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Book Description
'Ackroyd reinvented the biography genre, pushing at the boundaries-he pulls of the feat of climbing inside Chaucer's soul by immersing himself in the history and literature of the period' Scotland on Sunday
Product Description
Geoffrey Chaucer has some claim to being the greatest poet in the English language. Yet he has also been considered to be an invisible poet, self-depreciating and ironic, leaving only the breath of his comedy behind. In truth a great deal is known of him. He was a royal servant, who was indicted for rape. He was captured in battle and held for ransom. He knew at first hand the most powerful people in the country and, as the king's servant; he was concerned with the most pressing events of the realm. Yet even in this crowded life he found time and opportunity to write some of the finest poems in the language. Troilus and Criseyde is the first modern work of English literature. His genius was prolific and diverse and, while he was a true London artist, he was also part of the European renaissance of learning. The Canterbury Tales is an epic of Englishness itself, presided over by the genial and generous figure of Geoffrey Chaucer. (20040624)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
This book is everything that a short biography of a massive subject should be: readable, entertaining, informative and even-handed. And, as always, Ackroyd brilliantly evokes old London and the people who lived there - he excels at breathing life into the past.
Ackroyd was more than a little brave to tackle this book. He had to condense a vast field of study - in which there are many gaps of knowledge, and dozens of controversies and partisan camps - into a few pages without arriving at a superficial and facile treatment. He succeeds: where we can't be sure, he just says so; and where controversial views exist among academics, he objectively reports what is of interest to the lay reader, and ignores the rest.
By the end of this book, I felt that knew as much about Chaucer the man, his literature and his life as if I had made a prolonged study of the subject. All from a little book that barely covers the palm of my hand. Not bad, I think you'll agree.
A strong start to what promises to be a top-notch series - I look forward to more.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A splendid short life of Chaucer. The book is well written, full of historical and literary insights and illustrations and the cover of this paperback edition is delightful to look at. A delight all round.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
As always Peter Ackroyd gives us something special. This is a brilliant biography which illuminates a life which would seem too distant to be accessible. It has given an extraordinary depth and breadth to this period and to the man.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ackroyd's "Chaucer"
Like Dickens, (another of Ackroyd's biographies), Chaucer seems an ideal subject for Peter Ackroyd; his fascination with his birth city provides Ackroyd with a very deep knowledge... Read more
Published 9 months ago by RR Waller
Must be outstanding!
I haven't read the book, but my avid-reader of a wife is reading & loving it so much that she asked me to buy another copy to replace the one that she has (because the binding is... Read more
Published 9 months ago by PhillyJQ
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