The Canterbury Tales

A New Unabridged Translation by Burton Raffel

By: Geoffrey Chaucer

Narrated by: uncredited

Length: 22 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. The Tales gathers 29 of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble Plowman. This unabridged work is based on the new translation.

©2008 Burton Raffel. All rights reserved. (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America

Rated M for Mature

Geez, talk about bawdy!! I read this because it is one of the "Great Works" of English Literature but I was not expecting the subject matter to be quite so vulgar at times. There is definitely no Shakespearean subtlety here; don't expect many euphemisms to describe sexual acts. However, there were many stories that I think explain why this has been such an enduring work over the centuries. And I suppose, as a window into the common folk of the late medieval period of England, it's probably a pretty useful resource. That window is colored by Chaucer's own experiences and biases, but still. The fact that such a vulgar book became so widely distributed back then speaks to some of the cultural norms of regular folk in that time, I guess. To that end, I honestly didn't mind the moralizing too much (though the values regarding women and slavery can sound also sound jarring to modern readers) as it was a necessary respite from the likes of The Miller, etc. I'm no scholar, but I'm glad to have actually read this for myself.

a modern translation

sometimes it was a struggle to get through it since many tales aren't famous for a reason (downright boring) but the makers of this audio book did do the best they could. I would recommend this to a student who has to study the whole of the Canterbury Tales but needs it in plain understandable language. one thing that bothered me was that the author didn't manage to keep the rhyme scheme.

Mostly good

Mostly entertaining, last chapter nearly kills it...drones on and on to where you almost want to turn it off.

great stories, great voices but

yes, I love the fairly current updated language makes this much easier to listen to than the old version I have on my shelf. yes, the voice actors do great jobs of making the stories come to life.

but, sadly, some of the production is lacking. the chapters seem to break for time rather than a more conventional end of story. I had to put in bookmarks with notes at the beginnings of stories since the producers failed me. there are a couple of places with odd volume changes that are also distracting.

overall, I highly recommend this still. the issues taken up by the characters hundreds of years ago are usually still issues today. despite great advances in quality of life it is nice to know we aren't that much different from our ancestors.

Worthwhile

Listening to this performance is my first exposure to the Canterbury Tales. I do not regret committing to listening all the way through, but about half of this was pretty heavy and boring to slog through with no discernible narrative or purpose.

It is interesting to see how little humans have progressed since the writing of these tales and even earlier, as the sources of wisdom the tales draw from are chiefly from Greek and Roman times, and of course, the Bible. Looking back into the past to the time these tales were written I see a clear reflection of modern human nature that is instantly relatable. At their height, these tales can teach valuable lessons in s surprisingly entertaining way through a cast of vibrant characters.

At their low, however, the tales are little more than droning background noise. The final three hours for example offer no narrative or useful purpose, but are instead a religious diatribe recounting all the various ways one sins and the proper corrective action. There is little redeeming value in such a long, heavy handed examination of sin, and its inclusion really feels off key with the tone of the rest of the tales. I would therefore encourage all to skip the final two and a half chapters (roughly speaking).

This leads to another issue. The chapter formatting splits the book into eighteen roughly one hour and twenty minute long chapters without regard to the structure of the writing itself. It would be much better if each tale was separately contained into its own chapter. There are many tales I would not mind revisiting but I cannot remember where they are (or honestly what some of them are even called).

The performance is great, the voices provide an energetic reading even in the driest of tales.

Overall, the experience was pretty good and I would recommend it to anyone to go through once. I'm sure everybody will be able to find a favorite tale they would like to revisit.

Translation- not ME

It’s a good translation, and well performed.

I doubt that many people will share my disappointment that this audio version isn’t in well-performed Middle English. But for those few of you, be aware that this is translated throughout. There is no “Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour;...”

What else could you want?

This is a solid, thoughtful piece of world literature. It is often entertaining. There is a lot of sermonizing. If it is true that the thing you remember is the last three minutes of an experience that determines if you remember it all negatively or positively then I would expect this to be remembered negatively. Then last tale is not a tale. It is a serman on sin and repentance.

But, it is 22 hours of thoughtful poetry and prose that I always remember favorably. Expect many sides of the experience of love and lust. Chaucer portrayed the range of social classes and the range of the search for closeness.

I enjoyed the modern translation and the performance of the voice talent.

multiple narrators.

Canterbury Tales unabridged version doesn't stand up to time. Women are no longer considered property of men and Slavery is illegal.

A caring and active reading of a classic

Clear, in rhyme, this is a performance of a classic that brings the world of Chaucer to life. I love everything about it and not so different from our own time. From stories of family to legends of horror Chaucer had it all.

Lack of coherant "chapters"

This is a wonderful reading of Chaucer's tales. The different narrators really bring each of the stories to life. I have read this book (or sections) numerous times and I have to say that this translation was by far the most easy to understand and the most engaging. I really recommend this version of Chaucer's tales. The only problem I had with it has been mentioned by others (Audible, take note) the chapters are not designated by book, but by presumably Audible's convenience, that means, you cannot skip around to different tales, you have to listen to it front to back. This was irritating, and is the only reason I give it less than 5 stars.