Rating: 
Summary: Very Approachable!
Review: Having tried to wade through a "non-modern english" version of The Canterbury Tales, I appreciate this book. It brings out Chaucer's playful language in a way that's more entertaining, because it's easier to understand. Re-reading some of the stories in this book, I was surprised by beautiful statements, amusing turns of phrase, and the sheer bawdiness of his writing.However, I gave this book three stars first becuase I don't put Chaucer on a level with Spenser or Malory, and second because this is a standard Penguin book, which means it's more stripped down than I like. I prefer footnotes to explain references that I might not be able to take in context. In something as heavily alligorical as Chaucer's work, I believe this is very important.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good
Review: The Canterbury Tales is the chronicle of a contest. A storytelling contest between pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. This is probably the best translation I have read. It does have some downfalls the author excluded some of the tales including the Parson's tale which is actually meant to be a conclusion(Chaucer died before he could finish the tales). Other than that the book is very good. It does break some myths and sterotypes we have about people of that time and some of the stroies are rather humorous and could still be considered humorous in todays society.
Rating:
Summary: storytelling and fun
Review: A fantastic book with great stories of many a people. Unless pertaining an excellent vocabulary a dictionary or thesaurus can help with those words which look as if their been made up. These stories have a twist in almost every one of them and take you by surprise ensuring a smile upon ones face.
Rating: 
Summary: The best book ever written!
Review: In my humble opinion this is the very best book every written and should ideally be read in its original middle English, because it loses a lot of its wit and humor in the modern English translation. However, if you are frusturated with middle English, find one of the many modern English translations, it is still a charming, fascinating, and wonderful book! If you must read a translation I would suggest the translation by Nevill Coghill, it is quite good. However I must reiterate that to get the full effect of this masterpiece of the English language you must read it in its original tongue. I love my copy from the Everyman's Library Series (I purchased mine from my favorite used bookstore, it is a 1929 edition.) and I think you would to.
Rating:
Summary: A good translation.
Review: The Canterbury Tales is my very favorite book. I personally enjoy the original Middle English version and would highly suggest it to all who are interested in it. (I purchased a 1929 copy of Everyman's Library Series The Canterbury Tales from my favorite used bookstore.) Though I have read my Everyman's Library version so many times I can repeat many sections word for word, I also own Nevill Coghill's translation and it is delightful. It is one of the best translations of the book which I have read. I, of course, would suggest reading it in Middle English, but if you are frusturated or confused by the language then I would recommend this translation. It sticks closely to the feeling that you get from Chaucer's original text. I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because the Middle English version will always hold the number one spot in my heart.
Rating:
Summary: Ourselves and the Fourteenth Century
Review: This modern translation is for those who struggle with Chaucer's original language. Coghill's melodious verse captures the timely flow of the original text, thus preventing the reading from becoming a slow and erudite undertaking. Chaucer's Tales were not designed for sluggish meditation, but to be read aloud in an engaging manner, which is what makes this translation an ideal buy for those who wish to experience the Tales for their original charm. The immortal Canterbury Tales is a must for all lovers of great literature. What we can witness in this noble poem "is the concise portrait of an entire nation: high and low, old and young, male and female, rogue and righteous, land and sea, town and country", as Nevill Coghill describes in his introduction to this translation. The past has become magical to us through the great works of Epic poetry; where the Greeks had Homer, and the Roman's Virgil; the English have none other than Geoffrey Chaucer. It is only infrequently that we can find classic ideas that have captured readers throughout the ages, be it Pickwick's proposed adventure to study his fellow men, Dante's quest for his beloved Beatrice, or indeed Chaucer's undying Pilgrimage; The Canterbury Tales manifests its own unique appeal in an immortal journey through the Tales of many different voices. On the Eve of a Pilgrimage from a London Cheapside Inn to St Thomas a Becket's shrine in Canterbury, a group of thirty pilgrims are challenged by the inn's Host to a competition: to while away their morrow's journey by each telling a tale; on returning to London their Host will then decided the best storyteller: and their reward? a luxurious meal on behalf of that Pilgrim's fellows. What follows are many tales, of many varieties: those of courtly love, bawdy comedy, fresh wit, menacing macabre, didactic fables, in short, to use John Dryden's words "God's plenty". But it is the prologue to Chaucer's great collection of tales that marks its individuality from the Likes of Ovid, Petrarch and Boccaccio - of whom some of the tales are largely indebted to. The translator of this edition advocates that "in all literature there is nothing that touches or resembles the prologue". And this is by all means a cogent argument: what we witness at the beginning of Tales is patchwork quilt of Medieval England, a Tapestry of Chaucer's times, or if you like: a doorway into a world long faded away. The prologue simply follows the task of introducing the diverse tellers of the Tales, and yet in doing so it records a valuable sample of history. William Blake faithfully promulgates the Prologue's vitality by declaring that: "Chaucer is himself the great poetical observer of men, who in every age is born to record and eternize its acts". The Pilgrims are not only well presented characters, they are also true embodiments of normality. What we see in the Tales is not just a snap-shot of Olde England, but something indeed far bigger: a blueprint of our own society's individuals - "the perennial progeny of men and women". What Chaucer portrays to us in his Canterbury Tales is nothing greater than our very selves.
Rating:
Summary: great reading
Review: I enjoyed reading the Canterbury Tales from a language lovers point of view. Reading them in MIDDLE English was thoroughly enjoyable because it let's us know a little about what English used to look like, and how the language has changed over the years (and how it has stayed the same).
Rating:
Summary: Canterbury Tales can be fun to read
Review: The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the first great works of literature in the English language and are good reading for a number of reasons. They are written in "old English", however, and read like a foreign language for most of us. Barbara Cohen's adapted translation gives us four of the tales in contemporary English and therefore provides an excellent introduction to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Cohen's tales retain Chaucer's colorful insight into fourteenth century England including life as a knight, the horror of the plague, and the religous hypocrisy of the age. The illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman are vivid and tell a story all by themselves. I use Cohen's book as a supplement to teaching medieval history and literature to 7th and 8th graders.
Rating:
Summary: Middle Ages - Modern Tales
Review: Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is perhaps the best literary work of the Middle Ages. He paints a lucid picture of life during this time period and his familiarity with every social class, as well as his vivid and comical descriptions of his unique characters, makes this poetic book charming. Chaucer embraces several genres, some of which include romance, satire, and fabliau. He uses the voice of a naive narrator. However, one should not conclude that the point of view expressed is his entirely because this may very well be literary trickery. Canterbury Tales is as modern and entertaining today as it was six hundred years ago, with themes such as the corruption of the church, which ironically is still prevalent today.
Rating:
Summary: The audio version is stupendous!
Review: Being a huge fan of classic litterature and finidng Chaucer to be one of the best poets ever to have graced this planet, I therefore had to listen to this audio in question, i.e., The Canterbury Tales [ABRIDGED] by Geoffrey Chaucer, et al. This audio has accomplished the difficult feat of making these plays come alive and by doing so making them relevant to today reader. Highly Recommended.
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