Geoffrey Chaucer Books

I (or the powers that be) left out an "is" in the last sentence of my review. I would appreciate a correction.

Thanks!

Lucidly, entertainingly, and meticulously, Wallace dismantles popular notions of Chaucer and (more importantly for medievalists) of the traditional division between the medieval and the early modern worlds. By tracing Chaucer's interaction with "Trecento" authors, he charts the poet's interest in a society organized around "associational forms" (the model for this is Florence) versus one structured around a single and despotic ruler (the model for this is Milan). Although many chapters focus on specific tales, Wallace does a great job of reading across all of Chaucer's works to argue his point, and the book moves in a natural progression through various themes and dialectics. (I'm thinking here of two chapters in particular: "Powers of the Countryside" and "Absent City.")

In sum, for anyone who wants some good beach reading, you should buy this book and cancel your trip. Wallace's meditation on Chaucer serious and important; it should not be taken lightly.

This is a great place to start for anybody interested in the influence of alchemical symbolism on english literature. The alchemists (and especially those who produced alchemical texts) did all kinds of strange, obscure, difficult, puzzling, and therefore fascinating things with language. This fact was not lost on the many important literary figures who never got their hands dirty but found alchemy useful as a theme or symbol in their work, and as this book demonstrates they had many good reasons to take an interest. So will you. Alchemy has been too long neglected as a key element in the religious life of the renaissance and after, and the texts of literary authors dealing with alchemy are an important source for our understanding of this--which still has yet to be fully researched and explained. This book is an important first step, and hopefully will inspire many future studies.

Occultists and spiritual alchemists with an interest in literature and the history of alchemy will find much of value here, although it does not speak to the post-19th century occultist reading of alchemy as much as the renaissance and medieval tradition.

Linden is probably one of the few serious scholars to have taken into consideration the importance of the use of alchemical registers in various central works of late medieval and early modern English literature. Together with an impressive knowledge of the fundamental and less known works of sixteenth century English alchemy, Linden provides his readers with a fisheye view on the idiosyncratic uses authors like Chaucer, Donne, Herbert and others, have made of basic alchemic concepts. The text is important for those scholars and amateurs of the field who still think that alchemy occupies a central position in the "languages", in Pocock's words, spoken in Early Modern England. A work of admirable seriousness and impressive documentation.

I read this in one sitting. Was incredibly entertaining and I wish Matt the best of luck.

The author has a great voice, the writing is excellent, and there's good storytelling and pacing. Vincent is a great, smart character and he engages you right off the bat. All good things, and the author shows a lot of real promise.
I really never expected to be so entertained by a 10 year old with his own arsenal. Very recommended.

Dr. Cannon's book is the result of 10 years of research. His study of Chaucer spans two continents and was conducted at Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford. His writing style is elegant and erudite.

A substantive work of scholarship by a Lecturer in English at Oxford University. Dr. Cannon's challenge to the conventional view of Chaucer as "father of English poetry" should find readership among the intellectually curious, as well among serious students of the origins of modern English.

I was one of the many students privileged to learn Chaucer from Professor Huppe. His love of the subject was apparent and deep. When he read the opening lines of the 'Canterbury Tales' in his rich resonant voice you could sense the greatness of true poetry.
Huppe was not only a teacher of Chaucer but was also an eminent Chaucer scholar as this book shows. Huppe developed along with Robertson of Princeton the Robertson- Huppe thesis as to the real meaning of Chaucer. Essentially this is the Christian approach which ees Chaucer as primarily presenting a vision for the believing Christian.
This thesis has been of course often disputed. But whether one buys the overall thesis or not ,Huppe's insights on Chaucer are
interesting, and his understanding , deep and fundamental.

I studied Chaucer with Professor Huppe at SUNY Binghamton many years ago. He was an inspiring teacher, whose love of literature and especially Chaucer radiated through his every carefully measured and richly rounded utterance. His reading of Chaucer is the well- known Robertson- Huppe theory in which they see Chaucer as fundamentally a Christian religious artist. The comedy and the irony, Chaucer is so rich in, are in this interpretation a way of forwarding a fundamentally religious view of the world.
Whether one agrees with this interpretation or not Professor's Huppe great knowledge and love of the subject guarantee that this work will provide for every lover of Chaucer rich new meanings and interpretations.

This is an excellent book about the literary tradition of misogyny (hatred of women) in Europe. I first encountered this book in a Chaucer course, and it opened up a whole new vision of interpretation of classical and medieval materials and further forward through literary history. This book is a definite must for anyone studying history, literature, or for that matter, life in general, as it brings forth some of the origins of misogynist ideology.

Woman Defamed and Woman Defended is a highly useful book for anyone interested in the medieval querelle des femmes or in women's history. It gathers together the major Late Classical and Medieval writers who addressed the issue of women's place in the world, allowing one to read the relevant excerpts without having to hunt through all of those writers' works (which can be a very daunting task in the case of someone like Ovid or Augustine). As the title suggests, the book highlights not only women's detractors, but also their defenders (including proto-feminists such as Christine de Pizan) to counter some of the nastier misogynistic passages. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of gender in the West, especially those who confine the main part of their work to the 19th and 20th centuries. The Western so-called "war of the sexes" has its ultimate roots in this material, despite the way that (in my experience) it is often ignored or glossed over in classes that deal directly with gender.

This treatment of F. Scott Fitzgerald's connection to the medieval period opens new territory in Fitzgerald studies and in Chaucer studies as well. With the current attention to early 20th century medievalism and its influence on such authors as Hemingway, Chopin, and Fitzgerald, this book is cutting edge.

I've long wanted to read The Canterbury Tales but it's a daunting task to get through the print version. Listening to a narration makes it far more accessible. I tried a different audio version and gave up part way through the first tape -- the reader was awful! It took a while to track down this version, which is far far superior.

The narrators are among the best in the business (any regular audio book listener will recognize the names of the readers, George Guidall, Davina Porter, Barbara Rosenblat, et al). The enliven the book and make it quite easy to understand (well, relatively so!)

Best of all, each tale is preceded by an explanatory introduction that helps to explain the story to come, and adds a few interesting bits of background that enhance the experience.

If you are ever tempted to read this famed work, this is the way to go!

If you, reader, are willing to put a little time---not that much, really---this is your "Canterbury Tales." The editors have kept most of the Middle English, with modern typography and some modern spellings, and have put the glossary, those needed words, to the side of the line of verse. I found this helpful. I could reach the Middle English and glance to the margin for help here and there. The introduction has help on pronunciation. In the end, I was reading aloud to myself in middle English and found the text no more slow-going than other English-language poetry, easier to reach and understand than John Donne.

I discovered that the work is, in Middle English, funnier than the translations let on. The rhymes themselves are humorous. The poem also is earthier than the translators suggest. Why don't you memorize and recite the opening in Middle English. Amaze your friends. Be the life of the party. Come on, what else were you going to do with your time?

As a teacher teaching five completely different literature and writing classes to all ages of students, finding Litplans has been a life saver! Preparing literature studies is extremely time intensive and I am working from ground zero this year in a non-public school setting. What I have really enjoyed about the Litplans is the versatility of the material. I am able to pick and choose exactly what I need for the different levels I am teaching. I am also able to insert my own personal material into the Litplan material if we have covered some aspect not addressed in the Litplans. The material is extremely thorougb ans set up in such a way that it may be modified with every subsequent presentation.
I have even visited the website for this product and purchased more plans. I highly recommend this product to anyone faced with the challenge of developing quality literature curriculum for their classes or simply wishing to supplement what they are currently using.