Cosmo Digital

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer
Page Count: 614 pages
Review originally written 3-23-2003

Even now, over two months after having finished this book, I still do not know wh I chose to read it. I do not know what interested me in Chaucer's epic work in the first place, but for some inscrutable reason I decided I would read the thing, and that I would read it in its entirety, in Middle English.

Now, the Middle English decision was not just because I delighted in counfounding myself, nor because I wished to read something that none of my classmates would be able to decipher. The reason for this came when I was at the library, looking through two versions of the tale and noticing they were quite different, indeed. Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales during the 14th century, during the Era of Middle English. Since then it has been translated into Modern English, and in order to retain the meaning the syntax has been changed around in many of the lines. This normally wouldn't be a problem (It wasn't when I read Le Mort D'Arthur by Mallory, which was written less than a hundred years after Chaucer and still in the Middle English period) except that the vast majority of The Canterbury Tales are written in rhyme. When the syntax is changed, the rhyme is altered, and thus the book loses its poetic effect. I did not even realize it was supposed to rhyme until I looked at the Middle English version of it! The rhythm also makes the tale easier and quicker to read through, at least in my opinion.

And so I made the decision to read the original, Middle English version of the Tales. This was also more than a leisure read for me; as part of my AP English class, I chose this for one of the independent reading selections. Of course, I procrastinated for the longest possible time at reading the book, taking about a month to get through just the prologue, which was only about twenty seven pages long. Even this small amount of progress was for naught, for by the time I picked up the book again, I had forgotten the characters and thus had to reread the whole thing. Also, due to the fact I procrastinated so much at it, I ended up having to read 500 pages in one week in order to finish it by the time the independent reading journal was due. Needless to say, it was not the most pleasant way to spend Spring Break. Even then, I put it off, and was forced to read 80 pages of it the day before the journal was due. I did manage to finish it in time, however, and I will say it was a great feeling when I put the book down, knowing I did not have to pick it up again.

That is not to say that The Canterbury Tales was horrendous to read. On the contrary, some of the tales were quite hilarious and enjoyable to read. The Miller's Tale, in particular had me laughing, when the guy gets hit with the hot poker. It was quite bawdy, really. There were a very wide range of tales in the book, told by a cast of very interesting characters. I found the interaction between the characters to be as interesting, or even more so, than the stories themselves.

On the whole, The Canterbury Tales was an interesting read, and a good primer in Middle English. In general, I am satisfied with having read it.

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