The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics)

by Geoffrey Chaucer (Author), Geoffrey Chaucer (Author), Nevill Coghill (Translator), Geoffrey Chaucer (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $4.60

  Inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron , and framed as a storytelling competition between a group of pilgrims, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is one of the greatest works of English literature, translated from the Middle English with an introduction by Nevill Coghill in Penguin Classics . In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer created one of the great touchstones of English literature, a masterly collection of chivalric romances, moral allegories and low farce. A story-telling competition between a group of pilgrims from all walks of life is the occasion for a series of tales that range from the Knight's account of courtly love and the ebullient Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend, to the ribald anecdotes of the Miller and the Cook. Rich and diverse, The Canterbury Tales offers us an unrivalled glimpse into the life and mind of Medieval England. Nevill Coghill's masterly and vivid English verse translation is rendered with consummate skill to retain all the vigour and poetry of Chaucer's fourteenth-century Middle English. Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400) was an English author, poet, philosopher, courtier and diplomat, best known as the author of The Canterbury Tales . Chaucer is credited as being the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language. The first poet to have been buried in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey, his other works include The House of Fame , Troilus and Criseyde and The Book of the Duchess . If you enjoyed The Canterbury Tales , you might like Boccaccio's Decameron , also available in Penguin Classics . Nevill Coghill's easy, seductive translation ensures that this, the most popular work in English Literature - now 600 years old - will run through yet more centuries, delighting yet more readers, shaping more writers . (Melvyn Bragg).

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.44

  The Canterbury Tales , compiled in the late fourteenth century, is an incisive portrait, infused with Chaucer's wry wit and vibrant, poetical language. 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.

• New

  Paperback
  2008

  $18.12

  This selection of the best-loved and most frequently studied of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales provides a fascinating introduction to one of the great cornerstones of English literature. The General Prologue gives vivid character sketches of the colourful band of pilgrims who gather at a London inn on their way to Canterbury, while the nine tales chosen range from the noble Knight's story of rivalry in love to the boastful Pardoner's moral treatise, from the exuberant Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend to the Miller's worldly, ribald farce.Incorporating every style of Medieval narrative - bawdy anecdote, allegorical fable and courtly romance - the tales brought together here encompass the blend of universal human themes and individual personal detail that have fascinated readers for over 600 years. For this selection the original fourteenth-century Middle English is presented with a facing-page modern prose translation. This volume also contains a chronology, further reading and an introduction examining Chaucer's life and work and the literary influences on the Tales. It is translated and edited with an introduction by Colin Wilcockson.