The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer)

Written in the 1380s, The Canterbury Tales may be one of the earliest tales to popularize the Middle English vernacular (vs. Latin or French) in written form.  Thus, it's not surprising that some view the author, Chaucer, as a tremendously important figure in the development of our modern tongue.  To this end, GK Chesterton called him the father of the English language.  That's why it's important- but what is it about?

In The Canterbury Tales, a group of religious pilgrims from all walks of society (to include a knight, cook, nun, priest, merchant, reeve, and so on) gather outside London to do a pilgrimage to Canterbury, to the shrine of Thomas Becket.  The host of the inn where they gather decides that they should entertain each other with stories along the way, with the best storyteller being granted a free meal at journey's end.  After this introduction, we're taken right into the sequence of tales.  Originally, the host states that everyone in the party should tell two stories- one on the way out, and one on the way back- but the book ends without everyone telling even one tale (24 are told in total), and before arriving at Canterbury, for reasons I don't know.  Some of the tales went unfinished, so perhaps Chaucer didn't have time/desire to see it out.  Almost all of the tales are told in rhyming verse- impressive.

The tales themselves are pretty good.  Some are more interesting than others, which is to be expected when you have this number of "sub-stories" in a volume.  There's a nice mix of tragedy, cautionary tales, fables, comedy, etc.  The wisdom contained in some is decent and timeless.  Overall, they're entertaining.  I was a bit surprised by the raunchy nature of some of the tales, but I shouldn't have been.  Humans have always been inappropriate, no matter what stereotypes exist of a given age.

One final thought: reading a work over 600 years old means, even though it's in English, it's not really in English we can understand.  Thus, the translation becomes important.  I chose to read the "Oxford's World Classics" version (pictured).  I'm no expert on the different versions available, but I found this one excellent.  Where possible, the translator retains the original rhyming scheme, and modernizes the English.  Purists might get angry at this, and insist on reading a more literal, less readable translation- but I found this take fantastic.

Rating: B