Chaucer Books

This review relates to the volume -Geoffrey Chaucer:
Love Visions/The Book of the Duchess; The House of
Fame; The Parliament of Birds; The Legend of Good
Women-, Penguin Classics, Translated with an Introduction
and Notes by Brian Stone. 1983. 262 pp.
This volume is a modern English translation of Geoffrey
Chaucer's four "love visions." As Brian Stone says in
the Introduction: "The four long poems presented in
translation span nearly the whole of Chaucer's working
life. *** Chaucer was the fourteenth-century [Middle]
English poet who, basing his work on that of his French
and Italian peers and also, like them, on the work of
the classical and late Latin poets, created highly
original narrative poems, with a skill in story-telling
in which he equalled , if not surpassed his masters.
Ovid, whose outlook on women and sense of the great
variety of life including the absurd, make him of the
ancients most akin to Chaucer, may beat him for
sensuousness and richness of detail, and Virgil and
Dante for high seriousness and epic scope, but Chaucer
offers a subtle humour which enhances the seriousness
and complexity of what he has to say, as well as a
kaleidoscopic range of tone and subject matter."
Each of the four poems has an excellent Introduction.
The four poems are: "The Book of the Duchess"; "The
Book of Fame" (which is subdivded into 3 Books); "The
Parliament of Birds [Fowles]" (the shortest of the
poems); and "The Legend of Good Women", which has
a Prologue; then meeting of Chaucer with an angry
God Of Love who threatens to take revenge on Chaucer
for writing poorly about the powers of Love, and
causing wise people to withdraw from Love's rule,
thinking that "a person is a perfect fool/Who loves
intensely with a burning fire." Then Queen
Alcestis intervenes on Chaucer's behalf and tells
the God of Love to be "more reasonable" (a lovely
bit of irony). Chaucer has offended the God of

Love by his translation of -The Romance of the
Rose-, and his writing of the poem of -Troilus
and Criseyde- in which he portrayed love and
women in a poor light. In compensation, Chaucer
awakens from his dream concerning this meeting
with the God of Love and Alcestis and begins his
"Legend of Good Women", which is subdivided into the
sections titled: "The Legend of Cleopatra, Queen
of Egypt, Martyr"; "The Legend of Babylonian Thisbe,
Martyr"; "The Legend of Dido, Queen of Carthage,
Martyr"; "The Legends of Hypsipyle and Medea,
Martyrs"; "The Legend of Roman Lucrece, Martyr";
"The Legend of Ariadne of Athens"; "The Legend of
Philomela"; "The Legend of Phyllis"; "The Legend of
Hypermnestra." There are excellent Notes from page
233 253, a Select Bibliography, and an Index of
Proper Names.
These works are very accessible and highly enjoyable
and insightful. For many who might "pass up" on
Chaucer because of the "Middle English difficulty,"
this volume will soothe all your fears and delight
your intelligence and your sensibilities. For these
Modern English translations are excellent, and are
in poetic format [not prose], but they are not
stilted or hard to understand.
-- Robert Kilgore.

I first discovered Robert Lacey as an author from his book 'The Year 1000'. Interesting, accessible, easy to follow, with a good balance of detail and breadth (always a tricky task when writing a popular history), that book was one of my favourites around the turn of the second millennium. I discovered this book on the shelves of my local library, and have found it equally worthwhile and fun to read.

This book concentrates on the late Middle Ages to the post-Reformation era in English history - in royal terms, the times of the end of the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Interregnum and Glorious Revolution (which a history professor of mine once intoned dramatically, 'was neither glorious nor a revolution'). In years, this goes from the late 1300s to the late 1600s.

One of the things that I like a lot about this particular history is that the stories are brief and self-contained while being part of the overall flow of the history of England. They make for good bed-time reading (the longest of the stories is barely seven pages long, in easy print and easy, storytelling language). Many of the characters are already familiar figures even to those who aren't Anglophiles - Joan of Arc, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth the First, Shakespeare, King James and the English Bible. Then there will be figures that are lesser known but just as interesting - the Roundheads and Cavaliers, Rabbi Manasseh, Titus Oates, the Bloody Assizes. These are tales told in a simplified but memorable manner, and could serve for younger and older readers as a stimulus for further reading and investigation about topics brought up in the text.

There are a few maps, royal lineage charts, and woodcut/line art drawings throughout the text. Lacey includes a bibliography for further reading (this contains a good number of website addresses for making further research very easy). There is also an index, which many popular histories forget, but Lacey is to be highly praised for including one here, making looking up particular names, places and events very easy.

Not in every case and not with every poet but in general this is an anthology which chooses the best short poems of the greatest lyric poets in English and American Literature. The reading of it can itself provide an education in poetry at the highest level.

Fisher's study summarizes quite well the important canons of Chaucerian biographical and critical interpretation for the past five hundred years. His concluding chapter notes especially well Chaucer's achievements at almost the very beginnings of English literature: the creation of the individual in literary representation; the use of ambiguity, irony, and satire; the creation of voice, one transcendent to style; the Chaucerian musings on the supreme subject of love. I am not aware of another, more readable study than this one by John Fisher.

[this is a review in progress, to be continued and revised]
Here's a very impressively-researched and well-illustrated book (and given the high quality of illustrations, many in color, reasonably priced). She claims Shakespeare was a life-long secret Catholic. Others have claimed this before. Surely he was baptized as such and had family members and friends who evidently were still Catholic when that was illegal in England. But his book goes beyond that, claiming that Shakespeare studied in continental European colleges set up for English Catholics. She claims much else too. It may suggest caution that she claims to have discovered so much: who was the Dark Lady of the Sonnets (Southampton's wife), which four portraits are genuine (and others not), and even what disease she thinks he died of--and more! (Even if he had the disease, which I'm not qualified to evaluate, it does not necessarily follow that he died from it.) So one might think that's just too much to believe, and, perhaps, though I don't know this, she might want him to be a Catholic, to claim him. But all that said, and even if some of her claims are speculative, she offers pretty good evidence for some of these claims. Less persuasive speculations include what life situations gave rise to some of his writings--occasionally possiblilty but not necessity--and whether or not he wrote a sonnet copied on a painting that forms part of the "Dark Lady" identification; if his sonnet, it is not among his best.
It is at least quite plausible that shakespeare had more education than grade school would have provided. And he could not have attended Oxford or Cambridge without taking an oath of loyalty to the Queen and the Church of England. Though perhaps one could argue that he was merely an avid reader, largely self-educated, I think his apparent education is one reason that so many theories have been proposed and enthusiastically promoted that really Francis Bacon or de Vere or Marlowe (with a supposedly faked death) or someone else really wrote Shakespeare. Years ago I read several of these alternate author scenarios and conspiracy theories, all of which I found, besides being contradictory, unpersuasive. Also, there's the relatively sparse documentation of his life--lesser authors contemporary with him left a bigger personal paper trail. For some reason--temperament or a need to hide his religion, or both?--he kept a low profile, especially considering that he was a writer and actor. When asked to write a poem honoring Queen Elizabeth, who persecuted Catholics, he declined. That last item is merely circumstantial evidence, but she piles up many such circumstances, and she gives a plausible chronology of his trips to Europe, even giving plausible names and photographs in the school registers that he might have used to prevent English spies from identifying him. At a minimum, she has reopened some old questions in an interesting way, and has provided at least some new relevant evidence. Even at that (tentative) minimum appraisal, that's remarkable, I think, especially when the subject has been investigated before as much as Shakespeare has. (A review of the earlier German edition by E. A. J. Honigmann and her energetic response to the review is available online.)

The thesis of Sagar's "Literature and the Crime Against Nature" is that literature has a crucial contribution to make in helping us to recognize and reaffirm our relationship with nature, showing us that in a deep and primal way, our emotional well-being depends on our willingness to embrace the earth-bound, natural part of ourselves.

Sagar takes on a penetrating exploration of the writings of Shakespeare, Aeschylus, Euripides, Coleridge, Conrad, Golding, Lawrence and Hughes, as well as others, bringing to the surface the unifying theme running through their works, namely, the need to nurture our ties with the natural world, and the perils that ensue when we split ourselves off from our sensual selves.

Anyone who loves literature and seeks a deeper appreciation of the truths in these great literary works, or who has a curiosity about their own instinctual nature and their relationship with the natural world will be enriched by this book.

It would be impossible to treat of the concept of Magic in medieval romance tales without reading Michelle Sweeney's excellent study. Exquisitely readable, informative and wonderfully researched, I read it during a most pleasant weekend. I have already added it my required reading list here in Ann Arbor. Good one! Karla Taylor

I read this book some time ago and still recall it for its refreshing and scholarly take on an area of Chaucer's work that is, I think, underrated. A compelling and informed writer, Ruud is able to present the value and beauty of Chaucer's lyric poetry in an accessible, but not patronizing, style. This is definitely one for your library if you can procure it.

For years I've been searching for an update to CD technology of something comparable to Caedmon's spoken word LPs and cassettes. I wore out my cassettes, but I surmise the company no longer exists, no CDs available anywhere. But now Cambridge University Press has started releasing Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Middle English. I miss good old Jess Bessinger's voice and verve and facility for pronounciation, but A. C. Spearing's performance of this gem of the Caunterbury Tales is well worth the price of purchase.

A. C. Spearing "reads" the Miller's description from the General Prologue and the connecting links between the Knight's Tale and the Miller's Tale. I say "reads," but this CD thankfully avoids the classic blunder of many online sound files read by professional academics (and I say this as one myself) that correct pronounciation is great, but too reverential an attitude toward the work can lead to a boring and godawful monotone. Spearing has fun with this. I may miss Bessinger's delight behind his delight behind his tale-telling, but Spearing never forgets to enjoy one of the funniest stories ever set down writing. His adds his own attitude behind the words (different from Bessinger's but no less arch) and that makes for a good listen. I think he equals or even bests Bessinger with his vocal characterizations of Hende Nicholas, "yonge wyfe" Alisoun, squeamish and amorous Absolon, and especially old carpenter John which are gems of comic performance. These are the real strengths of Spearing's version.

Along with Cambridge's Wife of Bath CD, these are a very welcome addition to scholars, students, and Chaucerians everywhere. It's been long overdue. Thank you Cambridge and A. C. Spearing. Let's have more.

I like mysteries with psychological twists,that keep me guessing,and this one fits the bill. I liked the story set at a psych hospital, as I found it interesting. Very colorful characters, and a convoluted storyline. I also like the fact that Kendall does not allow her handicap to hamper. Also the poems, written from a Schizophrenic point of view. This mystery is an unusual mix of suspense,humor,sex and serious issues. I'm looking forward to the sequel, and as there are still questions left to be answered re: these characters. I want to know what happens next.