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Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0140424385
ISBN-13: 9780140424386
Feb 2003
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
528 pages
Penguin Classics Series
Language: English |
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Details
Synopsis
The "Canterbury Tales" were originally planned to include over 100 stories, but Chaucer completed only 22. The device of using a pilgrimage as a setting for the telling of tales was not uncommon--medieval pilgrims traditionally told stories to liven up the long trek--but Chaucer's version is infinitely more sophisticated, matching the teller and his tale in a way that greatly enriches the content. This, and the interactions between the pilgrims, give the "Canterbury Tales" the complexity of a good novel. The Tales reflect Chaucer's wide experience with all levels of English society: the royals, the aristocracy, the clergy, the middle class from which he came, and the lower classes, for whom he invariably shows sympathy and understanding. They are also notable for the dialogue that is set up about marriage, its virtues and liabilities, and the proper role of husband and wife--giving the work a coherent unity and an even greater resonance.
| Details | | Series: | Penguin Classics Series |
| Size | | Length: | 528 pages | | Height: | 8.0 in | | Width: | 5.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 12.8 oz |
Industry Reviews
"As a fact of literary history, Chaucer was one of the most original men who ever lived. There had never been anything like the lively realism of the ride to Canterbury done or dreamed of in our literature before. He is not only the father of all our poets, but the grandfather of all our novelists."
G. K. Chesterton
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