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The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling
A retelling of The Canterbury Tales
436 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2009
182 people are currently reading
3188 people want to read
About the author
Peter Ackroyd
184 books1,494 followersPeter Ackroyd CBE is an English novelist and biographer with a particular interest in the history and culture of London.
Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was gay at the age of 7.
Ackroyd was educated at St. Benedict's, Ealing and at Clare College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a double first in English. In 1972, he was a Mellon Fellow at Yale University in the United States. The result of this fellowship was Ackroyd's Notes for a New Culture, written when he was only 22 and eventually published in 1976. The title, a playful echo of T. S. Eliot's Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), was an early indication of Ackroyd's penchant for creatively exploring and reexamining the works of other London-based writers.
Ackroyd's literary career began with poetry, including such works as London Lickpenny (1973) and The Diversions of Purley (1987). He later moved into fiction and has become an acclaimed author, winning the 1998 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for the biography Thomas More and being shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987.
Ackroyd worked at The Spectator magazine between 1973 and 1977 and became joint managing editor in 1978. In 1982 he published The Great Fire of London, his first novel. This novel deals with one of Ackroyd's great heroes, Charles Dickens, and is a reworking of Little Dorrit. The novel set the stage for the long sequence of novels Ackroyd has produced since, all of which deal in some way with the complex interaction of time and space, and what Ackroyd calls "the spirit of place". It is also the first in a sequence of novels of London, through which he traces the changing, but curiously consistent nature of the city. Often this theme is explored through the city's artists, and especially its writers.
Ackroyd has always shown a great interest in the city of London, and one of his best known works, London: The Biography, is an extensive and thorough discussion of London through the ages.
His fascination with London literary and artistic figures is also displayed in the sequence of biographies he has produced of Ezra Pound (1980), T. S. Eliot (1984), Charles Dickens (1990), William Blake (1995), Thomas More (1998), Chaucer (2004), William Shakespeare (2005), and J. M. W. Turner. The city itself stands astride all these works, as it does in the fiction.
From 2003 to 2005, Ackroyd wrote a six-book non-fiction series (Voyages Through Time), intended for readers as young as eight. This was his first work for children. The critically acclaimed series is an extensive narrative of key periods in world history.
Early in his career, Ackroyd was nominated a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984 and, as well as producing fiction, biography and other literary works, is also a regular radio and television broadcaster and book critic.
In the New Year's honours list of 2003, Ackroyd was awarded the CBE.
Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was gay at the age of 7.
Ackroyd was educated at St. Benedict's, Ealing and at Clare College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a double first in English. In 1972, he was a Mellon Fellow at Yale University in the United States. The result of this fellowship was Ackroyd's Notes for a New Culture, written when he was only 22 and eventually published in 1976. The title, a playful echo of T. S. Eliot's Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), was an early indication of Ackroyd's penchant for creatively exploring and reexamining the works of other London-based writers.
Ackroyd's literary career began with poetry, including such works as London Lickpenny (1973) and The Diversions of Purley (1987). He later moved into fiction and has become an acclaimed author, winning the 1998 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for the biography Thomas More and being shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987.
Ackroyd worked at The Spectator magazine between 1973 and 1977 and became joint managing editor in 1978. In 1982 he published The Great Fire of London, his first novel. This novel deals with one of Ackroyd's great heroes, Charles Dickens, and is a reworking of Little Dorrit. The novel set the stage for the long sequence of novels Ackroyd has produced since, all of which deal in some way with the complex interaction of time and space, and what Ackroyd calls "the spirit of place". It is also the first in a sequence of novels of London, through which he traces the changing, but curiously consistent nature of the city. Often this theme is explored through the city's artists, and especially its writers.
Ackroyd has always shown a great interest in the city of London, and one of his best known works, London: The Biography, is an extensive and thorough discussion of London through the ages.
His fascination with London literary and artistic figures is also displayed in the sequence of biographies he has produced of Ezra Pound (1980), T. S. Eliot (1984), Charles Dickens (1990), William Blake (1995), Thomas More (1998), Chaucer (2004), William Shakespeare (2005), and J. M. W. Turner. The city itself stands astride all these works, as it does in the fiction.
From 2003 to 2005, Ackroyd wrote a six-book non-fiction series (Voyages Through Time), intended for readers as young as eight. This was his first work for children. The critically acclaimed series is an extensive narrative of key periods in world history.
Early in his career, Ackroyd was nominated a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984 and, as well as producing fiction, biography and other literary works, is also a regular radio and television broadcaster and book critic.
In the New Year's honours list of 2003, Ackroyd was awarded the CBE.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 231 reviews
February 24, 2012
God bless you, Peter Ackroyd for making this book very easy to read. It did not lose its original meaning. He only used the words that are familiar to us. Consider this example in the original 14th century English in London:
The reason why I decided to read this book was the fact that my high school crush had this as her book report. I had Lewis Caroll's Alice in the Wonderland and she got a higher grade from our English teacher. That was more than 30 years ago. She did not become by girlfriend because did not court her since she thought that I was her BFF. If I only knew that this book, that she used for her book report, was naughty and bold, I would have tried at least kissing her.
Really now. This book is far from lame. Chaucer was a court poet and he got the attention of the King of England because he was a loyal servant who rose from the ranks. He was a soldier, a customs official, a judge, a member of the parliament, a diplomat, before he was appointed as a court poet. This book, as illustrated above, used to be read allowed or sung in the court particularly for the visitors of the king. Maybe some of the visitors preferred lewd or naughty stories. Some preferred religious tales. Some preferred gory, heroic, fantasy or intellectually stimulating. All of those are in one of the 23 (not 24, since Ackroyd did not include Mellibee's Tale) tales included in this book.
The 23 tales were told by the 23 out of the 28 characters introduced in the General Prologue. Chaucer used a frame story of these 28 characters having a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett at Canterbury Cathedral. Ackroyd said in his "Note on the Text" that Chaucer lived in a busy and noisy street of London when he was young (not yet in the court) and so he used to hear people talking on the street while he was inside his home. That became the harbinger of this book's frame story.
Most of the tales are either 2 (it's okay) or 3 (i liked it!) stars. One or two are 1 (i don't like it) but there are many which are either 4 (i really liked it!) or 5 (amazing). These are the following:
The Knight's Tale (4 stars) - about two male cousins who fight together in battles and they got separated because they fall in love with the same woman.
The Wife of Bath's Tale (5 stars) - about a whore (my interpretation) who believes that what women really want from men is to dominate them. This pilgrim has 5 husbands because she says that God said "Go forth and multiply" and God did not say with how many men.
The Squire's Tale (5 stars) - the story of a Canacee, the daughter of Genghis Khan. Very strong female character.
The Shipman's Tale (4 stars) - a mechant and his wife are fooled by a monk. I really felt sorry for them because they trusted the monk believing that he was a man of God. Moral: never ever assume.
The Second Nun's Tale (5 stars) - the story of St. Cecilia and how she was favored by God. Very moving and inspiring story of Faith.
The one missing star is due to the fact that this book is unfinished. Wikipedia says that this book has many manuscripts somehow indicating that Chaucer was not able to make up his mind before his death. In fact, at the very end of the book, he made retractions for some of the books he wrote including the parts of this book that readers might find obscene or vulgar. Yes, there are indeed those parts!
***Spoiler Warning***
There is no winner for the free dinner at the Tabard Inn when the pilgrims return.
***Spoiler Ends***
I just could not help it. I read each tale trying to judge which ones are my favorites and I was betting with a friend but nah, what a disappointment. However, Wikipedia says that probably, Chaucer's intent is only to show the breath and depth of his skills in storytelling by having 23 different voices, plots, themes, etc. My opinion is that he indeed succeeded and the tales glued me to the book for 20 plus days!
One of the best books I've read in 2012 so far.
My konnyng is so wayk, O blisful Queene,Ackroyd translated this verse into prose this way:
For to declare thy grete worthynesse
That I ne may the weighte nat susteene;
But as a child of twelf month oold, or lesse,
That kan unnethes any word expresse,
Right so fare I, and therfored I yow preye,
Gydeth my song that I shal of youw seye.
My learning and knowledge are so weak, holy Virgin, that I cannot express your mercy or your love. Your light is too bright for me to bear. I come to you as an infant, scarcely able to speak. Form my broken words uttered in praise of you. Guide my song.Cool, isn't it?
The reason why I decided to read this book was the fact that my high school crush had this as her book report. I had Lewis Caroll's Alice in the Wonderland and she got a higher grade from our English teacher. That was more than 30 years ago. She did not become by girlfriend because did not court her since she thought that I was her BFF. If I only knew that this book, that she used for her book report, was naughty and bold, I would have tried at least kissing her.
Really now. This book is far from lame. Chaucer was a court poet and he got the attention of the King of England because he was a loyal servant who rose from the ranks. He was a soldier, a customs official, a judge, a member of the parliament, a diplomat, before he was appointed as a court poet. This book, as illustrated above, used to be read allowed or sung in the court particularly for the visitors of the king. Maybe some of the visitors preferred lewd or naughty stories. Some preferred religious tales. Some preferred gory, heroic, fantasy or intellectually stimulating. All of those are in one of the 23 (not 24, since Ackroyd did not include Mellibee's Tale) tales included in this book.
The 23 tales were told by the 23 out of the 28 characters introduced in the General Prologue. Chaucer used a frame story of these 28 characters having a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett at Canterbury Cathedral. Ackroyd said in his "Note on the Text" that Chaucer lived in a busy and noisy street of London when he was young (not yet in the court) and so he used to hear people talking on the street while he was inside his home. That became the harbinger of this book's frame story.
Most of the tales are either 2 (it's okay) or 3 (i liked it!) stars. One or two are 1 (i don't like it) but there are many which are either 4 (i really liked it!) or 5 (amazing). These are the following:
The Knight's Tale (4 stars) - about two male cousins who fight together in battles and they got separated because they fall in love with the same woman.
The Wife of Bath's Tale (5 stars) - about a whore (my interpretation) who believes that what women really want from men is to dominate them. This pilgrim has 5 husbands because she says that God said "Go forth and multiply" and God did not say with how many men.
The Squire's Tale (5 stars) - the story of a Canacee, the daughter of Genghis Khan. Very strong female character.
The Shipman's Tale (4 stars) - a mechant and his wife are fooled by a monk. I really felt sorry for them because they trusted the monk believing that he was a man of God. Moral: never ever assume.
The Second Nun's Tale (5 stars) - the story of St. Cecilia and how she was favored by God. Very moving and inspiring story of Faith.
The one missing star is due to the fact that this book is unfinished. Wikipedia says that this book has many manuscripts somehow indicating that Chaucer was not able to make up his mind before his death. In fact, at the very end of the book, he made retractions for some of the books he wrote including the parts of this book that readers might find obscene or vulgar. Yes, there are indeed those parts!
***Spoiler Warning***
There is no winner for the free dinner at the Tabard Inn when the pilgrims return.
***Spoiler Ends***
I just could not help it. I read each tale trying to judge which ones are my favorites and I was betting with a friend but nah, what a disappointment. However, Wikipedia says that probably, Chaucer's intent is only to show the breath and depth of his skills in storytelling by having 23 different voices, plots, themes, etc. My opinion is that he indeed succeeded and the tales glued me to the book for 20 plus days!
One of the best books I've read in 2012 so far.
May 18, 2015
Had my copy of The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling had this cover instead of the elegant dark blue and white jacket from the Viking 2009 edition, I might have known what to expect--and lowered my expectations accordingly.
I do try to keep an open mind as a reader and I recognize that there is room for popularizations, but quite honestly I do not know what Peter Ackroyd was trying to accomplish here.
I will grant you that it reads quickly and easily and it has its amusing moments, so perhaps that might be enough for some. But as pure translation or even “retelling” Ackroyd’s version seemed to me to do a disservice to both Chaucer and to the modern reader. Far too often he strips the poetry of the original leaving only dumbed-down narrative that's roughly on the level of fan-fiction. To give him the benefit of the doubt I thought perhaps I could just view the book as historical fiction and plow on through, but Ackroyd peppers the text with anachronistic phrases and descriptions--a cardinal sin.
For example in The Merchant's Tale the wife takes a letter from her admirer to the privy to read in secret. Ackroyd says with odd coyness that she went "you-know-where" when Chaucer uses the word pryvee, which carried then as now the dual meaning of 'private' and 'an outhouse'. Ackroyd makes matters worse by saying she flushed away the torn pieces "down the loo", rather than (as in the original) simply tossing them away. Somehow I doubt 14th century outhouses came with flush toilets.
Perhaps the strangest aspect of this translation is that Ackroyd seems weirdly uncomfortable and clumsy when discussing sex--a subject about which Chaucer is anything but shy. Chaucer glories in the subject and his choice of words and phrases are colorful and carefully chosen. He employs dozens of words and phrases to describe the sexual act and organs--whether he's talking about roosters or people. Chaucer's descriptions range from the poetic to the literal and are still easily understood by anyone who knows English and a little French. He fits his choice of words to the speaker--so the Wife of Bath uses careful euphemisms, while the Pardoner opts for coarse slang. Ackroyd seems to know only f----, which he uses as often as a rapper.
I'll put a couple of examples (mildly explicit in both the original and the translation) in spoilers.
The best of Ackroyd's translations are of the Tales that emphasize the sacred rather than the secular. Both the Knight's Tale and the Second Nun's Tale are quite beautifully rendered and perhaps for readers who find the overtly courtly or religious tales off-putting, Ackroyd's version might be a helpful way to access the other and equally important side of 14th century life.
On balance, for this reader at least, Ackroyd's retelling was a missed opportunity and a disappointment.
As I worked my way through this version of Chaucer it quickly became clear to me that I needed a little help with Middle English. eChaucer's amazing website came through with the original in beautifully formatted and cross-referenced HTML and text, superb verse and prose translations, concordances, glossaries, timelines--in short everything a relative beginner like me needs to understand and enjoy Chaucer in the original. https://machias.edu/faculty/necastro/...
I do try to keep an open mind as a reader and I recognize that there is room for popularizations, but quite honestly I do not know what Peter Ackroyd was trying to accomplish here.
I will grant you that it reads quickly and easily and it has its amusing moments, so perhaps that might be enough for some. But as pure translation or even “retelling” Ackroyd’s version seemed to me to do a disservice to both Chaucer and to the modern reader. Far too often he strips the poetry of the original leaving only dumbed-down narrative that's roughly on the level of fan-fiction. To give him the benefit of the doubt I thought perhaps I could just view the book as historical fiction and plow on through, but Ackroyd peppers the text with anachronistic phrases and descriptions--a cardinal sin.
For example in The Merchant's Tale the wife takes a letter from her admirer to the privy to read in secret. Ackroyd says with odd coyness that she went "you-know-where" when Chaucer uses the word pryvee, which carried then as now the dual meaning of 'private' and 'an outhouse'. Ackroyd makes matters worse by saying she flushed away the torn pieces "down the loo", rather than (as in the original) simply tossing them away. Somehow I doubt 14th century outhouses came with flush toilets.
Perhaps the strangest aspect of this translation is that Ackroyd seems weirdly uncomfortable and clumsy when discussing sex--a subject about which Chaucer is anything but shy. Chaucer glories in the subject and his choice of words and phrases are colorful and carefully chosen. He employs dozens of words and phrases to describe the sexual act and organs--whether he's talking about roosters or people. Chaucer's descriptions range from the poetic to the literal and are still easily understood by anyone who knows English and a little French. He fits his choice of words to the speaker--so the Wife of Bath uses careful euphemisms, while the Pardoner opts for coarse slang. Ackroyd seems to know only f----, which he uses as often as a rapper.
I'll put a couple of examples (mildly explicit in both the original and the translation) in spoilers.
The best of Ackroyd's translations are of the Tales that emphasize the sacred rather than the secular. Both the Knight's Tale and the Second Nun's Tale are quite beautifully rendered and perhaps for readers who find the overtly courtly or religious tales off-putting, Ackroyd's version might be a helpful way to access the other and equally important side of 14th century life.
On balance, for this reader at least, Ackroyd's retelling was a missed opportunity and a disappointment.
As I worked my way through this version of Chaucer it quickly became clear to me that I needed a little help with Middle English. eChaucer's amazing website came through with the original in beautifully formatted and cross-referenced HTML and text, superb verse and prose translations, concordances, glossaries, timelines--in short everything a relative beginner like me needs to understand and enjoy Chaucer in the original. https://machias.edu/faculty/necastro/...
November 13, 2011
Dear Duke Thesus,
What is it with you and threatening women with death during your wedding? Do you think it is romantic?
Dear Wife of Bath,
You go girl!
Dear Chanticlear,
Foxes like chickens in all the wrong ways. Just saying.
Dear Mr. Ackroyd, World's Greatest Renassiance Man,
I've read Chaucer in the orignal both Tales and Trolius. I've tried to read various modern translations.
Tried being the operative word.
Yours, I finished. It's wonderful.
In part, this must due to the fact that you are a poet. You keep the poetry of the tales, but since you write in prose, the forced rhymes of translation are non-existent.
But most of it is because you kept Chaucer dirty. You didn't try to clean him up as some other translations do. Therefore we have the line about Alison (in "The Miller's Tale") - She was meant to be f**ked by a prince and wedded to a yeoman. We know precisely what Chaucer means by that. You keep all the dirty words, all the dirty stories. In bringing Chaucer back to the earth, back to the mud, you have re-established his position among the stars for those who do not read Middle English.
General Comments
The Tales is a group of stories mostly about sex and power between couples. Okay, there are other bits thrown in, but its mainly sex.
And Farting. There is lots of farting.
Little romance though. In fact, the Knight's Tale which should be the most romantic is the most sterile, perhaps Terry Jones has a point about the Knight.
What is it with you and threatening women with death during your wedding? Do you think it is romantic?
Dear Wife of Bath,
You go girl!
Dear Chanticlear,
Foxes like chickens in all the wrong ways. Just saying.
Dear Mr. Ackroyd, World's Greatest Renassiance Man,
I've read Chaucer in the orignal both Tales and Trolius. I've tried to read various modern translations.
Tried being the operative word.
Yours, I finished. It's wonderful.
In part, this must due to the fact that you are a poet. You keep the poetry of the tales, but since you write in prose, the forced rhymes of translation are non-existent.
But most of it is because you kept Chaucer dirty. You didn't try to clean him up as some other translations do. Therefore we have the line about Alison (in "The Miller's Tale") - She was meant to be f**ked by a prince and wedded to a yeoman. We know precisely what Chaucer means by that. You keep all the dirty words, all the dirty stories. In bringing Chaucer back to the earth, back to the mud, you have re-established his position among the stars for those who do not read Middle English.
General Comments
The Tales is a group of stories mostly about sex and power between couples. Okay, there are other bits thrown in, but its mainly sex.
And Farting. There is lots of farting.
Little romance though. In fact, the Knight's Tale which should be the most romantic is the most sterile, perhaps Terry Jones has a point about the Knight.
February 1, 2016
This is a collection of the best stories ever told by Chauser. He lived from 1343 till 1400 in Lundon England. He was well versed in Latan, French, Italian and English.
This book is a translation by Peter Accroyd in modern English so as to make it more accessable to the modern reader.
The book describes a mottly crew of pilgrams on there way to Canterberry. They threw in there lot together and decided to play a game. Each one of them must regile the others with a story. There were stories told of faith. There were stories of lethargy and every thing in betene. I recommend this book to all. If you have a grasp of middle English, however, I recommend this book in it's original form.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond
This book is a translation by Peter Accroyd in modern English so as to make it more accessable to the modern reader.
The book describes a mottly crew of pilgrams on there way to Canterberry. They threw in there lot together and decided to play a game. Each one of them must regile the others with a story. There were stories told of faith. There were stories of lethargy and every thing in betene. I recommend this book to all. If you have a grasp of middle English, however, I recommend this book in it's original form.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond
December 24, 2020
Wow! Peter Ackroyd has made it possible for a great-literature bumpkin like me to experience the gist of Chaucer's most well-known work, perhaps the best-known middle-English literature. The author has translated into modern English this ancient set of stories recorded by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century.
Although I am certain not all of Chaucer's original nuances come through in this modern translation, it enables the average reader to hear the stories that a fictitious group of pilgrims used to entertain themselves on the journey between southern London to Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, wherein lies the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Perhaps most interesting about these stories from the middle ages, is how we find at the heart of them the same themes still told amongst friends today: love and romance, adultery, fraudulent villainy, humour, drunkenness, and tips on how to handle husbands. Some of the stories are really quite raunchy, in fact, and would make the editor of Penthouse Letters blush.
As I inferred earlier, I am sure that Ackroyd must have taken some liberties in the modernization of these tales, but I am not a middle-English scholar able to take up that argument. What this book does is to show us how little human nature itself has changed over hundreds if not thousands of years in regards to what entertains our spirit: humourous or tragic tales of human life, with a bit of naughty spice.
Although I am certain not all of Chaucer's original nuances come through in this modern translation, it enables the average reader to hear the stories that a fictitious group of pilgrims used to entertain themselves on the journey between southern London to Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, wherein lies the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Perhaps most interesting about these stories from the middle ages, is how we find at the heart of them the same themes still told amongst friends today: love and romance, adultery, fraudulent villainy, humour, drunkenness, and tips on how to handle husbands. Some of the stories are really quite raunchy, in fact, and would make the editor of Penthouse Letters blush.
As I inferred earlier, I am sure that Ackroyd must have taken some liberties in the modernization of these tales, but I am not a middle-English scholar able to take up that argument. What this book does is to show us how little human nature itself has changed over hundreds if not thousands of years in regards to what entertains our spirit: humourous or tragic tales of human life, with a bit of naughty spice.
May 21, 2025
If you ever thought Chaucer was dull or Chaucer didnt related to modern age I urge you to pick up this retelling. I wouldn’t recommend if you don’t like rude words and prefer your Chaucer without direct crudeness though he was crude. This is an entertaining look at The Canterbury Tales I read alongside Coghill’s almost Shakespearean translation and the Middle English. It opens your eyes to his humour but can lose some musically and joy of the original. Read as a companion piece.
June 13, 2013
Since I didn’t have to learn French to read “Madame Bovary” or Russian to read “War and Peace” I’ve always wondered why academics think we should only read the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English with its archaic words and cryptic spelling. Most of us have slogged through a page or two of that and given up. Enter Peter Ackroyd with a wonderful prose translation into contemporary English of Chaucer’s most famous work. I’ve always wanted to know why this book so famous; it sounds so very old-fashioned and out-of-date. What I found was a book that was written 600 years ago with large parts that seem as if they were written yesterday. The Wife of Bath’s tale will still make you laugh. Chaucer also writes about a pilgrim named Geoffrey Chaucer who gets interrupted halfway through his tale by the other pilgrims because he’s soooo boring. How meta-modern can you get? And Chaucer worked blue, the tales are surprisingly full of four-letter words and dirty jokes for a group of people on their way to visit a religious shrine. My next hope is that Ackroyd will translate James Joyce into English. I’d really like to get past the first chapter of “Ulysses” someday.
November 5, 2014
of the translations I used as a reference point, i enjoyed this one the most despite how intensely liberal it is (not a translations but a "retelling), as its the only one i've seen that holds up on an aesthetic basis--though, i think it's pretty important to remember, the aesthetic is ackroyd's, not chaucer's, and in a lot of ways this is a completely different book
July 16, 2011
This hardcover is simply a delight to me since this newly-released hardcover helps me better understand and appreciate Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterburry Tales" in prose instead of those in verse I studied as part of English literature some 40 years ago. In brief, we can enjoy reading each tale with diverse characters in the context and thus learn from Chaucer's wit and wisdom revealed through the lenses of the fourteenth-century London.
This book is recommended to anyone interested in reading Chaucer in prose finely translated and adapted by Peter Ackroyd. I think those selected episodes are readable and enjoyable with funny tales, that is, like you watch the play with its players with unthinkable views or ways of life. I prefer the tale in which there were a rooster named Chanticleer and Pertelote his sweetheart (pp. 375-87). It's funny to read something about his vanity and sense of humor. Please read it for fun and you will learn why Chaucer has long been admired as the Father of English novels. Some might have been disheartened due to its different verse translations of old or a relatively new one published by OUP, just take heart and read this one and you will love Chaucer and nearly all characters in the Tales
This book is recommended to anyone interested in reading Chaucer in prose finely translated and adapted by Peter Ackroyd. I think those selected episodes are readable and enjoyable with funny tales, that is, like you watch the play with its players with unthinkable views or ways of life. I prefer the tale in which there were a rooster named Chanticleer and Pertelote his sweetheart (pp. 375-87). It's funny to read something about his vanity and sense of humor. Please read it for fun and you will learn why Chaucer has long been admired as the Father of English novels. Some might have been disheartened due to its different verse translations of old or a relatively new one published by OUP, just take heart and read this one and you will love Chaucer and nearly all characters in the Tales
August 29, 2022
it’s nice to have a read-able version of chaucer that actually makes sense, but the transition was a bit direct and made the stories a bit too choppy. i enjoyed the humour though, a really good interpretation of the tales!
February 18, 2024
A bunch of people on pilgrimage tell each other stories to pass the time. I don't think I could read this in its original language but enjoyed Ackroyd's translation. Written in the 1300s, it goes to show that people remain fond of fart jokes and sex talk.
February 24, 2019
What a riot! A brilliant retelling by Peter ackroyd. The original in middle English is a bit hard to read so modern English "translations" are awesome and this particular book is on point. Asses, farts, profanity, religiosity, chivalry - all these are part of the Canterbury tales. If you've ever felt daunted by the very fact that this is a work of middle English, fret not. This version is highly readable and unputdownable.
July 12, 2015
Plot: The Canterbury tales follows a very mixed group of people as they go on a pilgrimage. Each has their own individual stories which they tell as the story progresses. Occasionally being interrupted by annoyed others. I didn’t really know what to expect with the stories but they were all very individual and set to the time period. I thought they were very interesting but I found them quite hard to get into.
Characters: One character who famously stood out was the wife of Bath. Her was of storytelling was more easy to read and slightly more interesting than the rest. The characters interact well with each other and interrupt each other’s stories which I though was really creative and efficient.
Favourite aspects: I did like the way other characters where annoyed by the stories and the interactions they had as it made it appear very real. You did not learn much about the characters specifically however.
Themes: There are themes or love, sex and crimes which obviously are a combination which goes very well together and make for interesting reads.
Structure: The stories all vary in lengths and are set up as a prologue and a chapter which meant there was a good interdiction to each section which made it flow nicely and easy to read.
Characters: One character who famously stood out was the wife of Bath. Her was of storytelling was more easy to read and slightly more interesting than the rest. The characters interact well with each other and interrupt each other’s stories which I though was really creative and efficient.
Favourite aspects: I did like the way other characters where annoyed by the stories and the interactions they had as it made it appear very real. You did not learn much about the characters specifically however.
Themes: There are themes or love, sex and crimes which obviously are a combination which goes very well together and make for interesting reads.
Structure: The stories all vary in lengths and are set up as a prologue and a chapter which meant there was a good interdiction to each section which made it flow nicely and easy to read.
June 20, 2015
I set out to read this because I like this author and thought his re-telling in prose might be a good way to approach Chaucer. I read the clerk's tale, part of the intro, the knight's tale (only because it was first), the wife of Bath, and gave up. Just not in the mood, I guess. Maybe some day I will go all studious and learn to read the original. But not right now.
September 24, 2016
Review to follow.
June 17, 2024
a lot of “there are no words to describe this” and jealous husbands
July 7, 2025
Peter Ackroyd’s book is a prose narrative version of Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th century epic poem The Canterbury Tales. Candidly, I purchased the Everyman Library edition but the middle English was too difficult to wade through and simply not much fun.
Chaucer used a framed narrative (a story within a story) to present an assorted collection of 24 tales and characters. This group of pilgrims were on their journey to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral and provides a depiction of the social and cultural aspects of the time.
These stereotypical characters (knight, wife, monk, doctor, lawyer, laborer, businessman, young women etc.) were drawn from across classes and occupations, allowed Chaucer to critique the issues and hypocrisy of the period. The organizations and people feeling the brunt of Chaucer’s satire was the church and corrupt clergy who used their positions for personal gain. And they were crushed throughout the story!
How did a 600+ year epic poem read? This book was just OK and is probably worth continual reading over the long term including the middle English original.
I what was sooooo surprised to see how frequently the story turned to sex, f-bombs and the c-word…. wait what??
Chaucer used a framed narrative (a story within a story) to present an assorted collection of 24 tales and characters. This group of pilgrims were on their journey to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral and provides a depiction of the social and cultural aspects of the time.
These stereotypical characters (knight, wife, monk, doctor, lawyer, laborer, businessman, young women etc.) were drawn from across classes and occupations, allowed Chaucer to critique the issues and hypocrisy of the period. The organizations and people feeling the brunt of Chaucer’s satire was the church and corrupt clergy who used their positions for personal gain. And they were crushed throughout the story!
How did a 600+ year epic poem read? This book was just OK and is probably worth continual reading over the long term including the middle English original.
I what was sooooo surprised to see how frequently the story turned to sex, f-bombs and the c-word…. wait what??
Read
December 6, 2025Not uninteresting, but perhaps unnecessary. Ackroyd omits some things and adds some others (at least some things not found in either the Ellesmere manuscript or the current Harvard webpage). He leaves out the prose tales--Melibee (delivered by the pilgrim "Chaucer" in the original version) and the Parson's tale (admittedly very heavy going in the 21st century)--and adds little things like the speaker walking away from the Parson's Tale and going to pray, casting the retraction ("Heere taketh the makere of this book his leve") as the essence of the narrator's prayer, followed by the addition of the narrator going back to his horse. All the way through I couldn't help thinking that Ackroyd must have had great fun doing it but I remain uncertain that it needed to be done.
February 21, 2021
According to many of the able reviewers, there is a problem with translation here, which things emphasized and which not. An overuse of the word "f-ck." I suppose that is inevitable with an undertaking of the kind. For me as a Chaucer layman we have here a fresh, updated take that I found incredibly valuable for accessibility. Not perfect, but well done all the same.
September 2, 2025
This new translation into thoroughly modern English does a great job of making it more relatable, less of the formidable literary monument that it really is and more like a set of cool stories, which it also is. I had lots of fun. The tales create a rich tapestry of medieval life, or at least, aspirations (infinitely obedient and cheerful wife, right?). They are charming, inplaces hysteically funny, and overall are pretty neat.
January 9, 2024
The translation was stilted and not good, and for someone who claimed that he wanted to update the writing for modern audiences, he sure left a ton of very obnoxious, nonsensical tense switches mid-paragraph.
March 24, 2018
Easy to read , prose re-telling of the classic . Good for beginners , I intend to move to the modern English translation ( verse translation ) after this followed by the original ( Middle English )
August 13, 2020
This is my first time reading Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, so I can’t comment on Peter Ackroyd’s translation. However, the style of the text is easily accessible for a modern audience, written in delightful and humorous prose. Although some of the tales are obviously more captivating than others, they each offer an interesting insight into the different aspects of life in Medieval England.
Rating: 3.6/5
Rating: 3.6/5
May 20, 2025
There was no way I was going to be able to read the original. I might as well have tried reading it in french for how much I would have understood. Ackroyd's retelling made it possible to understand and appreciate the stories and the characters without feeling like I was drowning.
July 14, 2011
I took a class in Middle English in college, and quickly realized that it was about as comprehensible as Dutch. Unlike Shakespeare, Middle English has to be translated. Too bad, because what I read of The Canterbury Tales seemed interesting.
So when I saw this at the library, a translated retelling of the classic Medieval document, I decided to give it a go. As many people know, it's an anthology of stories told by fellow travelers who are on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Many of the tales are lewd and bawdy, and Ackroyd uses the appropriate Anglo-Saxon four letter words when applicable. Many of the tales have religious overtones, as fitting for a 14th century novel. But most of all, they're an interesting window into a misunderstood time.
What I liked most about this novel were the references to stories from antiquity. At one point, someone is speaking of ancient heroes, and he references a song with the line, 'Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules' this delighted me, because I know the song they're talking of, and as an American I rarely have the feeling of being part of a people with a long history. I think I learned quite a bit about the middle ages from this. For example, I didn't realize that there were so many different types of clerics. It was like trying to compare different types of beer or something. This one does what now?
I can't say I really liked the stories very much. As when I read the Bible, or any other centuries' old literature, the hatred, bigotry, anti-semitism and most especially the misogyny revolted me. The "perfect" heroine is like a fem-bot. She's flawlessly beautiful, completely obedient, has no needs or desires save obedience, and she never complains when you beat or torment or mistreat her. Look, she didn't even complain when you murdered her baby! What a perfect woman! She thinks she's dirt! How humble! Why can't all women be like that! The medieval hero slaughters all who come across him, unless he sees a pretty teen, in which case he convinces her that unless she fucks him, he will die and it will be all her fault.
I was struck, too, by the similarities between the medieval English culture and certain modern cultures which also praise religiosity and obedience. Everyone is obsessed with whether a man is cuckolded. Almost all the men are extremely jealous. And no wonder, when even the 'heroes' of some stories care as little about whether the Miller's daughter wants to have sex with him as whether the apple wants to be eaten. She says "no" when he rapes her, but in the morning she's calling him "lover." Yuck. Wives are miserable because they want their husbands to obey them and be faithful, and husbands are miserable because their wives aren't obedient and faithful. No one is happy.
It's also amusing the way that the characters will interject opinions as they tell their stories. It's not enough to describe the way the evil mother-in-law frames her daughter-in-law for murder, the narrator has to go on at length with heavy metaphors to let us know that she's a viper. Sometimes, this hyperbole got a little out of hand. Near the end, I found myself skipping ahead to find out which story the Host judged the best (never did say).
In summary, it's a little dry and exaggerated for modern tastes, but it's a nice peep into the lives of people seven hundred years ago.
So when I saw this at the library, a translated retelling of the classic Medieval document, I decided to give it a go. As many people know, it's an anthology of stories told by fellow travelers who are on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Many of the tales are lewd and bawdy, and Ackroyd uses the appropriate Anglo-Saxon four letter words when applicable. Many of the tales have religious overtones, as fitting for a 14th century novel. But most of all, they're an interesting window into a misunderstood time.
What I liked most about this novel were the references to stories from antiquity. At one point, someone is speaking of ancient heroes, and he references a song with the line, 'Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules' this delighted me, because I know the song they're talking of, and as an American I rarely have the feeling of being part of a people with a long history. I think I learned quite a bit about the middle ages from this. For example, I didn't realize that there were so many different types of clerics. It was like trying to compare different types of beer or something. This one does what now?
I can't say I really liked the stories very much. As when I read the Bible, or any other centuries' old literature, the hatred, bigotry, anti-semitism and most especially the misogyny revolted me. The "perfect" heroine is like a fem-bot. She's flawlessly beautiful, completely obedient, has no needs or desires save obedience, and she never complains when you beat or torment or mistreat her. Look, she didn't even complain when you murdered her baby! What a perfect woman! She thinks she's dirt! How humble! Why can't all women be like that! The medieval hero slaughters all who come across him, unless he sees a pretty teen, in which case he convinces her that unless she fucks him, he will die and it will be all her fault.
I was struck, too, by the similarities between the medieval English culture and certain modern cultures which also praise religiosity and obedience. Everyone is obsessed with whether a man is cuckolded. Almost all the men are extremely jealous. And no wonder, when even the 'heroes' of some stories care as little about whether the Miller's daughter wants to have sex with him as whether the apple wants to be eaten. She says "no" when he rapes her, but in the morning she's calling him "lover." Yuck. Wives are miserable because they want their husbands to obey them and be faithful, and husbands are miserable because their wives aren't obedient and faithful. No one is happy.
It's also amusing the way that the characters will interject opinions as they tell their stories. It's not enough to describe the way the evil mother-in-law frames her daughter-in-law for murder, the narrator has to go on at length with heavy metaphors to let us know that she's a viper. Sometimes, this hyperbole got a little out of hand. Near the end, I found myself skipping ahead to find out which story the Host judged the best (never did say).
In summary, it's a little dry and exaggerated for modern tastes, but it's a nice peep into the lives of people seven hundred years ago.
February 28, 2017
Peter Ackroyd's translation makes for quick reading and is easy to understand. I can't comment on the accuracy of the translation as this is the only version of the Canterbury Tales I have read but I can advise that I enjoyed it more for having read Peter Ackroyd's biography of Chaucer just prior, together they are a good series.
July 14, 2021
I read this retelling side-by-side with the original Canterbury Tales as my first time reading the classic work of English literature. It was a wonderful way to experience the work. Ackroyd does a fabulous job at staying very true to the spirit of each tale while telling it in more modern prose with language and sentence structure that feel more natural to a modern reader. There are some great lines and snappy wit. He really made these characters come to life and made it so I could enjoy the original Middle English tales a lot more.
July 10, 2020
"I am tired of stories about patient wives. They do not exist. Take my wife, for instance. Go on. Take her."
How much money do you think it would take to have Peter Ackroyd narrate my life?
Ackroyd's The Canterbury Tales was one of the most entertaining things I've read all year. Although I will always reread the original over and over, I would easily feel comfortable telling someone unfamiliar with Middle English to start with this rendition. I hadn't read "The Canterbury Tales" in almost ten years and I had so much fun reliving these stories and characters with Ackroyd. Of course, my favourite tales are still the Franklin's Tale and the Reeve's Tale (that poor baby…).
I also really enjoyed how Ackroyd dealt with Chaucer's unfinished tales, especially the Tale of Sir Thopas. They weren't just left hanging. The transitions between an unfinished tale and the next tale were actually some of the most humorous parts of the book.
Just a side note. I don't quite understand the amount of anger towards this book in the review section. Yes, there are differences between Ackroyd's retelling and the original. A retelling is not a translation. If you want a direct translation, buy a Norton.
I want to end off with these two quotations:
Women: "Have no fear of your husband. Even if he were clothed in full armour, the arrows of your eloquence would get through the chain-mail. Make him jealous. Or - better still - accuse him of something! Then he will be as still and frightened as a little bird." (232)
Men: "Suffer your wife to speak, as Cato tells us, and fulfil her commands. Of course, if you are lucky, she may even obey you on occasions." (237)
Someone needs to compile a book of Chaucerian marriage etiquette.
How much money do you think it would take to have Peter Ackroyd narrate my life?
Ackroyd's The Canterbury Tales was one of the most entertaining things I've read all year. Although I will always reread the original over and over, I would easily feel comfortable telling someone unfamiliar with Middle English to start with this rendition. I hadn't read "The Canterbury Tales" in almost ten years and I had so much fun reliving these stories and characters with Ackroyd. Of course, my favourite tales are still the Franklin's Tale and the Reeve's Tale (that poor baby…).
I also really enjoyed how Ackroyd dealt with Chaucer's unfinished tales, especially the Tale of Sir Thopas. They weren't just left hanging. The transitions between an unfinished tale and the next tale were actually some of the most humorous parts of the book.
Just a side note. I don't quite understand the amount of anger towards this book in the review section. Yes, there are differences between Ackroyd's retelling and the original. A retelling is not a translation. If you want a direct translation, buy a Norton.
I want to end off with these two quotations:
Women: "Have no fear of your husband. Even if he were clothed in full armour, the arrows of your eloquence would get through the chain-mail. Make him jealous. Or - better still - accuse him of something! Then he will be as still and frightened as a little bird." (232)
Men: "Suffer your wife to speak, as Cato tells us, and fulfil her commands. Of course, if you are lucky, she may even obey you on occasions." (237)
Someone needs to compile a book of Chaucerian marriage etiquette.
February 9, 2022
Not sure who this book is for or, rather, who would really get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I’ll admit up front that I’ve never read the Tales in their entirety until now—and I guess I can say I still haven’t since Ackroyd decided to cut the Parson’s Tale because…it’s too boring? At least that’s how I read his flimsy explanation. But if I weren’t already predisposed to dig deeper into a text like this, nothing about this version would compel me to or give me reason to think that doing so would be interesting. The lack of explanatory/analytical notes on the stories and the pretty bland authorial voice puts a lot of weight on the plots of these stories, some of which can handle it and some of which can’t. I’ve been listening to an older recording of a class on Chaucer at some Ivy League that’s convinced me I just need to shoulder my way through the original text; the passages the professor reads can be beautiful and very funny, making Ackroyd’s claim that he tried to imbue his retelling with some of Chaucer’s poetic verve pretty laughable.
Anyways, I was skeptical, and I was right to be, but I may end up using one or two of these versions in the classroom, depending on my students and the time that’s available.
Anyways, I was skeptical, and I was right to be, but I may end up using one or two of these versions in the classroom, depending on my students and the time that’s available.
February 14, 2014
Since I didn’t have to learn French to read “Madame Bovary” or Russian to read “War and Peace” I’ve always wondered why academics think we should only read the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English with its archaic words and cryptic spelling. Most of us have slogged through a page or two of that and given up. Enter Peter Ackroyd with a wonderful prose translation into contemporary English of Chaucer’s most famous work. I’ve always wanted to know why this book so famous; it sounds so very old-fashioned and out-of-date. What I found was a book that was written 600 years ago with large parts that seem as if they were written yesterday. The Wife of Bath’s tale will still make you laugh. Chaucer also writes about a pilgrim named Geoffrey Chaucer who gets interrupted halfway through his tale by the other pilgrims because he’s soooo boring. How meta-modern can you get? And Chaucer worked blue, the tales are surprisingly full of four-letter words and dirty jokes for a group of people on their way to visit a religious shrine. My next hope is that Ackroyd will translate James Joyce into English. I’d really like to get past the first chapter of “Ulysses” someday.
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