The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer

It's been a while since I revisited the father of English literature and his Medieval rhyming poems remain as entertaining as ever. This edition was a translation by Neville Coggeshall, therefore not the Old English one might expect. (I personally don't have enough time in life to wade through that any more.) The book begins with a bunch of pilgrims congregating in a tavern at Southwark, all bound for Canterbury. The landlord of the tavern, identified as the Host thereafter, suggests that they travel together and engage in a storytelling competition along the way. The band embodies those from stations high to low: nobility and peasantry, holy and vulgar, and everyone in between. The frame narrative of the pilgrimage serves to unite each of the tales, the contents of which are normally reflected by the person telling it. For instance, the Knight's tale is a classical romance on courtly love, whilst the Miller's is a bawdy yarn replete with farts and smut.

This is the second time I have reviewed The Canterbury Tales, the earlier instance being at an age when I was still struggling to get to grips with the language. This translation does the job for those who can't be bothered with the original. It can be read at a brisk pace, delivering the stories succinctly whilst retaining something of the archaic essence. One complaint I have is that Coggeshall sometimes omits whole stories, ones he believes will be too tedious for a modern reader. The Host himself does something similar, occasionally interrupting a storyteller if the tale proves long-winded or not to his taste. Fie on a humble translator for attempting the same! Whilst a lot of the moral virtues are hugely outdated now, there are many laughs to be had in place of what were originally serious sermons. Chaucer good naturedly offers an apology, or Retraction, at the end, lest his crude material caused offence. Good to read out loud, with a drink (of corn-ripe ale).

Rating: 3/5