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The Canterbury Tales

Gelesen von LibriVox Volunteers

(3,589 Sterne; 62 Bewertungen)

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). The tales, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a frame tale and told by a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

The themes of the tales vary, and include topics such as courtly love, treachery, and avarice. The genres also vary, and include romance, Breton lai, sermon, beast fable, and fabliau. The characters, introduced in the General Prologue of the book, tell tales of great cultural relevance.
The version read here was edited by D. Laing Purves (1838-1873) “for popular perusal” and the language is mostly updated.
(Summary by Wikipedia/Gesine)

(19 hr 23 min)

Chapters

Preface

6:21

Read by Gesine

The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer

58:18

Read by Chip

The General Prologue

39:00

Read by Thomas Hoover

The Knight’s Tale, Part 1

1:06:20

Read by Ted Delorme

The Knight's Tale, Part 2

1:19:51

Read by Ted Delorme

The Miller's Tale

54:42

Read by Gord Mackenzie

The Reeve's Tale

23:26

Read by Alex Foster

The Cook's Tale

7:51

Read by Chip

The Men of Law's Tale

1:19:51

Read by Chip

The Wife of Bath's Tale

1:03:23

Read by Kristin LeMoine

The Friar's Tale

22:53

Read by Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)

The Sompnour's Tale

43:03

Read by Chip

The Clerk's Tale

1:20:06

Read by Chip

The Merchant's Tale

1:21:25

Read by Cynthia Lyons (1946-2011)

The Squire's Tale

43:41

Read by Joshua Young

The Franklin's Tale

31:34

Read by Alex Foster

The Doctor's Tale

17:01

Read by Fox in the Stars

The Pardoner's Tale

40:02

Read by David Barnes

The Shipman's Tale

27:36

Read by Gwen

The Prioress's Tale

15:06

Read by Fox in the Stars

The Tale of Sir Thopas

10:12

Read by Jim Mowatt

Chaucer’s Tale of Meliboeus

36:01

Read by Kirsten Ferreri

The Monk's Tale

47:29

Read by Andy Minter (1934-2017)

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

47:07

Read by Graham Williams

The Second Nun’s Tale

27:43

Read by Alys AtteWater

The Canons Yeoman’s Tale

37:28

Read by Joshua Young

The Manciple’s Tale

17:04

Read by Thomas Hoover

The Parson’s Tale

54:57

Read by Robert Foster

Preces de Chauceres

3:48

Read by Gesine

Bewertungen

More than one rotten apples...

(2 Sterne)

This set of recordings suffers as do many others published with multiple collaborators as opposed to a single reader.

Wife of Bath's Tale Review

(4 Sterne)

Excellent reading of the middle english text (untranslated, thanks!) with modern vowels. Very listenable and clear.

(1 Sterne)

If someone is going to read Middle English aloud, they should be sure to learn how it's pronounced. When I took a Chaucer course in college, the professor had the students memorize the first eighteen lines of the General Prologue. Each person then had to go to his office and recite it for him. He'd then help them with their pronunciation in more detail than he could in class.

Poetry

(4,5 Sterne)

None of these readers were bad, and some of them were quite good! As for the story, I found some of it hard to follow on audiobook, but I found that when I picked up the physical copy of the book, I had a much richer experience. The Miller's Tale made me laugh aloud. Quite good, but understand that most of it is poetry, not prose.

Very Poor Middle English

(2 Sterne)

It is obvious that this reader has studied little or no Middle English pronunciation. If it is your intent to listen to this recording to improve your Middle English, search for Jess B Bessinger Jr.'s reading of the General Prologue.

Sad! Baby! Low energy

(1 Sterne)

I don't know who thought giving random audiobooks voice overs the job of reading the ENTIRE canterbury tales, but I hope they never go anywhere near classic literature again. They should be demoted to the office janitor. FFS

The Canterbury Tales

(0,5 Sterne)

The narrator for The Knight's Tale cannot be understood and his style/lisp ruin my favorite story.

Couldn't make it past the prologue

(0,5 Sterne)

Chaucer is not this reader's forte. No poetry in his annoying voice.