Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars, but I wouldn't have read it if it weren't required!
Review: I'm glad I was exposed to this work, but when my Brit. Lit. professor said The Faerie Queene was the most boring piece of literature ever written in the English language, he wasn't lying. Only attempt if you can devote the proper about of time to it and you're in the mood for something cerebral!
Rating: 
Summary: well...
Review: I'm of two minds here: on the one hand, you've got to admire Spenser's skillz--after all, we're talkin' thousands of nine-line cantos, eight lines in iambic pentameter and one in iambic hexameter, with a strict AC BD rhyme scheme. That must've taken some doing.On the other hand...I can't say I've really enjoyed reading it particularly. Spenser himself admits that the only reason he even wrote the thing in story form was to appeal to a wider audience; I think he might've done better to stick to straight moral philosophy. The allegory really gets in the way of telling a good story, in my opinion. Plus, and I know I sound like a complete cultural philistine when I say this, the archaic language just annoys the hell out of me. Some people love this poem to death, I know. Not me, however.
Rating: 
Summary: I've had/enjoyed a written copy for a long long time
Review: It is a classic truism: until you get it in writing, you have nothing. This work of art is a classic you too can get in writing. And it's quite enjoyable. Beware though! If you read the Faerie Queene in its entirety, you will probably cripple your ability to converse in normal english for quite some time.
Rating:
Summary: I've had/enjoyed a written copy for a long long time
Review: It is a classic truism: until you get it in writing, you have nothing. This work of art is a classic you too can get in writing. And it's quite enjoyable. Beware though! If you read the Faerie Queene in its entirety, you will probably cripple your ability to converse in normal english for quite some time.
Rating:
Summary: Intricated.
Review: It is one of the great classics of English literature, although its status has been far more contested than that of the works of Shakespeare or Milton. In the Romantic age, Spenser was placed besides these two other authors by the foremost English poets. But, authoritative critics like Mario Praz have had a rather dismissive attitude towards it, and you can feel that someone like Frank Kermode speaks of Spenser's greatness as if having to prove something.
Now, I believe this book fails insomuch as it tries to be a great modern chivalresque epic like Tasso's or Ariosto's (from whose works a lot of the characters' names come). Probably, he didn't even understand the full magnitude of those works. In this, he is hampered by his medieval mind. Action, intended as a way of developing character and portraying embattled and sovereign human individualities who continuously create a world of their own making, is shallow.
Success is in the static aspect, in the way Spenser manages to imbue "tableaux" referring to some eternal configuration of the existing with a strong power over the unconscious. It is a work which shines either by particular descriptions (their technique influenced Milton), or by the overall pattern that the adventures of the characters create. This pattern can be viewed as a gigantic description of a gigantic thing, as the descriptions in the more proper sense which are contained in it are of smaller things.
Rating:
Summary: The Faerie Queene--a poem on so many levels
Review: Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the Faerie Queene is its ability to appeal to such a wide audience. As is apparent from the fairly insipid commentary on this web site, much of the beauty of the poem is lost on all but the severe and odd Anglophile. However, for all that is lost there is much retained. The poem can sustain infinite criticism, indeed, to some degree that was Spenser's intent. I recommend this poem to anyone who like to get lost in their reading endevours. Also, an allegory is not a metaphor to the "Nth degree."
Rating:
Summary: The "Riverside" Spenser
Review: Somewhat like a scaled-down version of the Riverside Chaucer and Milton editions, Hamilton's edition of The Faerie Queene for Longman tries to establish an accessible but scholarly text. It's quite good, with extensive marginal notes interspersed with the poem. One drawback is the small font size used--the notes and text of the poem are the same size. The text is actually a facsimile reproduction of the Smith 1909 Oxford edition, so it is not particularly sharp or clean. Some sections are a bit faint, and others are too dark. However, the only other affordable, paperback, and readily available edition of the complete Faerie Queene is the Penguin edition, which is a fine reading text.
Rating:
Summary: The best edition of Spenser's masterpiece
Review: Spenser's epic is among the most interesting texts in the English language for a number of reasons, including its stunning verse, mythic vision, and its incessant dialogue with other texts. Critics have spilt more ink than Errour herself (see Book One of the Faerie Queene) trying to decide if Spenser is working more closely with or against Christian medieval English poets such as Chaucer and Langland, or if he wants to invoke the Classical tradition. A. C. Hamilton's edition of The Faerie Queene allows virtually any reader to understand these critical discussions, and this is the strength of this particular version. This is the most accessible, best informed edition of The Faerie Queene I know of. Spenser's stanzas are printed side-by-side with commentary and linguistic analysis culled from years of research and discussion. You could easily spend years wandering through the world of this poem; the critical glosses make the travelling a bit clearer and the landscape more focussed and coherent.
Rating:
Summary: A classic English epic
Review: Spenser's the Faerie Queene is one of the first epics to be written in English, and probably the first to draw on such masters as Virgil and Homer. He purposely wrote in archaic English, so it is a bit difficult to understand (just imagine language that was old 400 years ago!), but taking the time to read it provides a very meaningful experience. The Faerie Queene was supposed to include 12 books, some of which were never completed. Each book was to star a Knight, who would embody some Christian virtue (for example, the Red-Crosse Knight is the hero of book 1--he represents holiness). Additionally, all the books were to feature King Arthur as a hero who was the epitome of a good Christian. The books are very allegorical, and most of the enemies and beasts the knights meet embody some vice or sin (such as the giant who represents Pride in book 1). The Faerie Queene is a classic medieval text, and is also a great epic poem. As many have commented, it does take a lot of work, but the reward is also very immense. For any fan of the epic format or student of classic English literature, the Faerie Queene is essential.
Rating:
Summary: A classic English epic
Review: Spenser's the Faerie Queene is one of the first epics to be written in English, and probably the first to draw on such masters as Virgil and Homer. He purposely wrote in archaic English, so it is a bit difficult to understand (just imagine language that was old 400 years ago!), but taking the time to read it provides a very meaningful experience. The Faerie Queene was supposed to include 12 books, some of which were never completed. Each book was to star a Knight, who would embody some Christian virtue (for example, the Red-Crosse Knight is the hero of book 1--he represents holiness). Additionally, all the books were to feature King Arthur as a hero who was the epitome of a good Christian. The books are very allegorical, and most of the enemies and beasts the knights meet embody some vice or sin (such as the giant who represents Pride in book 1). The Faerie Queene is a classic medieval text, and is also a great epic poem. As many have commented, it does take a lot of work, but the reward is also very immense. For any fan of the epic format or student of classic English literature, the Faerie Queene is essential.
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