Chaucer: The Life and Times of the First English Poet
Richard West

Język: angielski

Wydawnictwo: Carrol and Graf (2002)
Oprawa mięka, stron 318
stan: Bardzo Dobry (Nowa)

From Publishers Weekly
For the 600th anniversary of Chaucer's death, biographer West (Daniel Defoe: The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures) concentrates more on the times than the life. Chaucer's era, which encompassed the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, John Wycliffe's proto-Protestantism and the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, is not without interest. Finding Chaucer often on the periphery of these events, West is left to argue that it was a pivotal era for England, in transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and between a French-dominated culture and a homegrown national identity. As for his treatment of Chaucer, about whom little is known, West relies on a discussion of translation of the French medieval bestseller Le Roman de la Rose to Canterbury Tales. Despite the chronological remoteness of the era, West colors in his subject matter with contemporary parallels, sometimes stretching the point, such as comparing the plot of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde to that of Casablanca. More often than not, in West's presentation Chaucer was neither as forward-looking nor as reactionary as some other biographers, such as Terry Jones or G. K. Chesterton, would have itAhe was simply a man of his time. Students of literature looking for a historical context in which to put Chaucer will find edification here, but the man still remains at a distance. 8 pages b&w photos not seen by PW. (Dec. 1)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
West's biography of the first great English poet whose name we know quite resembles his Life and Strange, Surprising Adventures of Daniel Defoe (1998). Its overall strategy is to discuss the history surrounding its subject's achievements and those achievements in tandem with tracing the events of his life. It differs markedly, though, from West's account of the first modern English novelist, because, at the distance of 600 years from Chaucer's death, nearly no records exist of any strange, surprising adventures on his part. Undismayed, West raids the historical and critical literature and polishes his own sensible opinions about Chaucer's writings to produce a book every bit as readable and fascinating as his life of Defoe. Individual chapters take up such matters as the Black Death's impact on the anti-Semitism evident in the Prioress's Tale ; why Europe quickly forgot the Black Death; how the thirteenth-century French poem Roman de la Rose and the great Florentine poets Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio influenced Chaucer; the impact of the great English Peasants' Revolt of 1381 on Chaucer's worldview; how Troilus and Criseyde anticipates the modern novel; how to read the lengthy Knight's Tale , the boring bane of generations of students, as a satire; and the interpretation of the Wife of Bath as a feminist. A treat for English history and literature buffs who prefer journalistically vital prose to the stodgy varieties usually used to rebury England's liveliest bard. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.