Peter AckroydThe Canterbury Tales: A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Whan that Aprill with his shoures sooteThe droghte of March hath perced to the roote,And bathed every veyne in swich licourOf which vertu engendred is the flour,Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breethInspired hath in every holt and heethThe tendre croppes, and the yonge sonneHath in the Ram his halve cours yronne…Thus begins the first great English poem. “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer (circa 1343-1400) wasn’t the first poem in what we call Middle English, nor did it cause English to become the official language of the British Isles. What it did do, says author Peter Ackroyd in his modern English prose translation, was mark the emergence of English as the language that was becoming what most people spoke. The royal court still conducted its business in French, but that, too, was changing.It is a work that stopped as a work in progress. Chaucer completed the General Prologue and less than a third of the planned 120 tales, stories told by a group of pilgrims traveling to and from St. Thomas Becket’s shrine at Canterbury Cathedral. The pilgrims represent virtually all levels of society – merchants, knights, religious figures, tradesman, lawyers, doctors, and more. Chaucer didn’t confine himself to men—in fact, the Wife of Bath is one of the most memorable characters in the entire poem, with a prologue that is the longest of any of the tales.Americans are usually introduced to “The Canterbury Tales” in high school. It’s not a work for children. I read and was taught the General Prologue as a high school freshman; we read the entire work in senior English class. I attended an all-boys public high school, and no other work experienced the enthusiasm that “The Canterbury Tales” did for a class of 17-year-old boys. We read it in verse (likely the 1951 translation by Neville Coghill, still considered one of the best) and most of the class also bought a modern prose translation.Our teacher, a sweet, soft-spoken soul in her early 60s who loved English literature, was perhaps the most courageous teacher I had. To teach the tales of the Miller, the Reeve, the Friar, and the Summoner to some 30 teenage boys is, in retrospect, amazing. These four (and others) are ribald, risqué, vulgar, shocking, coarse, and wildly funny. Recently rereading the work, I laughed out loud at the crucial scene in “The Summoner’s Tale,” in which a corrupt friar experiences well-deserved revenge.What I did not know was that the manuscripts of “The Canterbury Tales” are numerous and fragmented. We do not have one completed manuscript that Chaucer left for posterity. Instead, we have fragments, with some tales revised and others left incomplete. It’s clear he was revising as he wrote. The first printed version we have was by William Caxton in 1478, and it was based upon a now-lost manuscript. (A 1985 edition of the “Tales” translated by David Wright is organized by fragments, and gives a good idea of what scholars and translators have to deal with.)It is still a remarkable work. Chaucer had one of the most varied careers imaginable—royal page, soldier, writer, customs house administrator, songwriter, landlord, diplomat, member of the king’s household, and, of course, poet, among others. Latin may have been the language of the church and French of the court, but Chaucer chose to write in English. English was on the rise, and Chaucer’s writing rose with it. And his insights and understandings of people at all levels of society likely comes from that varied and extensive career.Coghill’s 1951 translation is still in print; I saw it at a bookstore just three weeks ago. And Ackroyd’s “retelling,” as he calls it, is an excellent modern prose translation. Be forewarned: Chaucer’s Middle English might mystify us but Ackroyd’s English makes words very explicit. We can imagine why Chaucer’s songs were sung all over England during his lifetime.And it’s no wonder that Chaucer was popular with a class of 17-year-old boys.

This particular modern-day translation is delightful. Preserving original word meanings, it manages to keep the beauty and flow of the original language, but in modern English. I was soon howling with laughter at the Wife of Bath's saucy advice on what women really want (I always admired her) and snorting at Chaucer's clever asides. Seems that Chaucer, like his female character, had insightful, modern ideas about women and their relationships with men. Every time I read Canterbury Tales I'm in awe of his genius. Also, I'm always startled to see how many old jokes (Take my wife! No, really..PLEASE take her!), sayings and ideas come from the tales.

I was quite impressed with this book. The pace, the story rendering and the capturing of Chaucer's humourin modern language was enlightening. I had read Chaucer, in middle english and in various editions, butall readings were literary and thus distorted by the sainthood bestowed upon Chaucer. Going back afterenjoying Akyroyd's rendering illuminated both the Original in Middle English and fine tuned the rosonancestherein. Highly recommended, especially for anyone making a first foray into the tales.

I used Peter Ackroyd's "retelling" of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as a guide to reading the original. It was very helpful in that light as I frequently struggle to capture a plot twist or understand a subtle turn of phrase and Mr. Ackroyd mostly came to my rescue.But I'm not clear if he expected or wanted people to read his tales on for its own sake. Did he see this volume as a guide or was he hoping that people who couldn't stomach reading a middle English version or a straight modern English version to find his version a stylish and naughty alternative, bringing the fun back to reading Chaucer.I'm not sure he succeeded with any of that but for my purposes, it was a useful guide but I won't remember reading it. I will remember the stark beauty of reading an emerging language that penetrated my brain only in bits and pieces, leaving it jolted, confused and stunned at characters six centuries old appearing as alive as friends and family.

Chaucer's masterwork is difficult for the modern man as it is written in a language more alien than Russian or Chinese to the average American. Peter Ackroyd's retelling opens these marvelous stories to the masses.

This is the best version of the Canterbury Tales I have ever read.

Excellent translation. Fun read.

But a little dry and tedious without the music of the original Middle English poetry. I recommend reading it along with the poem.

Easy read, prompt delivery

Just received the book, it was in quite good conditionAll that is required is to read it now!

Everything ran smoothly

excellent simplification of texts

Excellent interpretation into prose.