
The Canterbury Tales: A retelling by Peter Ackroyd (Paperback)
Geoffrey Chaucer (author), Peter Ackroyd (author)Published: 01/04/2010
Making a major part of England's literary heritage accessible to a new audience, Peter Ackroyd's The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling renders Geoffrey Chaucer's timeless tales in lucid, compelling modern English prose, with illustrations by Nick Bantock in Penguin Classics.
On a pilgrimage to Canterbury, a group of travellers agree to a storytelling competition. As they make their way on the road, they drink, laugh, flirt, argue and try to outdo each other with their tales. From the exuberant Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend to the Miller's worldly, ribald farce, these tales can be taken as a mirror of fourteenth-century London. Incorporating every style of medieval narrative - bawdy anecdote, allegorical fable and courtly romance - the tales encompass a blend of universal human themes, retold here for our times by bestselling author Peter Ackroyd.
The edition also includes an introduction by Ackroyd, detailing some of the historical background to Chaucer and the Tales, and why he has been inspired to translate them for a new generation of readers.
Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400) was an English author, poet, philosopher, courtier and diplomat, best known as the author of The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is credited as being the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language. The first poet to have been buried in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey, his other works include The House of Fame, Troilus and Criseyde and The Book of the Duchess.
Peter Ackroyd (b. 1949) is an award-winning writer and historian. Formerly literary editor of The Spectator and chief book reviewer for the The Times, he is the author of novels such as Hawksmoor (1985) and The House of Doctor Dee (1993), as well as non-fiction including Dickens: Public Life and Private Passion (2002), London: The Biography (2000), and Thames: Sacred River (2007).
'Ackroyd's retelling is compulsive, bold and rare ... as fresh as new paint'
Observer
'The only version to read'
Time Out
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780141442297
Number of pages: 464
Weight: 321 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 20 mm
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“Rude but good!”
This re-telling of the Canterbury Tales is a really good read. I'd suffered rather than enjoyed abridged versions of Chaucers tales during English Lit in school where the focus was all on the "old... More
“Brilliant service ”
I ordered this book on line to be sent to a friend which was greatly appreciated. She enjoyed the book very much and I was very pleased with the service and how quick it arrived to her.
“A superb edition which brings this magisterial book to life”
This edition simplifies the text so that it is easy to understand and follow but still feels fresh and straight out of the 14th century.
The Prologue, Miller’s, Summoner’s, Friar’s and Reeve’s Tales are wonderfully...
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