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The Canterbury Tales

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The Canterbury Tales

By: Geoffrey Chaucer
Narrated by: Philip Madoc, Edward de Souza
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About this listen

Chaucer's greatest work, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, paints a brilliant picture of medieval life, society and values. The stories range from the romantic, courtly idealism of "The Knight's Tale" to the joyous bawdy of the Miller's; all are told with a freshness and vigor in this modern verse translation that make them a delight to hear.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

(P)1995 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd,; ©1995 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. Classics European Poetry World Literature

Editor reviews

The five tales (not including the Prologue) of this production include a good mix of the stately and the satirical in Chaucer's masterpiece. Classical actor Edward de Souza delivers the "Knight's Tale" with appropriate nobility, while Anthony Donovan injects levity into the bawdy "Miller's Tale." In a similar pairing of opposites, the "Merchant's Tale" and the "Franklin's Tale" present contrasting views on marriage, though it might have been nice to include one of the tales narrated by women. Nonetheless, all six narrators are sensitive to the rhythm and rhyme of the translation, and the interludes of medieval music also add a splash of flavor.
All stars
Most relevant
I thoroughly enjoyed these classic tales, both funny and tragic, and am looking forward to listening to the next instalment.

A Pilgrimage Worth Going On.

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This is Chaucer as it's meant to be heard, a brilliant performance and translation from Ernest Hill, retaining the poetic rhythm of the original. Incredibly easy to listen to and a real delight.

Fantastic

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This is a well read collection of tales, although the rhyming words are occasionally (deliberately or accidentally) missed/unstressed by the readers.

The tales are in modern English rather than original chausarian English and it’s a shame the full tales are split into three separate audiobooks (from a buyers point of view).

Well worth a listen nevertheless!

Well read modern translation

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A really atmospheric performance by several different actors, all of whom have clear diction and clearly understand what they’re saying. This is a good modern English version which flows well and has satisfying rhymes. The sections contained in this part are
- the Prologue
- the Knight’s Tale
- the Miller’s Tale
- the Pardoner’s Tale
- the Merchant’s Tale
- the Franklin’s Tale
As with the rest of the Tales, they vary enormously in style, morality, world view and tone, which makes for a really varied and satisfying combination. Looking forward to the next part!

Varied and enjoyable

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