About this title: The "Canterbury Tales" were originally planned to include over 100 stories, but Chaucer completed only 22. The device of using a pilgrimage as a setting for the telling of tales was not uncommon--medieval pilgrims traditionally told stories to liven up the long trek--but Chaucer's version is infinitely more sophisticated, matching the teller and his tale in a way that greatly enriches the content. This, and the interactions between the pilgrims, give the "Canterbury Tales" the complexity of a good novel. The Tales reflect Chaucer's wide experience with all levels of English society: the ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
Edition: Study Guide ed.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Sparknotes
Date Published: 01/2002
ISBN-13:9781586633684ISBN:1586633686
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 96 p. read more
"9-12 grade - This work contains all the Tales that are exultant information on Chaucer's words that are unlikely to be known or understood in the way they were meant when he used them. In addition to the portrayal of the age of Chaucer in the tales themselves, the notes add wonderful flavor to them by explaining aspects of Chaucer's society that are behind what he is saying in the tales themselves and in his descriptions of the pilgrims. All told, one gets a wonderful sense of Chaucer's wry wit and an understanding of his age and its concerns and foibles that a translation without such information can hardly provide. A difficult read, but in the high school levels there are so many language arts skills that can be brought into alignment with this piece of work."
"I had to read this for medieval literature and it was my least favorite book. The stories are either boring, bawdy, or cliche. The plot lines, despite being written long ago, are uninteresting and easy to predict. It is not worth the time it takes to read. Don't be deceived by the fact that it is a so-called classic. And I don't say this as a classic-hater, being a classicist myself, but as a critic."
"This book took more time than usual and you will understand why when you read it.Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a classic and very solid one at that. It is a beautiful piece of literature I must say.Its poetry and prose combined together.
Canterbury Tales is a set of stories told by pilgrims going to visit the shrine of Thomas Backet , a saint in Canterbury. Story begins with the introduction of each pilgrim who have come from various parts of England. The group consists of the Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight's Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath and Chaucer. Host of the Tabard inn,Harry sets the rules for them.They have to tell stories , two each during to and fro journey .and he will decide whose tale is best of all based on its meaning and moral. Thus begins the book with these pilgrims,some of them brave ,some cunning ,some naive yet all of them adding to the picture a unique quality that doesn't fail to stand out at the end of the particular tale told by them.A comparison done with present times will surely show similar characters in our midst.
Being a romantic at heart ,I loved the Knight's tale the most .Though other tales were equally good.The themes of the tales include love, chivalry, dishonesty, sermon and so on but most of them with a religious message. Some tales I must tell you are incomplete and it is not clear if Chaucer ever completed this work as it abruptly ends with no winner chosen in the end.As the characters have been introduced in the first chapter the focus of the book is mostly on the tales .This in no way makes any difference ,as it still a wonderful book for all Classics and Poetry lovers.
Written in the Middle Ages this book is considered Geoffrey Chaucer's best wor"
"I've read both the Middle English (original) version and a few of the translated versions, and I've decided to go back to the original and revisit some of my favorite stories. The Tales, like Don Quixote, are one of those works that I'm *always* reading. They are lifetime books, in that there is always something new there, some nuance I've previously overlooked, some linguistic trick, some emotional capture...always something. Always. It is, I believe, probably one of the finest things ever written in the English language for a mass audience.
The book, in parts, is wickedly hysterical and bitingly satirical of the classes and cultural stratification of the era.
Chaucer died in 1400 without finishing the Tales, and the first printing of it wasn't 1476. Previous to the first press run, the only copies were handwritten manuscripts. The first serious attempt to restore the genuine text of the Canterbury Tales was made by Tyrwhitt in 1775, three hundred years after they were first printed by Caxton. Tyrwhitt's edition of the Canterbury Tales has enjoyed the highest reputation, and this is the version which I am currently reading."
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