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246th out of 565 books
—
1,962 voters
The Riverside Chaucer
This edition provides the general information on Chaucer's life, language, and works that one needs for a first reading of Chaucer, and difficult words and constructions are glossed on the pages. The Appendix contains the materials, including the extensive notes and glossary, for a more thorough understanding of Chaucer's works.
Hardcover, 1376 pages
Published
December 12th 1986
by Cengage Learning
(first published 1896)
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Jun 01, 2010
Abigail
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Lovers of Poetry / Chaucer Fans / Students of Middle English
Shelves:
literature-classics,
poetry
Review Temporarily Removed.
The Franklin's Tale is the last of the thematically linked "Marriage Group" and apparently some critics think it is meant to be Chaucer's view on the subject; marital success comes from understanding, forgiveness and hard work. It's a "rash promise" story where-in some-one instead of making an outright refusal, instead promises something in case of meeting an apparently impossible set of conditions. This is always a mistake, since a magician or some such always comes along and achieves said goal...more
4 likes · like · see review
Chaucer is my love. Middle English is ridiculously hard for us Modern English-ers to read, but Chaucer is oh so worth it. I bought this for my Chaucer seminar, which focused on everything but the Canterbury Tales. Can I just say that everyone should read Troilus and Criseyde? No one knows about it but extreme English dorks (like myself :P ), but most scholars think it his greatest work. It's wonderful, and the characters will make you SO ANGRY! The men are so awful!
So, my conclusion. Read Chauc...more
So, my conclusion. Read Chauc...more
The Holy Grail for Chaucerians. It pleased me to no end that this was on the list of required texts for my grad-level course in Chaucer because it gave me an excuse to add it to my library! There are very few works of literature in the English language as diverse as The Canterbury Tales - in turns deadly serious, baudy, unapologetically sexual, and meditative, this is arguably one of the greatest collection of stories ever written. I've read through The Canterbury Tales three times in their enti...more
English literature is downhill from Chaucer. Even as a Shakespeare scholar, I would argue this, since there are several characters in Chaucer who are as if live: The Wif of Bath, the Pardoner, the Host, the Canon's Yeoman,
and a half dozen others, at least. Shakespeare's characters, on the other hand, are all stagey, bigger than
life, infused with the stage. Or so it seems to me. Chaucer's Wif even makes colloquial grammar mistakes when she self-consciously describes what men like about women's bo...more
and a half dozen others, at least. Shakespeare's characters, on the other hand, are all stagey, bigger than
life, infused with the stage. Or so it seems to me. Chaucer's Wif even makes colloquial grammar mistakes when she self-consciously describes what men like about women's bo...more
I may be a total nerd, but devoting a semester to reading Chaucer in middle English has been one of the best academic decisions I have ever made. One of Chaucer's short poems, The Book of the Duchess, written to condole Chaucer's patron John of Gaunt after he lost is beloved wife Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, is among the most beautiful I have ever read. My class began to read it a year after the death of another angel, Eve Carson, UNC student body president. I'm finding it difficult to put in...more
I read this so long ago I feel like I should put it in the "to-read" shelf, but I remember loving it when I read it, and I remember thinking the music of Chaucer's verse is something I should learn from. Eventually I will read it again.
This is the greatest edition of one of the greatest authors. Perhaps Shakespeare is greater. Perhaps.
Chaucer's ability to capture the variety and earthiness of human life is unparalleled. He is the poet of human nature.
Chaucer's ability to capture the variety and earthiness of human life is unparalleled. He is the poet of human nature.
Okay, if you're even THINKING about getting this book, understand one thing up front: it is in the original. I don't recall if it has a "translation", but I do recall having to learn how to adjust my thinking to wrap my head around Chaucerian middle english. All in all, though, I'm glad I read it in the "original" - you get things that you normally wouldn't otherwise.
Second thing - this book is heavy. Really heavy. Like I could club an endangered species over the head with this and do some seri...more
Second thing - this book is heavy. Really heavy. Like I could club an endangered species over the head with this and do some seri...more
Studied Chaucer and had to learn middle English to read it in its original text. All of Chaucer's works are in this edition. The first semester we studied his early works, the second semester we studied the Canterbury Tales. My professor was one of the best I had. When we were doing the Miller's Tale, he had us read and prepare for the tutorial. I was laughing out loud reading it at home, but when I went to class, the professor read it to us, with his asides and the class was on the floor in hys...more
For eight centuries people have enjoyed The Canterbury Tales, and I’m glad to add my name to that list. It is an immense work covering a wide range of stories and people. In scope and range it is unprecedented in the English language. (Only Spencer’s The Fairy Queen can rival it in scale).
Being such a large, diverse work, I must admit I’ve barely gotten a taste of the entire piece having read only several of the tales and the prologue. (My goal is to read it all by 2013.) I’ve been reading the...more
Being such a large, diverse work, I must admit I’ve barely gotten a taste of the entire piece having read only several of the tales and the prologue. (My goal is to read it all by 2013.) I’ve been reading the...more
I discovered the other evening that I can read Middle English. I bought this book about 15 years ago and stuck it on the shelf. Only picked it up again on a whim, and found the language amazingly 'earthy', the words rolling and alive in my mouth as I read aloud. Not at all like the translations, which are like saccharine syrup when compared to the chopping, guttural and yet beautiful real thing. Translations always miss much, so I'm glad I picked up the lingo so easily. An effortlessly acquired...more
May 31, 2008
Maggie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
assigned-reading,
undergrad
Reading Chaucer in the original Middle English is a monumental chore; I certainly don't recommend it to the faint of heart or the dictionary-phobic. There are, however, some moments that are worth the effort, and almost all of them are found in the Canterbury Tales rather than in the many other works included in this volume. The Parliament of Fowls is a good read too, and a good pair with the Tales (both address Chaucer's feelings about the hierarchy of social classes). The best of the Tales are...more
Oct 11, 2007
Taka
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
japan_jul07-aug10,
english_lit
I was apprehensive about reading Chaucer due to what I thought was an incorrigible phobia - so unfortunately and tragically cultivated during high school - for everything that is Chaucer. "Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote..." What? What? What?
Well, having read, in Middle English, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, The Parliament of Fowls, The House of Fame, his translation of Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy (titled "Boece"), and Troilus and Crisseyde, I must say the phobia was noth...more
Well, having read, in Middle English, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, The Parliament of Fowls, The House of Fame, his translation of Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy (titled "Boece"), and Troilus and Crisseyde, I must say the phobia was noth...more
THE book to pick up if you want to enjoy Chaucer. Excellent work. Highly recommended. The Canterbury Tales are, of course, fantastic but pay attention to Chaucer's shorter works, especially The Book of the Duchess. The high medieval dream vision motif is employed in Duchess in a very interesting way. If you enjoy reading tales about Courtly Love (as in the Arthurian legends) then Book of the Duchess is for you.
Chaucer is brilliant. I think he's better than Shakespeare at concealing his own opinions and manipulations. It's hard to know where Chaucer stands on any of his stories and characters or when to take him seriously and when he's just having fun. That's part of what makes his work so complex and interesting. Must reads: "The Canterbury Tales," "Troilus and Cressida," and "Parliament of Fowls." Enjoy.
We used this book extensively in my 2 favorite upper-level Chaucer courses and it was great. It probably helped that the professor was very engaging and enthusiastic about Chaucer. He helped us with the linguistics and made it interesting. It actually really helped with my later Shakespearean studies. I highly recommend this collection.
Read for EN2003: Mediaeval and Renaissance Texts, 2010 - 2011
We had to read 'The Miller's Tale' and 'The Franklin's Tale' for our course. I have to admit, I wasn't exactly impressed by the former, although it was interesting to learn about the background of fabliaux, and our Old English department put on a wonderful dramatisation of it! But not really my style of humour. 'The Franklin's Tale' was much more interesting, especially with all of the unanswered questions and comparisons to romantic l...more
We had to read 'The Miller's Tale' and 'The Franklin's Tale' for our course. I have to admit, I wasn't exactly impressed by the former, although it was interesting to learn about the background of fabliaux, and our Old English department put on a wonderful dramatisation of it! But not really my style of humour. 'The Franklin's Tale' was much more interesting, especially with all of the unanswered questions and comparisons to romantic l...more
Chaucer is clever, human, and incredibly fun to read aloud. That said reading I don't think I would have enjoyed The Canterbury Tales (the only portion I've read) 1/100 as much had I been reading the text on my own—I owe much of my enjoyment to a fantastic professor/class.
Full confession: I haven't read the entire thing. I have read most of it. Yes, it's in Middle English. Yes, it is awesome. Also, you totally feel accomplished once you've read a good chunk of it. Makes you feel all hardcore and stuff. Chaucer is the mad note.
This is the other book I kept from my university days.... It was the was the toughest course I ever took but I learned to really respect English language from reading Chaucer. Still have many parts of this text to read.
I haven't spent nearly enough time with this edition, but could I ever?
Chaucer speaks for himself. His versatility is on display in a collection like this. The scope of his imagination printed between two covers. If you have the patience, going through this thing reveals his mastery of the mottled language, demonstrating everything that linguists love to discuss, from dialectical variation to code switching, and his grasp of human nature is revealed through the sheer multitude of people walking...more
Chaucer speaks for himself. His versatility is on display in a collection like this. The scope of his imagination printed between two covers. If you have the patience, going through this thing reveals his mastery of the mottled language, demonstrating everything that linguists love to discuss, from dialectical variation to code switching, and his grasp of human nature is revealed through the sheer multitude of people walking...more
I won't lie and say that I read everything in here in the Middle English. The rating is partially due to the quality of the book (physically, it's one of the nicest looking books I have seen) and the critical material that is also contained within. The introductions and glossary and footnotes are outstanding. Reading the stories without context, I would likely rate them a 2 or 3, but Chaucer deserves some respect considering the time period of their composition. Very clever for him as somewhat o...more
This is a beautiful text! It is well formatted and contains Chaucer's work in Middle English (with, of course, tools to help the uninitiated reader). This is a classic that I will always have on my bookshelf.
What can be said about Chaucer? He is one of the pillars upon which British literature is built. There is nothing to equal the Canterbury Tales in the annals of Western literature.
Bought this for class. It's great, but there are cheaper editions of the ME text out there as long as you don't need to know about the manuscript sources, alternate readings, etc.
This is also a required reading text for my Chaucer class, but this one is a lot more enjoyable. Now if I could only read Middle English perfectly, then I'd be set.
Once you get the hang of middle english (it's possible) everything in here is extremely rewarding, often funny, and often poigniant regarding the man.
So, I bought the very expensive version, not knowing that a cheaper paperback was available. Oh, well. Troilus and Criseyde is my favorite.
Single-handedly the most comprehensive collection of Chaucer's works. Comes with a translation dictionary if you will for easy reference.
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Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – October 25, 1400?) was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. Sometimes called the father of English literature, Chaucer is credited by some scholars as being the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacu...more
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