Customer Reviews

The Riverside Chaucer

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Why read Chaucer? Well, in the first place for the beauty and masculine vigor of his English, an English one soon catches on to after a bit of practice. Why else? Well, because Chaucer was intensely human and his stories are interesting, and either truly poignant or richly comic and sometimes even both. Also for the rich gallery of unforgettable human types his stories bring before us, types such as:

The rejected Griselda - 'Lat me nat lyk a worm go by the weye;' the frisky Alisoun - ''Tehee!' quod she, and clapte the wyndow to;' the amorous Wife of Bath - 'Allas! Allas! that evere love was synne!', the scurvy Pardoner - 'Of avarice, and of swich cursednesse / Is al my prechyng, for to make hem free / To yeven hir pens, and namely unto me', and a host of others both high and low, noble and despicable, lovable and contemptible.

Of course, Chaucer isn't for everyone. Those with no feeling for his language and no sense of humor, and whose own humanity is not their strongest point, may lack what is needed to appreciate Chaucer at his true worth.

The present edition is a mammoth volume of 1327 pages which includes the complete and newly edited texts of everything Chaucer wrote - The Canterbury Tales, The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, Anelida and Arcite, The Parliament of Fowls, Boece, Troilus and Criseyde, The Legend of Good Women, The Short Poems, A Treatise on the Astrolabe, The Romaunt of the Rose. Brief language glosses are given at the foot of each page, while fuller Notes are found at the end of the book.

Unfortunately the lines of the texts are numbered in the conventional way - 10, 20, 30, etc. - instead of having numbers occur _only_ at the end of lines which have been glossed or given Notes - e.g., 9, 12, 16, 18, 32. Such conventional numbering involves readers in the tedious and time-wasting hassle of line counting, and the equally time-wasting frustration of searching through notes only to find that no note exists.

The book also includes a full Introduction (Chaucers' Life, The Canon and Chronology of Chaucer's Works, Language and Versification, The Texts), a General Bibliography, 300 pages of Explanatory Notes, 100 pages of Textual Notes, an extremely detailed 100-page Glossary, and an Index of Proper Names.

Despite the many helps provided by the editors, and since the needs of readers are insatiable, no-one is going to find everything they would like to find. A complete text of this nature is best considered as one for the beginning student; scholarly texts of individual works are going to be needed by anyone who wishes to go deeper, and the Bibliography is there as a guide for those wishing to explore critical and other issues in greater depth.

But in the presence of so much scholarship, there is a danger of forgetting that so much of Chaucer's power is in the sheer music of his lines. Those new to Chaucer would be well advised to learn how to read Middle English _aloud_ as soon as possible by listening to one of the many excellent recordings. If they were to do this they'd soon find their pleasure in Chaucer magnified enormously.

Robert Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy,' points out that 'when a thing has once been done, people think it easy; when the road is made, they forget how rough the way used to be.' All those who love Chaucer are indebted to the editors of the present volume for having smoothed our way towards a fuller appreciation of the work of a truly marvelous poet.

Riverside 3 has all of Chaucer's major poems and two major prose works, a translation of Boethius and the Treatise on the Astrolabe, in Middle English. In addition to these, it includes several (relatively) short lyrics, some of doubtful authorship, and a Middle English translation of the (French) Romance of the Rose, done partly by Chaucer.

Spelling and punctuation have been regularized throughout, to make the poems more accessible. The insertion of commas is often dubious (for instance, in the Envoy to the Clerk's Tale, "lat him care and wepe and wrynge and waille" becomes "lat hym care, and wepe, and wrynge, and waille" for no evident reason) but maybe that's inevitable. If one is very particular one can always look up the textual notes.

The bottom-of-page glosses and explanatory notes could be better; there are several passages that an inexperienced reader of Middle English might find difficult but that are not explained in either place. The notes on mythological references etc. are more consistently helpful. The Introduction is all right with grammar/pronunciation, but could be more thorough. The glossary takes a little getting used to, because not all variants are considered (esp. i and vowel y are treated as the same letter), but is pretty good once you get used to it. You don't need to use it very often because the obviously difficult words are glossed at the bottom of the page.

The poetry, of course, is as good as it gets, and also very entertaining. Chaucer's range of styles is particularly amazing.

And as in winter leves been biraft,
Eche after other, til the tree be bare,
So that ther nis but bark and braunche y-laft,
Lyth Troilus, biraft of ech wel-fare,
Y-bounden in the blake bark of care.
-- Troilus and Criseyde Bk IV

He stoupeth doun, and on his bak she stood,
And caughte hire by a twiste, and up she gooth -
Ladyes, I prey yow that ye be nat wrooth;
I kan nat glose, I am a rude man -
And sodeynly anon this Damyan
Gan pullen up the smok, and in he throng.
-- The Merchant's Tale

"What is this world? What asketh men to have?
Now with his love, now in his colde grave,
Allone, withouten any compaignye."
-- The Knight's Tale

This was one of the better editions I've worked with. The notes were comprehensive and very helpful. A large and useful glossary helped where the notes failed. And when that all failed, there was extensive introductory material including short descriptions of what various critics and scholars have said about the various tales and other works.

The only problems I have with this book is that the notes are not adequately linked with the text (they only list the line numbers at the bottom of the page instead of putting an indicator next to the glossed terms) and this often slows down the reading and comprehension.

Otherwise, this was a very enjoyable volume.

There are two questions at issue:

Why Chaucer? Why the Riverside?

First the second. If you are going to read Chaucer, this is the edition to get. It is the critical edition, which means this is the one that scholars quote from in their writings about Chaucer. This is the one any self-respecting Chaucer course will assign. This is the grown-up's edition of Chaucer. And beyond that, it's a great edition -- based on the inspired editors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and with the notes and glosses that you need to link up to the most important backgrounds and criticism.

Also, the Riverside is the complete edition; it presents everything in the original Middle English. That means you get not only the Canterbury Tales, but also all the minor poems -- Troilus and Criseyde (honestly, his most moving poem), the so-called minor poems (the dream visions and lyrics) and Chaucer's translations. The paperback Riverside is also surprisingly easy to carry around.

As to the other question, why Chaucer? Perhaps because he is, as John Dryden called him, the "Father of English Poetry." Any serious student of English literature needs to start here (Shakespeare did!). Also, Chaucer is just supremely human, if that means having a supremely human sense of humor -- one that pokes fun at all the pretensions of our mortal state. At the same time he is capable of grasping after the utmost reaches of human feeling, both religious and romantic. A serious reading of Chaucer reminds a person that the human soul is not an invention of any region or time period of history. The laughter and the tears that are part of what his copyist Shakespeare later calls the "mortal coil" are all here.

Probably the best bargain of a book on all of amazon.com -- NO KIDDING.

As Chaucer himself said, "What is this world, What asketh man to have, Now with his love, now in his colde grave -- allone withouten any compaignye" -- only the Riverside Chaucer; lost on a desert island with no other companion -- this is the first book you would want to have with you and the last one.

Being a typical "ugly American":), I saw no real significance to the saying that, "to truly understand a text, you must read it in its original language." Middle English, being so close a derivative (or so I thought!) to modern English, didn't count. When reading the Riverside Chaucer, I found out how wrong I was, to have assumed that just because I read the Canterbury Tales' translations, that I knew the true magic of the tales, as well as the other texts that Chaucer had written. You will find the double entendres (some refined, some humorously crude - e.g. to call a woman quente [sp?] is to call her genteel AND a rather disparaging reference to her anatomy!), tons of puns, and political references that no modern translation can properly address (read the Knight's Tale, friends, and ask yourself how noble this man was, dressed in a rusting tunic, and having participated in some of the worst massacres in then-modern Christendom). This book is THE AUTHORITATIVE source on Chaucer, and with its constant referencing to help one through difficult Middle English meanings, background information, and details about the writings itself, you gain a better appreciation of the text, the world in which it was presented, and the magic woven by a true master of literature. Well worth it!

The Riverside Chaucer has managed to do the impossible- preserve the pristine vigor of the original texts, while providing informative glosses for those readers unfamiliar with Middle English. I have read several editions of Chaucer's various works, both in the original dialect, and in translation, and this is by far the best text available for both the casual reader who wishes to appreciate the vitality of the author's repertoire, and the serious student of literature.

This book is an essential addition to the library of any serious student of English literature. The critical commentary is both useful and illuminating. The editors have taken the Middle English manuscripts and made them accessible to both the casual reader and the graduate student alike. A lot of thought and care was put into this volume and the end result is well worth the price. The words of Chaucer seem vibrant and alive in this well crafted text. In a word: Awesome!

The Riverside Chaucer is quite simply the best collection and presentations of the best poet the English language has ever known. Witty as anything with the ability to skewer just about anyone who will stand still long enough, Chaucer displays a command of English rivaled perhaps only by Shakespeare and Milton. (Yes, I know...the dead white men again.)

Benson's edition is probably the best on the market but it is not without its flaws. The glosses are adequate at best and I found the notes to be a bit lacking though the ones that are there are certainly top-notch.

To anyone picking up this book I would only recommend that you read beyond the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer's lesser known works are no less impressive or rewarding than his magnum opus. Oh, and while you are on the Tales be sure to read more than a few and don't be afraid of the lengthy prose sections. The man's work has survived 600+ years for a reason.

Can anyone argue that Chaucer's complete works *aren't* worth reading? The language is beautiful, a perfect blend of satirical humor and solemn reflection... and of course, no one can paint a portrait with words quite like the author of the Canterbury Tales.

The notes in the back provide more detail if a particular point interests you, but the footnotes on the page are sufficient to allow understanding. There's a reason that the Riverside Chaucer is *the* book that Chaucer students use.

If the footnotes aren't sufficient, I would advise actually learning to speak Middle English. It's more effort, but often by saying a word aloud its meaning (or at least its tone) become clearer. Chaucer's work is, after all, meant to be heard aloud, not to be read in a textbook.

For whom is the Riverside Chaucer designed? Certainly, if you are a general interest reader encountering Chaucer for a single class (i.e. a survey of Middle English literature) then the Riverside is too large, expensive, and unnecessary. However, if you are an English major, scholar of Medieval literature, graduate student, et cetera, then the Riverside Chaucer is a must.

When you buy this book you can recycle your paperback editions that have just "The Canterbury Tales" or just "The Parliament of Fowls"; collected here are all the works ever written by Chaucer (including a few of dubious authorship). The Riverside is terrific for its sheer volume of its contents, especially as it contains works by Chaucer that are unavailable, or hard to find, as separate edition (particulary his translation of Boethius' "De Consolatione Philosophiae").

Other than serving as your "one-stop Chaucer shop" the Riverside should be celebrated for its elaborate and informative scholary notes. Footnotes, endnotes, indices of proper names, maps, a glossary, and information on pronunciation and verse round out this comprehensive edition. In summary, if you plan on encountering Chaucer more than the average students who takes perhaps a single class dealing with him, this is the edition for you. Those who decide to pursue scholarly work will need the Riverside, as it is THE edition from which Chaucer is cited in research.