admiral job of maintaining the humor and spirit of the tales. He is an able rhymer and reminds that there is merit (and considerable effort, apparently) in compiling a version that is accessible enough to unfamiliar readers to be easily followed and understood, but still lyrical enough to signal that they are experiencing something special in the history of English Letters -- the unique underlying forms and style that make Chaucer "the father of English poetry." For readers who wish to graduate to the actual Middle English text, that version is available in a relatively inexpensive Penguin Classics paperback edition that the publisher identifies as the original [Middle English] language of Chaucer. Readers are advised to choose carefully when ordering, lest they receive an inappropriate version for their needs!

As described

it was a very good book and entertaining, some stories i recognize, some were new to me. it was a bit difficult because of the old English, but it was pretty understandable. and i enjoyed it.

Great!

A joy to read.

The Canterbury Tales were almost ruined for me by my freshman English Lit class. They insisted on making us read it from The Norton Anthology of Literature, which of course is untranslated. This is pointless. Unless one is a specialist or going for a doctorate there is no point in reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English with all those endless footnotes. It takes one of the greatest books in English Literature - or World Literature, for that matter - and makes it torture. I have no need of "thilke" or "willhem" or "clepen." That is why Nevill Coghill's translation is such a boon. Now we can enjoy it in our own language the way the fourteenth-century English did (in truth, it is not that hard to translate as many of the words stay the same). I have taken to reading it, not as a novel, but as a collection of short stories - skipping around as I please. I think it is agreed that the best parts art the Miller's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, and The Wife of Bath (and the Prologue, of course) which makes for excellent starting points.

The inside of the book is pristine but the outside is unfortunately damaged. The cover is creased, it’s ripping and and it looks used, even though I paid for a new one.

So convenient to re-discover this awesome classic from my Uni days in a compact LIGHTWEIGHT version. To be able to read on the go without hauling the heavy book around becomes a real treat at my age. I can enjoy it on my tablet, Kindle reader and even my cell phone. Keep your eyes open for sales. One can often find the classics for $1.99! Thanks Amazon!

The media could not be loaded. Contos da Cantuária...Livro indispensável para estudantes de Letras Inglês

Excelente!

That the basic human psychology remains the same irrespective of different lands and different epochs.

Good quality regardless of small print. Old English in the first half and tales translated in the second half. Not all words were in olde English but very good all the same.