eBook Chaucer download

A very savvy analysis of Chaucer, Chaucer's genius and the age from which it emerged, as well as ("Whatever the self describes describes the self" ~ Jacob Boehme) a revealing portrait of Chesterton himself, the towering intellect - along with his friend/rival G.B. Shaw - of his own age. It is an opinionated book - some might say stuffy - but the opinions are well considered, more wise than merely smart. I dug it.

You can't beat Chaucer ~ and at this price for the kindle edition, nothing compares ~ more free than a library book, even!

a good short introduction to Chaucer

Quite honestly, I only read this (and only part of it) because It's mentioned in The Music Man and I'm in the production and I was curious. I must admit, however, that I only made it through the first three pages.

Having majored in British Literature, we (I) read Canterbury Tales. All I can say is I didn't get it. Much later, having read by then quite a bit of Chesterton, I fell upon this biography in a friend's bookshelf, and was stunned. When I read it, all I thought was I wish I had read this back in university before I read the CTs. It would have cleared up so much, as well as putting things in perspective. What I mainly noticed after reading the CTs, is how often they pop up in popular culture. For instance, the Miller's Tale is mentioned in the song "Whiter Shade of Pale".

I'm reluctant to give this five stars because of the signal that may give the reader. Is this the best book ever written on Chaucer? the prospective reader may ask. I really don't know. But as with all of the Chesterton I've encountered, it's got a unique take, a unique angle. It's like Chesterton is strolling down an English road with Geoffrey Chaucer, or noisily clinking pints with him at an Inn. GKC makes GC present, or, if you like, the other way round. GF brings GKC into his world, and it is a world GKC is easily at home in.

I read this in a British Faber paperback. The disclaimer I would issue applies to all new paperback publishers and e-book makers of today. That is simply that, since this book is out of copyright, anyone can scan and print it. If they do so, it introduces scanning errors. What makes a particular version a quality edition is simply that they very carefully tried to edit out the errors. Therefore, when it comes to reprinting books, it's all about editing. The Faber edition was very clean, which is to say well-edited. I know nothing of the publisher of this paperback, so caveat emptor, "buyer beware". They may, for all I know, have done a very decent job of editing out errors introduced by the scanning process. I hope so.

That aside, here are two reviews garnered from the Faber edition. "One of the most outstanding books ever written on Chaucer." -Phillip Tomlinson in the "Observer". "A page of Mr. Chesterton's is far more illuminating than most of the books of Chaucer's other critics put together." Lord David Cecil in "The New Statesman". Faber and Faber first published the book in London in 1932. The Faber paperback edition I read was published in 1962.