Reviews for The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling

The average rating for The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-08-15 00:00:00 Patricia Creamer 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:My konnyng is so wayk, O blisful Queene, 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. Ackroyd translated this verse into prose this way: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.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-03-02 00:00:00 E N Marshall [Take the rooster Chanticleer in the Nun's Priest's Tale. Chanticleer is described by Chaucer as "feathering" his hen Pertelote twenty times and he "trad [trod] her just as often." Ackroyd translates this as "He put his wings around Pertelote, and fucked her, at least twenty times." Ackroyd argues in his introduction that "trad is a euphemism for sexual intercourse." Perhaps, but it is also a quite literal description of how birds mate, complete in Chaucer's version but not in Ackroyd's, with the ecstatically fluttering feathers and wings that anyone familiar with chickens'or city pigeons'will easily recognize. Then there is this odd omission: In the Merchant's Tale, the straying wife tells her husband that she has to climb a tree to get fruit because she has a craving, implying that she's pregnant--which is why at the end of the story the husband forgives all and (in the original) strokes her womb. Here is how the wife describes her craving for fruit: I telle yow wel, a womman in my plit May han to fruyt so greet an appetit That she may dyen but she of it have.Closely translated: "I tell you honestly, a woman in my condition may have so great an appetite for a fruit that she may die unless she has it." Ackroyd renders this as "For the love of heaven help me to this fruit. I might die otherwise." Not a word about cravings or conditions or hubbies rubbing possibly pregnant tummies. (hide spoiler)]