The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer, John E. Cunningham, Peter Ackroyd, Ted Stearn, V. A. Kolve, Glending Olson · first published 1478
21% recommend79% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Rich, varied tales that work well for learning Middle English, especially in dual-language editions with notes, and that show how people lived and related to each other in the past; some are bawdy and fun.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly in verse, although some are in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. In a long list of works, including Troilus and Criseyde, House of Fame, and Parliament of Fowls, The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus. He uses the tales and the descriptions of the characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society
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Since no one has mentioned them I just wanted to add "The Canterbury Tales" by Chaucer and "Beowulf" to the list. I've both read them in high school and liked them very much.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗Reading Chaucer is a good exercise for looking at how words are used, in "The Canterbury Tales" the word Horse is rarely (if ever, I'm not sure) used, instead very specific words are used to describe the type of horse in question Palfrey, Charger, etc. In the modern world, we are the same with…
on “The Power of Language” ↗…teaches. Plutarch is great, but I really like that period of history. To it I would add reading some of the earlier bits of Livy. Read, or better yet listen to audio of a few of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, out loud you can follow their Middle English. Machiavelli's The Prince is still damned good, and a landmark in talking about politics as it is, not as how people would like it to be. Shakespeare surely…
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗…Modern translations are great too. You can always go back and read more "faithful" ones. Some good examples are: The Divine Comedy (https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Dante-Alighieri/dp/0871...) and The Canterbury Tales (https://www.amazon.com/Canterbury-Tales-Retelling-Ackroyd-Cl...). That said, the best approach may be: don't worry about it. Sure you'll miss things, but you'll get valuable insights too.
on “Harvard Classics Book Download” ↗…this article started with an example from the middle ages rather than the ancient world, so lets look there as well. Medieval literature does explore human feelings quite deeply. The stories of Chaucer (Canterbury Tales), Dante (Inferno, etc.), and Boccaccio (Decameron) exhibit characters with a rich internal life. Arguing to the contrary mostly proves you have not read them. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_(Augustine)…
on “Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings? (2017)” ↗In a college language seminar we read The Tale of the Wyf of Bathe very closely in Middle English. The Canterbury Tales are a really great way to learn it, because they are so rich and varied and there are great dual language editions with copious notes. The big fat Penguin edition is fantastic. In general, poetry is…
on “Learn to read Middle English” ↗I’ve been reading a modern english translation of the Canterbury Tales, and once upon a time had to memorize the first part of the prologue in middle english. It’s nice to see some of the linguistic theory describing how the latter became the former. PS give a ME translation…
on “Great Vowel Shift” ↗I remember reading the Canterbury Tales in high school. Was just recently talking with my girlfriend how studying history and people's lives of the past puts our struggles we have in some context. The Canterbury Tales is a good example of that.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗Multiple re-reads: - Saga of the Exiles by Julian May, which merges science fiction with folklore/fantasy in Pliocene Earth - Hyperion by Dan Simmons, excellent SF with a feel of the Canterbury Tales about it - Neuromancer by William Gibson, plus the follow-ups (all the Sprawl) are very good too - The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner, about the eco collapse of the US in the 1980s (10 years after it…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗…an essay as anything scientific Some of my favorite books are old literature that describe relationship dynamics I still see playing out between people today. Swann’s Way, The Brothers Karamazov, even Canterbury Tales… I think it was Vonnegut that wrote that the best books are the ones that tell you what you already know [but maybe you didn’t know you knew till you read it]. That’s something like surprise, and yet…
on “The Best Essay” ↗…have a long conversation about 1/4 of flights. If you read old books like Pilgrim's Progress you see people walking towards the same town together, and they always struck up a conversation. Look at the Canterbury Tales: some really great literature that consists just of fellow travelers having a storytelling contest! We are missing so much humanity in our kosher lives.
on “The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community” ↗The first Hyperion book was great, Canterbury Tales in Space is a great concept and well done. The full series, I think Simmons couldn't really find a good satisfying ending.
on “Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)” ↗Agreed. We read selections from The Canterbury Tales, in translation, as high school freshman. Our genius history teacher made us promise not to tell our parents, and let us read one of the dirty ones. I was sold. Later, I learned Middle English, and read…
on “How “The Great Gatsby” took over high school” ↗My high school English teachers would not agree with me, but there is a line where “need” becomes “hobby” (short of a career in English Lit). I have enjoyed reading Canterbury Tales but have little to no ability to parse Beowulf. I don’t know where that line is, but pre-Shakespeare is at the least diminishing returns.
on “Was silent reading unusual during Augustine's time?” ↗…This was Middle English. Unlike Old English, this is cleary English to modern speakers. A reasonably well educated English speaker can learn to read Middle English in a couple of weeks. "Translations" of Canterbury Tales can be found with the Middle English on one page, and a modern English translation on the other. (As an aside, I highly recommend Canterbury Tales. It's one of the most hilarious things I've ever read!)…
on “The Unsuitability of English (2015)” ↗