The Canterbury Tales [Blackstone]

By: Geoffrey Chaucer

Narrated by: Martin Jarvis, Jay Carnes, Ray Porter, John Lee, Malcolm Hillgartner, Ralph Cosham, Simon Vance

Length: 20 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

At the Tabard Inn, 30 travelers of widely varying classes and occupations are gathering to make the annual pilgrimage to Becket's shrine at Canterbury. It is agreed that each traveler will tell four tales to help pass the time and that the host of the inn will judge the tales and reward the best storyteller with a free supper upon their return.

Thus we hear, translated into modern English, 20-some tales, told in the voices of knight and merchant, wife and miller, squire and nun, and many more. Some are bawdy, some spiritual, some romantic, some mysterious, some chivalrous. Between the stories, the travelers converse, joke, and argue, revealing much about their individual outlooks on life, as well as what life was like in late 14th-century England.

©2003 Gavin Menzies (P)2008 Blackstone Audio

Classic for a reason

Mostly entertaining, though some tales drag on. Great performance of incredibly influential cultural work, a window into Medieval daily life.

Great performance

I enjoyed listening to the multiple narrators bring to life the pilgrims and their tales. The first few tales and the Wife of Bath’s prologue and tale were the best. The Manciple’s tale ( before the long Parson’s sermon at the end) was also interesting.

Chapters out of order! Beginning is in the middle!

The prologue setting the book and the introduction to the characters of the book comes IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAPTER 69! I could really have used this information at the beginning of the book, where it was supposed to be.

well read, hard to navigate

The chapter breakes made no sense. Prologue was in the middle instead of beginning. I don't know if it downloaded funny or what but the prologue was put at the middle chapter 69ish. I liked the various readers and the story is classic. if you are familiar with the stories it is fine, but if you want to find and listen to a specific one you will get frustrated as audio breakes are not aligned with text beakes

Sometimes the shorter version is better

I have read The Canterbury Tales several times but never, evidently, were all the tales included as they are in this edition. I see why they usually leave out some of the more tedious ones. I got tired of the repetitive religious rhetoric and the Solomon says this and that, then someone else says this and that, and on and on.

What a waste of time and money

What would have made The Canterbury Tales better?

The story was still difficult to understand. I think that the fault was really the way it was written rather than the performance

What do you think your next listen will be?

not sure

Would you be willing to try another one of the narrators’s performances?

yes

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Canterbury Tales?

i couldn't finish it

Any additional comments?

disappointing

Great work, great narration, but in wrong order

Originally recorded by Blackstone audio excellently, on tapes. Clearly audible put the tapes in the wrong order. I think the whole work is here, but am not sure.

not an audiobook for Atheists.

Would you try another book from Geoffrey Chaucer and/or the narrators?

Chaucer? no. the narrators? yes, they did a great job.

What do you think your next listen will be?

probably something by Robert A. Heinlein or Penn Jillette

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

one of the narators was John Lee. I LOVE John Lee, I love his voice, I love his range, I love how he brings what he is reading to life. John Lee's reading of Alistar Reynolds books is what made me buy this audio book. and the first Canterbury Tale, the Knights Tale, was almost all I could have hoped for!the other narrators do a good job as well. but the subject matter started to turn my stomach.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Canterbury Tales?

this is a hard question to answer. it's well written and translated from ye olde french to modern English. the flow and the prose are acceptable, even as gruesome and gossipy as the stories get, that is not my problem.I am an Atheist. I was in training to be a priest, until I actually started to READ the bible. then I read other versions of the bible... if the bible is the Literal Word Of God, why the hell are there so many different version? and why are there so many religions Based On The Same God?Had Chaucer not invoked "the one and only true Christian God" so dam much, I would have enjoyed this book. the performances are excellent, the prose, flow and rhyme are very well done. I have no issues with thee's and thou's and inasmuch's.

Any additional comments?

from a historical perspective, this is a good book. but Every Freaking time they mention "GOD" it makes me wanna puke just a little bit more.it is kind of like having a ladies husband walk into the room just after you start making love to her, it ruins the mood when she starts lying that she did NOT invite you in, she did Not wear her best teddy for you, and her husband isn't willing to listen to your counter arguments...not that I have that problem very often, I'm just using that as an example of how constant repeated references to an imaginary friend take me out of the story and make it hard to enjoy.

Avoid at all costs

Fine performances. But this racist, sexist, anti Semitic dreck isn’t with your time. Get your teeth pulled without anesthesia. Put your head in a vice. You’ll enjoy it more.