Geoffrey Chaucer Books

Neither my kids or I found this story very engaging. Just not interesting enough to keep anyone's attention for long. Pretty boring.

Chanticleer and the Fox, an adaptation of the Nun's Priest's Tale, is a simple and delightful tale with a moral (or three) at the end. Chanticleer and the other characters learn about the dangers of failing to be watchful, talking when one should be silent, and trusting in flattery. Barbara Cooney's illustrations are simple and warm, yet she gives a glimpse of what life might have looked like for a family in the Middle Ages. The book is suitable for an early reader or for reading aloud to younger children, although older children and adults would enjoy it as well. If you want more Chaucer for older children, without the rhyme or Middle English, you might want to try The Canterbury Tales, Retold by Geraldine McCaughrean, Illustrated by Victor G. Ambrus. Some material in that book, however, might need some parental guidance for younger readers. Chanticleer and the Fox is appropriate for children of all ages.

I have been looking for Newberry and Caldecott Award books for my 4 children and was happy to find this Caldecott Medal book from 1959. I love Barbara Cooney's "Miss Rumphius", and this adaptation of the Nun's Priest's Tale from Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" was a delightful way to introduce my children to some classic literature. My girls got a glimpse of medieval times from the story and the illustrations, and I loved the simple way Barbara Cooney brought out the industry and economy of the poor widow as she takes care of her children, livestock and house. The pictures are precise and brilliant, but not overpowering. The description of Chanticleer elevates him from an ordinary rooster to a work of art. The story has the virtue of pointing out the folly of listening to flattery as well as the value of quick thinking on Chanticleer's part in a perilous situation. I didn't like the reference to trusting in dreams (nightmares), but felt I could incorporate it into a teaching point as I read it to my children. All in all, I am glad to add it to our collection.

I like this book as much as the next reader but why isn't Chaucer's name even on the edition I bought.

I realize that it isn't anyones fault because the illustrations kind of do steal the show, like all books illustrated by Barbara Cooney, but I still think the author should have some recognition.(Also, why does Chanticleer have more than one wife).

Who would have thought that a Canterbury Tale would prove appropriate for children? Illustrator Barbara Cooney has adapted the "Nun's Priest's Tale" to picture book format, turning it into a tale that warns against flattery. I'm just glad she didn't think of adapting "The Wife of Bath" tale. Thank goodness for small favors, eh?

In this story a widow and her two daughters live by themselves in the countryside. The focus of the story rests squarely on their cocky (ha ha) rooster Chanticleer. A bird with a harem (the book flaps description, not mine) of seven hens, Chanticleer has a fairly restive life. One day, however, a sly fox comes with flattering words and tricks poor Chanticleer into closing his eyes. It is only through the rooster's quick thinking that he is able to escape the fox and get away.

I've never read the original tale, so I'm not certain how this story adds up against it. Needless to say, I found it a funny amalgamation of several Aesop stories. Flattery was always utilized by Aesop in ways similar to this tale. In fact, Chanticleer's escape from the fox is nothing so much as an alternate version of the old story about the fox and the crow with a hunk of cheese. Cooney's illustrations do much to help this tale along. Using gorgeous pen and ink drawings and selective sections of color, this books at times looks like nothing so much as a collection of cheery Edward Gorey prints. The tale is quick and clean and I imagine many children will be fond it this particular retelling. All in all, an enjoyable book.

Professor Condit has written an inventive book, but it does not do justice to modern literary criticism. Its creativity is not faithful to Chaucer or to what we have learned about his life and his world in recent decades. Professor Condit often seems to have let his imagination get the better of him, at the expense of accurate and thorough historical and literary exposition.

Chaucer is a wonderful author. More people should read the Canterbury Tales. This book, however, will turn people off Chaucer. It seems to have been written from a 1950s perspective, and so is 50 years out of date. The author seems very pleased with his own ideas, but manages to ignore the wealth of good scholarship that would show his ideas to be outmoded at best, and just plain wrong at worst. This book is written from a privileged white-male perspective, and many readers will be repulsed by the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) sexism and racism that pervades it. Stay away. Read Chaucer himself, instead.

Even a student who had trouble understanding the Canterbury Tales could read this book in a long weekend and come away with a deep appreciation for Chaucer's work. I read this book in three days, and learned more about the Canterbury Tales than I had in a full-semester Chaucer course. I got an "A" on my final exam, largely because of what I learned from this book. And what's even more incredible is that I actually found myself ENJOYING the Canterbury Tales after reading this book!

My advice to college students: read this book BEFORE you sign up for a Chaucer course. You'll do better as a result.

My advice to professors: read this book and learn to teach as well as Condren writes!

After reading Chaucer and the Energy of Creation one comes to have a greater appreciation for subtle yet complex artistry that Chaucer demonstrates in Canterbury Tales. The vast majority of books that deal with Canterbury Tales concern themselves with individual tales that go to make up Canterbury Tales, Chaucer and the Energy of Creation goes a step further by relating the significance of the order of tales and how they work to develop Canterbury Tales as whole unified work. Condren convincingly charts out how he believes Chaucer is following a design similar to one set forth by the great medieval poet Dante in his Divine Comedy, namely Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. In the process of articulating the design and order to Canterbury Tales, Condren provides intriguing interpretations to particular tales that have long troubled critics. After reading this book one cannot help but admire scholarship that went into producing Chaucer and the Energy of Creation, because it provides a vision of Chaucer's artistry that makes one come to understand why he is one finest poets to ever grace the English language, or the world for that matter.

Condren's book will enhance any reader's appreciation of the Canterbury Tales. Whether you are a student who finds Chaucer remote and hard to understand, or a scholar seeking fresh perspectives, you will find this book an invaluable companion to the Canterbury Tales. This is not a book of obscure theory: it is the kind of scholarship that enhances the reader's enjoyment of the poet's work. Neither a simplistic mere retelling nor a complex rehashing of obscure literary theory, Chaucer and the Energy of Creation explores the Canterbury Tales both as a series of engaging individual poems, and as a single coherent whole deliberately designed as such by Chaucer. Finding parallels with Dante's design of the Divine Comedy, Condren explains the Canterbury Tales in a way that is consistent with established scholarship, while extending that scholarship in new and fascinating directions. This is a must-read book for anyone who wants to gain a deeper appreciation of the Canterbury Tales.

I picked this book up quite by chance and find that I've read the second book in a series of three.

Written within a light, but informative, framework of history the story moves quickly enough to maintain interest but not so quickly that connections cannot be made and tested. As in Chaucer's written legend itself, this book is more about bad men than good women. Or is it?

Entertaining and well written: I'll be looking to read more of Master Chaucer's adventures. Whether or not they feature bad fish and fallen statues.

A recommended light read.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Even though he is old and sickly, Edward III of England is still intent on continuing his never-ending war with France. But in order to do that he must have money. And so, Geoffrey Chaucer is sent, once again, on another diplomatic errand. This time to Florence in order to secure the money that his king needs from the rich Lipari Bank. But even though the banker Lipari may be willing to throw caution to the wind and lend the English king the money he needs, others are eager to thwart this new venture; and Chaucer soon finds himself mixed up, not only in dangerous Florentine politics, but also in the strange and acrimonious relationship between the Lipari brothers, and murder...

I have to admit, I was really disappointed with this mystery novel, especially since I had enjoyed the first book in the series so very much. As a mystery novel, it rated a very bland 2 stars, while as a historical novel, it rated about 3 stars. The thing is that was a very sterile and bland read. After a very promising and intriguing read, everything just fizzled. There was no tension or suspense, and the plot kept going backwards and forwards -- and sometimes in a very confusing way. So that for a novel that featured the fascinating Geoffrey Chaucer as chief protagonist, and that was supposed to take place in Florence during the exciting, early stages of the Renaissance, this was really irritating. The other problem was that characters were not properly developed -- too many remained enigmas like the young woman who appears at the beginning of the book but doesn't make another apperance until the near end; also certain plot motifs were never properly developed as well -- the strange and acrimonious relationship between the two Lipari brothers, for example. So that all in all, what with the lack of supsense, excitement and tension; the not properly developed characters and storyline; and all the to-ing and fro-ing, I'd have to vote this a very disappointing 2 1/2 star read

Phillippa Morgan's second novel in the three set series takes our intrepid Geoffrey Chaucer to Florence, the thriving, bustling city in the outset of its famous Renaissance (14th century) and once again the "Father of English Literature" is involved in a complicated, convoluted murder mystery.

Our hero, who's yet to pen more than a few lines on his own series of tales (after all, it's only the middle of the 14th century!), is on a diplomatic mission to bankers of Florence for his king, Edward III, who's so in over his head in his own wars with France that he desperately needs the money. This mission should be simple--just secure the papers for the loan and Chaucer can get back to his wife and family in London.
Alas, though, as readers can expect, it's not quite so simple. Murder will out.

As with Chaucer's own "Canterbury Tales" (but certainly not anywhere near the same degree!), Morgan's medieval mystery story not only addresses the subject of murder but looks at social, economic, and religious issues and injustices. Chaucer is set to finalize proceeings with the banker Antonio Lipari, one of the financial leaders of Florence. Before the transactions can be completed, Antonio is found dead, apparently killed by a toppled statue in his own villa. Of course, owing to the nature of Morgan's genre (a murder mystery!) and to the story's plot development, Chaucer suspects foul play and the story moves rapidly from this point. It's up to Chaucer to find the murderer.

However, before the story is neatly and deftly finished (it's a murder mystery!), Morgan provides us with a melange of characters, some good, noble, and bad, most of whom have a credible motive for killing Antonio, including Antonio's blind brother, his sister-in-law, his assistant, and a number of others (Morgan is quick to round up the "usual suspects"!). One disappointment is that Morgan does not provide our Geoffrey with his two trusty aides from the first book, Alan and Ned, but as it's been three years since Chaucer's last "mission," perhaps they've moved on to higher paying and safer jobs!

That said, "Chaucer and the Legend of Good Women" is a good read. Morgan's foray into historical, police-procedural fiction is a good one. She keeps the story going with Chaucerian humor and satire yet maintains the seriousness that a murder mystery should possess. Not deep--Morgan's not Umberto Eco--but few historical murder mystery writers are, this episode holds its own and, of course, readies us for the third installment Chaucer and the Doctor of Physic , set for a July, 2006, publication. Basically, the book is an uncomplicated fun read, one that captures the interest, imagination, and enjoyment of historical fiction fans! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

After reading it, I think that It is really a good book that can be bring intoschools to teach the students the proceesing of the English literature.Though, it still has some problems on reading books for the old words, its value can not be quoted.

I used Chaucer A to Z in both my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college where I talked a professor into letting me into his upper-level English course on Chaucer. I found the book to be a tremendous help in understanding what was going on in Chaucer's early works, like the Book of the Duchess, as well as giving me a greater understanding of each of the Canterbury Tales. Since none of the classes covered ALL of the Canterbury Tales, I was able to use Ms. Rossignol's summaries to find out what I was missing in the tales we didn't read. The information about Chaucer's life was also very helpful. All in all, this is a first rate book, the most comprehensive guide to Chaucer I have seen.

As anyone who has shopped through Bellerophon's fascinating catalog has learned, their "coloring books" are often enough targeted at those older than the usual Crayola age. Just as their "Infamous Women" and "Early Composers" titles are text-heavy, delightful reading for older kids or even adults, their Chaucer is primarily text: an inexpensive version of the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English, with original woodcuts by Caxton and other medieval artists. What would you ever use it for? Bellerophon doesn't care; they just offer it as it is. I used it, accompanied by a good recording of the GP, for introducing my 8-year-old to Middle English. She listened, read along, colored the woodcuts with pencils, and in the course of things memorized several dozen lines of Chaucer and came to love medieval poetry.

Don't hate Bellerophon for doing what they do: which is, producing out-of-the-ordinary, inexpensive "coloring books" for all ages.

This is a great book if the words of Chaucer are important to you--the "coloring" book is filled with text. The pictures are neat in that they're similar to wood-block prints that are contemporary to the period, but they aren't much fun to color, being that they take up a quarter of each page, at best, and aren't very detailed. It would be a great study aid for someone reading The Canterbury Tales, and interesting from a historical enthusiast's viewpoint, but not much fun to color, definitely for an older reader/artist, not really a kids' book.

I bought this book as a challenge of my English understanding a couple of years back.
I have started reading it but lost the enthusiasm after about the third of the book, and I didn't continue. Its a hard read, and you have to constantly look up Middle English words (there is a dictionary at the back, but I didn't find out about it till much later).
In the future I plan to buy a translated version (either into modern English or Hungarian).

The Canterbury Tales is Geoffrey Chaucer's collection of stories, with the device used being a group of pilgrims telling each other tales as they journey towards Canterbury. The group of travellers include men and women of different types and different occupations, so produces quite a few amusing and interesting moments throughout.

While you claim to have read it in "old English" in school, you most likely were reading an updated version as well. The original was in MIDDLE ENGLISH not Old English. And looks a little something like this...

Heere bigynneth the knyghtes tale.

Whilom, as olde stories tellen us,
Ther was a duc that highte Theseus;
Of Atthenes he was lord and governour,
That gretter was ther noon under the sonne.
Ful many a riche contree hadde he wonne,
What with his wysdom and his chivalrie;

Very little like your "old English" of the KJV Bible...

I had no idea that this was not the original text, but a translation from old English to new. I read the old English in high school and didn't have a problem with it, perhaps because I was used to the King James bible. I certainly am not going to read this translation and will put it up for sale. I really enjoyed the original text and prefer to read that.

I want to correct an earlier reviewer.

Chaucer wrote "The Canterbury Tales" in Middle English, not Old English. The King James Bible is written in Modern English.

Thanks as always to Dover for publishing this inexpensive and unabridged version (yes, in Modern English) of Chaucer's Tales. Unabridged versions have been hard to find at any price.

Despite the description on the cover, this volume does not contain Chaucer's original; instead it provides a very poor verse translation into Modern English, along with a prose synopsis. Don't be fooled; there are other parallel text versions that actually provide the Middle English original.

Item arrived very quickly and in condition as described by the seller. Thanks and will do business again!

This book is full of all the facts and details that you receive from the other Canterbury Tales books you get. It is a very good book, and needs to be recommended to people of all ages.

THIS WAS WRITTEN IN THE 1970S AT A TIME WHEN SCHOLARSHIP IN THE MENIPPEA WAS NOT AT ITS BEST... IT SUFFERS FROM COMING TOO SOON, PARTICULARLY WITH REGARD TO KIRK'S NOW FAMOUS BIBLIOGRAPHY. ONE OF MANY INTERESTING POINTS IS HER FORMULATION OF THE IDEA OF "MENIPPEAN TRAGEDY" OF WHICH THE EXEMPLAR IS HAMLET. WORK ON BOETHIUS IS NOT TOO BAD, BUT USEFUL FOR A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON CHAUCER