The Canterbury Tales (original-spelling Middle English edition) (Penguin Classics)

The Kindle Penguin edition of THE CANTERBURY TALES in the original Middle English cannot be beaten at the price. Every non-modern word is defined in a note, sometimes at the rate of three definitions a line.Download a sample to see how the lines look. They're quite readable on the Kindle though often they have to be bent in two because of their length. You'll have to trust me that the definitions are good: they are, but you can't get to them on the sample.But for 95 cents, hey. Complete, and with a good introduction. The notes are well-linked and easy to get to once you have the complete etext.A quarter of the book is language notes, word definitions. Another quarter is historical and social notes. These are keyed into the language notes, but you'll have to get to them by using a bookmark in the notes. They're quite thorough and helpful.I'd have bought this edition at ten times the price, like a shot. Fanatical Kindle user that I am, I think the printed text would be slightly easier to handle, but you'd need two bookmarks there, so maybe not.

I bought the Penguin Classics version. You will not find a thicker Penguin Classic (maybe War and Peace).This book has 1253 numbered pages (the first pages are in roman numbers). The story ends at page 783. The rest are a ton of notes and a glossary.

This version of The Canterbury Tales is fantastic. It is in the original Middle English so it is mostly understandable. For words that are significantly different from their Modern English counterparts, it contains not only a glossary in the back, but also picks out some of the more challenging words to gloss as footnotes. It contains extensive notes in the back that help you understand the references the text makes and the world in which the book was written.The reason this book is a 4 and not a 5 is because of the physicality of the book. It is the size of a small brick, which is fine, but it is not made out of materials that are particularly durable. I am careful with my possessions, but ripped the cover on the first day. I am afraid that since it has so many pages but is not bound well or with a more durable softcover that it will get really beaten up. Still, the pages are thicker than ultra thin "Bible pages" so I am at least not worried about ripping them.I would highly recommend purchasing this edition over other versions of Canterbury Tales, but be aware that is a particularly fragile softcover.

Here is a brief synopsis.At the Tabard Inn, a tavern in Southwark, near London, the narrator joins a company of twenty-nine pilgrims. The pilgrims, like the narrator, are traveling to the shrine of the martyr Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The narrator gives a descriptive account of twenty-seven of these pilgrims, including a Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Prioress, Monk, Friar, Merchant, Clerk, Man of Law, Franklin, Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer, Tapestry-Weaver, Cook, Shipman, Physician, Wife, Parson, Plowman, Miller, Manciple, Reeve, Summoner, Pardoner, and Host. (He does not describe the Second Nun or the Nun’s Priest, although both characters appear later in the book.) The Host, whose name, we find out in the Prologue to the Cook’s Tale, is Harry Bailey, suggests that the group ride together and entertain one another with stories. He decides that each pilgrim will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. Whomever he judges to be the best storyteller will receive a meal at Bailey’s tavern, courtesy of the other pilgrims.I won't go into detail about all the tales that are told except to say that I found them witty, entertaining, and thoughtful.

This is an unbelievably great edition of The Canterbury Tales. All I wanted was the original, complete version with definitions for archaic words. But the Penguin Classics edition was all I could find, so I got it. It comes with over 500 pages of extras!!! Super-detailed notes, a great glossary, and lots on Chaucer, his times, literary genres, etc., etc. Multiple interpretations are given for parts scholars don't agree on. I can't believe I paid $80 for the Riverside Chaucer in college! ...which I later sold back for much less. This edition blew me away, and it's relatively cheap.If you haven't read Chaucer and want to read him in old English, it's tough at first, but it gets easier with practice. There are long tales, short tales, noble tales, bawdy tales, etc. If you just want to read a few, there are cheaper paperbacks with just a few. If you want the complete tales but not the essays and things, they exist, but they're more expensive than this edition!

I was excited when I read the first review which said this was written in Middle English. I thankfully read the comment under that first one which (in a round about way) warned that not all versions were in Middle English, some had been modernized.I was particularly interested in the Kindle version because the low price of 99¢ made it appealing. I already have Danachair's free Kindle version of the tales that has been modernized, so I was hoping for a version that was in its original Middle English. It is with great disappointment that I say it is not what I had hoped for.It's written well, better than Danachair's. It's clear and concise as well as line by line, but it IS in modern English. Be careful which version you buy. One paperback version is in Middle English, but not the Kindle.

CLÁSSICO.

I HAVE JUST FINISHED THE FIRST TWO TALES OF THIS MASTERPIECE. ACCORDING TO ME THE KNIGHT'S TALE DESERVES SPECIAL ATTENTION AS IT UNFOLDS THE MUTABILITY OF FATE AND CHANCE WHEREAS THE MILLER'S TALE SATIRIZES KNIGHT'S TALE IN A VERY JOLLY MANNER. IN BOTH TALES THE WINDOW PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE.BOTH FOLLOW THE ETERNAL TRIANGLE MOTIF.

Such a great book and such a great and complex story.

(The below refers specifically to the Penguin original spelling edition edited by Jill Mann).Like many people approaching The Canterbury Tales for the first time, I was put off by the Middle English syntax and spelling and so initially planned to use one of the several modern 'translations' of Chaucer's famous masterwork. I read numerous renditions of the famous opening lines, however none had the power or impact of Chaucer's actual words, so I decided to give the original a go.I'm glad I did, as after about 5 pages I had gotten used to the strange spellings and was soon engrossed in the book. And that's basically it in terms of difficulty - the spelling. Much of it is phonetic or immediately obviously (e.g. 'rede' for 'read', 'werkd' for 'worked' 'lond' for 'land' etc.), and there's also an extensive glossary at the back to refer to, as well as very helpful footnotes on each page. It's no more difficult than reading the phonetic Scots in an Irvine Welsh novel, say. After that, there is the occasional archaic word as you'd expect, however as a logophile I quite enjoyed learning these and seeing how they related to modern English. In fact, Chaucer's vocabulary and style is very simple and straightforward, and once you get past the spelling it’s much easier to read than Shakespeare I found.The book itself can seem quite intimidating upon arrival - it's a thick brick of a thing at 1,326 pages. However this is a tad misleading, as 541 of the pages consist of very detailed notes, a glossary, the introduction etc. and the Tales themselves are printed similar to a poem in columns. The Tales are also line numbered and so this edition would suit those using this for academic use. Clearly a hell of lot of work and scholarship has been put into this by Jill Mann and this is pretty much a definitive edition as far as I can tell.And the Tales themselves? I'm about halfway through so far and very much enjoying them. They're essentially a collection of stand-alone short stories, linked via the framing device of each pilgrim reciting a story. Some are reworked from Greek myths and the like, however I have most enjoyed Chaucer's original creations drawing on his own observations of English life. His descriptions are very vivid, and the tales are full of humour and provide a fascinating insight into medieval society, most famously perhaps in the General Prologue which introduces the pilgrims as they set out from Southwark. The tales are also often very bawdy - full of sex, nudity, drinking, and even fart jokes. Not exactly highbrow!In conclusion, if you wish to read this classic of English literature I would strongly recommend that you give the original a try - you won't regret it.

Arrivato in tempo ma copertina leggermente graffiata, del resto bel libro robusto e ben stampato ! Tre stelle per i graffi !