The Canterbury Tales (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

e-book review only; caution for ease of use

Hanning's edition is marvelous in standard paper formatting. My review is for the electronic edition formatted for the Nook, however, which is extraordinarily poorly done--hence the detracted stars. 5 stars for content; 1 star for formatting.

The electronic version has no line numbers, which is a problem. The translation is advertised as "facing page," but in fact it's just haphazardly lumped into the original Middle English with no warning and no formatting changes whatsoever. You'll be reading along in Middle English and suddenly find yourself reading the same thing all over again in Modern English, and there's nothing you can do about it. So basically only someone really familiar with the Canterbury Tales will be able to use this electronic format, and anyone else should stay away.

It's a shame, because I'd really like to have access to this one on my Nook.

28 out of 31 people found this review helpful.

Ebook is unreadable--there is no such thing as a facing page ebook.

The Barnes & Noble Classics Series edition of The Canterbury Tales has Chaucer's original text on one page and a modern translation on the facing page. This works wonderfully well in print books for obvious reasons. This does *not* work for ebooks.

Reading this book on the nook you will read through a page or two of the original text, then on the next page turn you'll have the modernized translation, then back to the original again. It is not simply a matter of Chaucer's version being in one chapter, followed by a chapter in translation; in fact, Chaucer's version and the translation are interspersed together so that there is NO WAY of choosing to read one or the other without having to manually click forward watching to see when the language changes to Chaucer's language. Because of this, the book is simply unreadable.

Go find a public domain version of Chaucer's text and take the effort to get a feel for his language.

19 out of 19 people found this review helpful.

A fantastic translation of a classic

I got an advance copy of this and have read the first few tales -- what an amazing translation. It's accessible and will be perfect for classroom studies or just catching up on a classic.

6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

A Worthwhile Journey

Writing a "review" of The Canterbury Tales is difficult, not because the book/collection isn't worthy of a review, but because it is so widely variant and has so many nuances to be discussed.

So what do you say in a brief review of The Canterbury Tales?

To start with, I would suggest you try reading it in the original Middle English. The language/spelling/pronunciation can be a problem, so be sure you get an edition that's glossed (unless you're proficient in Middle English). During the semester, I found a "children's" edition of the tales at my local library. It included Modern English "translations" of a couple of the tales along with some illustrations. It was kind of fun to read, but it lost some of the rhythm and drive of the tales by having them in a modern format.

The writing is fun and clever (once you get through the 'translation' issues with the Middle English). For a common reference, it's like reading Shakespeare, only more archaic by a couple hundred years. The language of the narrative varies depending on the narrator of the particular prologue/tale, but with Chaucer at the helm behind the scenes, the writing is generally very good, descriptive, layered, humorous, inspiring, etc. (except for when he's trying to illustrate 'bad writing', and then it's good in that it's so bad).

The messages presented are widely varied as well. The Knight's Tale was an intriguing tale of romance and chivalry with lots of courtly intrigue...but at times it felt a little dry. The Miller and the Reeve were hilarious tales and introduced me to a new (to me) genre in the fabliau. The Wife of Bath had an interesting prologue and a fun tale, again with a semi-romantic style and an interesting moral. The Nun's Priest gave us a fun little animal fable. The Prioress presented a strange little tale about miracles or anti-semitism or devout love or something else?

Overall, I would definitely recommend having a copy of The Canterbury Tales on your shelf. Some tales are easier to read than others. Some tales are more fun while others are more thought provoking (as stated in one of the prologues, a tale has one of two purposes, to educate or to entertain...and there are examples of each). Once you get your teeth into the language (probably the biggest hurdle) I suspect you'll enjoy these.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

No More Trauma

Great Translation = Forget your English class scars.

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

A classic tale for years to come!

This was one of the best books I ever read. I love that not only is the book presented in the original middle English, but also in translated modern English that I can understand. I was really blown away by the text and how expressive and beautiful it was. It is quite an undertaking, but it will pay off.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good Presentation - So-So Translation

I love having the original Middle English on one side with a Modern English Translation on the facing page. I decided to try reading the Middle English. It's easy to look over to the translation whenever I get stuck. However, even without being able to completely understand the Middle English, I can tell the translation isn't that great. Also, the text is only footnoted on the Modern English side, which (if you're trying to follow the Middle English text) makes it easy to miss. Still, it's a lot more fun to read this on your own when you don't have a high school English teacher forcing you to do it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Fascinating

As someone who's always been interested in England, mythology, and a lot of other things, this book is paradise!! The premise is simple: a group of pilgrims are on the way to the shrine of St. Thomas Beckett in Canterbuty (hence the name). At the Tabard Inn, the host suggests that they each tell two stories on the way there, and two on the way back. They readily agree. The group is comprised of people representing various social positions (knight, reeve, nun, friar, miller, etc) and so the stories are widely varied. And the best part is that the language is easy! It's not the difficult 14th century that we Generation X think it is. Yes, buy the book.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Delightful to Hear in the Recorded Books Edition

This version will appeal most to those who have read and studied The Canterbury Tales and enjoyed them. The Canterbury Tales are best heard aloud. With commentary by Professor Murphy and talented actors, the various tales come appealingly alive. Chaucer¿s Middle English has its archaic words explained, and leaves the beauty of the meter and rhymes intact. The tales explore primarily relations between men and women, people and God, and consistently challenge hypocrisy. The tales also exemplify all the major story forms in use during the Middle Ages. The book¿s structure is unbelievable subtle and complex, providing the opportunity to peel the onion down to its core, one layer at a time. Modern anthologies look awfully weak by comparison. Although the material is old, the ideas are not. You will also be impressed by how much closer God was to the lives of these people than He is today. The renunciation at the end comes as a mighty jolt, as a result. My favorites are by the miller, wife of Bath, pardoner, and nun¿s priest. Where do you see the opportunity to give and share spiritual and worldly love? How can you give and receive more love? Donald Mitchell, co-author of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The 2,000 Percent Solution

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

barns and noble fail at multi-version works!

there are so many publications of this book in so many formats and translations that the b&n strategy of compositing data from all publications of the same name makes the site totally useless with regard to this kind of book. is it a side by side translation, annotated, something else? who knows. is it the translation by Hastings, Raffel, Wright, Ecker & Crook, Reeve & Shipman, or some one else? who knows!? they're all referenced! is it the complete tales or a selection of a few? it could be either according to the information presented by this site! b&n need to fix this bad.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

not formatted for Nook

I should have heeded the other review I read that said that the book does not work on the Nook. In paper form the book was supposed to have both the original on one page and the modern form on the right. They end up alternating on the nook. I figured I would just read the original, sort of like reading a real long Jabberwocky. At first there were clear breaks between the original and the modern, but after a few pages I found they ran together, making the book even more difficult to read. At that point I gave up. I'll read it on paper.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Simple

Simply, this is a book recording the tales that people told one another during a pilgrimage from one place to another. It is very entertaining and a book that should be read by all.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Hippie Lit major strikes again!

I seem to be review no. 2, following a fairly scholarly review by a reader. I learned The Canterbury Tales in Middle-English because I had to (Junior Year UC Santa Cruz). I wouldn't suggest reading it in Modern English. Middle English isn't very hard (the remark of the previous reviewer that you 'wouldn't understand' I think is off the mark). Of course it does help if you have a teacher and a classroom to motivate you to learn the Middle English. It took only about the first 3 class meetings to get with Middle English and understand it. As the previous reviewer says, once you learn a bit of it, it never seems to let go. I still remember the introduction, which I will take a shot at in a rough and soundalike way: 'Whan thot the shourres souta the droughts of March hahd pehrced too the roughta, aund evry vein is bathed in shwich liquour .. thanh dew folk longen too go on pilgrimahges.' 'When the sweet showers of March are pierced to the root, and every vein is bathed in such liquor ... then do folk long to go on pilgrimages.' I'm not known for remembering verses and the like (the only other thing almost that I recall verbatim is the Gettysburg Address which I was forced to memorize at Allendale Grammar school in Oakland, California). So there was something about The Tales, like there was about Paradise Lost, that got me to remember at least some of it word for word. The Tales, as is often said, are a chronicle of Chaucer's time. Various strata of society are represented. Chaucer has a subtle but sharp touch, and not without humor.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Do not recommend

This book did not switch to the nook format well. It jumps from 1400s style writing to current day at inappropriate moments, which probably made sense in the paper version, but not at all on the Nook. I could only get through the first 5 pages before giving up and going to a store to buy it in paper.

Raffel modern translation is excellent.

I still prefer Coghill's translstion, bit Raffel's is a very close second.

Many of the reviews here seem to be of a translation other than Raffel's. For example, some reviewers allude to a Middle English version. This indicates thst they are not reviewing Raffel's version.

Perhaps B&N can sort this out. It id not only confusing but results in inaccurate reviews.

Ok...

The tales were ok, but they stereotyoed lots of people.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Stupid book

Boring

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

highly recommend - a classic for all time

Chaucer is unforgettable in these tales which show a myriad of humanity

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Too long!?!!

I really had to laugh when I read the review ( Lauren's?) that said the individual tales were "too long." People need to get some perspective. Back in those days there was no TV, no computers, no video games not even a Nook. Many of the poems were looonng--think Dante'sInferno! People didn't have all the time wasters that we do. Plus these things were not purely recreational--time was too important so there was a moral also. Think of it as a different culture-- because it was!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great Edition

If you don't like the rhymes its unfortunate but it brings a nice flavor to the Canterbury tales

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.