I came to this book for a good literary discussion, which I know Pridgen can produce in abundance. What I found is a sense of the connectedness of all things, a strong defense of the Percy premise that a self alone is ridiculous, and a better understanding of the relationship between the literary elements of author, text, critic, and reader.

Pridgen's book Waker Percy's Sacramental Landscapes: the Search in the Desert is definitive on the subject of Walker Percy. I read or re-read the Percy novels and some of the Percy essays while reading Sacramental Landscapes for the first time. If you enjoyed The Last Gentleman but couldn't figure out the ending, or if you are still looking for words to connect the Will Barrett of that book to the Will Barrett in its sequel, search no more. Allen Pridgen has assembled the details of the character, along with the social, religious, ethical, and philosophical details of the novels. He gives the same fine analytical treatment to Love in the Ruins and The Thanatos Syndrome.

If you are a reader, you know that some books you forget and others you carry with you forever. What you may not know, and in a busy modern world may never take time to understand, is why this is so. Sacramental Landscapes is a discussion of the reason that Percy's books print themselves in your mind and become a part of you. If you have taken time to try to understand this reason, you are probably a writer. Or you might be a person with an advanced degree in philosophy, religion, or literature.

I am none of these except perhaps a little of a writer. What draws me to the Pridgen analysis of Percy is my heritage in Christian fundamentalism, my enduring interest in Mary as envisioned by the Catholic church in doctrine, sacrament, and legend, and my native tendency to see any occurrence of beauty or meaning as a magical effect of the energetic source that we all forever seek.

Sacramental Landscapes: the Search in the Desert is as compelling as its subject matter, which includes Walker Percy, Christian theology and tradition, and what it means to be human. With thorough scholarly attention to Percy, to the texts of Percy's books and essays, to the cultural and religious assumptions embedded in the works, and to previous critical comment, the book is also a clear revelation of the multifaceted nature of the literary experience for those who participate as readers, writers, critics, students, and teachers.

No better book has been written on the subject.

William Rodney Allen's Walker Percy: A Southern Wayfarer is one of the finest studies of novelist Walker Percy. While most Percy criticism emphasizes Percy's theological interests--sometimes to the detriment of the works--Allen offers a complex reading that blends biographical research, psychoanalysis, and intertextuality. His readings are mostly unassailable, and he makes a fine case for Percy as not just an important Southern or Catholic author, but an important American author as well, working with and subverting some of the ideas of Twain and Hemingway. Highly recommended.

Inspiring story about one of the greatest coaches and interesting men i have ever read about. The thing about Percy is that he lived what he preached, from the death bed in his mid 40's to running marathons 2 years latter, and then on to coach some of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen in John Landy and Herb Elliot. With his spartan methods that clashed with the rise of modern training, one cant help but think that much of what Percy believed could be mixed with modern traing to create a better athlete. A story that i often think about while i have been running the last few weeks is one of Percy, he had been running with a group of runners including Elliot, the other had finished well before an old Cerrutty and when Cerrutty crossed the line he collapsed in a great deal of pain, the other runners fearing for cerrutty crowded around him, while on the ground in pain Percy then looked up and said, "you boys may be able to run faster, but you will never be able to run as hard", that symbolizes much of what Cerutty is about, violent exercise to strain the organism so it will rebuild stronger. The book isn't perfect though, the first few chapters dont paint much of a picture of Percy's childhood. Sims also deals with Percy's darker side and his obsession with being the centre of attention. Overall and inspiring book, much better written than this jumbled review but i hope it is helpful.

The duty of a Prophet is to draw a straight line to show how crooked we are. The duty of a satirist is to show how crooked we are by drawing an even more crooked line. Mr. Percy's line is quite crooked.

This book is billed as "the last self help book." He makes his point "sharper than a serpents tooth" in that the entire book is set of multiple-choice quizzes. But, as you suspect, the answers are stacked.

My personal favorite from page 75:

"Question: Why do so many teenagers, and younger people, turn to drugs?"

"(a)Because of peer-group pressure, failure of communication, psychological dysfunction, rebellion against parents, and decline of religious values."

"(b)Because life is difficult, boring, disappointing, and unhappy, and drugs make you feel good."

"(Check one)"

I found his perspective on suicide, and especially on being an "ex-suicide" to be both novel and fascinating. He asks the question: why not consider suicide as an option? We normally (that is, in the pre-Kevorkian world of 1983 when the book was written) exclude suicide as an option, but Percy makes the point that our depression, angst, etc. may actually have a basis in reality, and we may be justified in pulling our own plug. "Consider the only adults who are not depressed: chuckleheads, California surfers, and fundamentalist Christians . . . Would you trade your depression to become any of these?" (p.76)

By the way, for the Person of Faith who is horrified at this idea of defacing the image of God in suicide, please read (in this order) the book of Lamentations, the book of Ecclesiastes, and then the book of Job. The first two books we routinely ignore, but the last one, Job, we merely talk about and do not read. The case for life being [insert your favorite expletive here] is made in this holy trinity of Biblical books. But back to Percy!

Percy asserts that life becomes meaningful when we look at suicide as a legitimate option. He is merely reasserting the old law of oppositions, that truth is revealed in the contrast. The capacity of "not to be" makes Hamlet's "to be" all the more meaningful. If we commit suicide, we cause a ripple, annoy our creditors, but after that, nothing much else happens. We just get a change of scenery. However, if we consider suicide, then consciously elect against it, we have become empowered by our choice. We finally begin to live.

Percy closes the chapter thus:

"The difference between a non-suicide and an ex-suicide leaving the house for work, at eight o'clock on an ordinary morning:"

"The non-suicide is a little traveling suck of care, sucking care with him from the past and being sucked toward care in the future. His breath is high in his chest."

"The ex-suicide opens his front door, sits down on the steps, and laughs. Since he has the option of being dead, he has nothing to lose by being alive. It is good to be alive. He goes to work because he doesn't have to."

You can see that Percy is a neo-existentialist, and does Kierkegaard proud. In fact, I think Percy has gotten back to the proto-existentialist in that he has not abandoned religion, which gave Kierkegaard's ideas such a zest. Reread "Fear and Trembling," and pay attention to Abraham's sacrifice.

This is an engaging book, but it has deep and complex humor, and is, in fact, a 262-page long joke. If you don't get Johnny Carson, David Lettermen, British and/or Jewish humor, don't get this book. You won't get the complex and nuance-ridden joke.

PS-I have written an addendum, which fits somewhere in the last section of the book. Maybe on the last page somewhere:

ET: "Greetings Earthling. Take me to your leader."

POTUS: " I am the leader."

ET: "We are from Bernard's star. We wish to open trade and technological exchange. We can solve your hunger, poverty, unemployment, and war problems"

POTUS: "Do you have any interns on your ship?"

I especially sympathised with Percy when I first read this book. I had just finished all of his novels (of which there are too few) and was at a fairly confusing time of my life. A college sophomore frustrated and confused by the surrounding societal constructs, I was fascinated at Percy's insights into the human psyche. By identifying how alone we all feel in a world full of people, he makes us feel less alone. He explains our morbid fascination with all things tragic and makes us feel okay about them. He explains prejudice without justifying it. He endorses Dixie beer. With his novels, Percy has taken the pathos of the likes of Faulkner and adapted it to contemporary times, and this book tears away at its inner workings. I have reread this book every six months for the last four years and it never loses its poignancy.

Allow me to shout it to the clouds: "I AM A PRODUCT OF WALKER PERCY!"

With Phil Donahue back on the air, Walker Percy's 1983 self-help book seems less dated now then it did in 1995 when I first read it. Now as then, it packs a wallop.

Those reviews calling it a satire are being a little misleading. This book actually IS a self-help book. In fact, it is probably the only self-help book out there.

While traditional self-help books are full of answers and leave little to question, this one is full of questions and almost entirely empty of answers. The idea is, that life is a journey that does not have a "little instruction book". And maybe, just maybe, there are things in our lives that distract us from even asking those important questions.

Are we lost? Not if we're enjoying the journey.

I don't want to go into any more detail. This book is something I have a difficult time talking about to other people. I feel like I have an intimate relationship with it that is difficult to describe to the casual outsider. The relationship was a little frustrating at times, but is now the kind of satisfying thing that has become a part of my life that has enriched me.

Fans of the work of Tom Robbins will know what I'm talking about when I say that this book is deadly serious and frivolously playful all at the same time.

Let's just say that with the sole exception of "What Color Is Your Parachute", this is the only self-help book out there that helped me. After reading this, "Dianetics" made me laugh until tears ran down my face.

The heartwarming book, Little Women, has won its readers love and support. The generalized assessment shows fondness to the realistic viewpoint of the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and descriptive details that transport the reader into the beloved fairy tale. The plot of the story centers upon the girls' lives as they grow up during the Civil War. Each of the girls is extremely distinct in their character, taste, and dreams for their future. The positive role model and personal advisor to all of the girls is Mrs. March. I feel that she advised all of her daughter in making good decisions, except for when she agreed with Jo that Laurie was not a suitable match. The change the girls undergo as they get older is completely intriguing as each has special qualities and drawbacks to their character. The realistic aspects of the tale is one of my favorite characteristics of Louisa May Alcott's writing style. The detailed descriptions sent picturesque scenes through my mind. The variety of emotions throughout the duration of the book takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride.

I quite enjoyed the book. Although it's long, I think it captures many readers because so many events happen, and so randomly.

Little Women is the American classic tale about Margaret (Meg), Josephine (Jo), Beth (Elizabeth), and Amy growing up during the Civil War, with their mother, who they affectionately call "Marmee". Their father is off in battle, and while the girls are unhappy about being poor, they learn that they don't need that much to be happy.

Meg is the eldest, at 16 at the start of the story. She has lovely dark hair, and is sensible and pretty. Jo is a regular tomboy who loves to write, and at one point cuts off her chestnut locks to help get money for her father. Beth doesn't have much of a physical description, but is very kind and sweet. Now Amy, who I don't like too much, has golden blond hair and blue eyes.

This book was nice, but it rather focused too much on who's pretty and who's not. Laurie was a delightful character that added a lot to the book, however.

I liked the chapters about Demi and Daisy, but I really didn't like the part when Jo dismissed Laurie, for I think they would have been perfect together. I also hated that selfish Amy went off and left poor Jo in misery so she could have a good time, AND stole Laurie away.

While the outcome of the book is rather disappointing, this is truly a timeless tale of love and poverty, of life and death, and all the while very amusing.

Little Women focuses on the four March girls; Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as they grow up from childhood to adulthood. The characters in the book try to teach each other helpful lessons about life, virtue, and morality. The novel is a real eye opener for everyone. Each of the mistakes the girls in the novel make are intended to provide some guidance for the reader. Society is explained, the harsh winters are described, and the profound work ethic of the people is described to also give the reader a strong sense of what life was like during the nineteenth century. I can strongly relate to all the character's feelings which are strongly depicted in Alcott's writing. I firmly believe all teenage girls should read the novel to hopefully be as strongly influenced as I was. The girls are constantly troubled by the necessity of being good, even when they feel the desire to be bad. There are also many issues on relationships between girls and boys. Friendship turns into love and vice versa, making a strong theme out of gender relations. The girls also struggle with the ideas of motherhood, sisterhood, pride, education, and marriage. After reading this novel, the reader will hopefully look more at their own life and his/her morales. Through the novel there is clear representation of the benefits of what good does.

Only Kipling's Jungle book, rivals this as the classic talking animal book for children. With his beautiful prose, Grahame evokes laughter, suspense, pleasure and even awe. Water Rat, Mole, Badger, Otter, and the insufferable Toad quickly gain our interest and sympathy. If you buy it to read to children, beware! You may not be able to resist reading ahead a few chapters after you put them to bed. This is a book not to be missed. The scene in which Pan appears as the animals' protector inspired a song by Van Morrison, and a mention in Jane Goodall's book, A Reason for Hope. From it a child of any age will get fun, wonder, and a demonstration of the beautiful possibilities of the English language.

I, a reluctant grown-up, confess that my life has been enriched through my meeting of these four Edwardian animal bachelors. This is a classic that should be read TO or BY anyone YOUNG or OLD enough to have an imagination! Grahame created a wonderful pastoral world where the River-Bankers (consisting of Rat, Mole, Badger, and Otter) and their friends form a close-knit community of leisured landowners who observe an extremely strict code of responsible behavior. Uh... then there's Toad. Toad, although he is one of the River-Bankers, continually distinguishes himself as one who is conceited and irresponsible, a spendthrift megalomaniac who disgraces his friends by even landing himself in jail. Because of his incarceration, the stoats and weasels of the Wild Wood attempt to invade Toad's ancestral home, and this threat to River-bank society is the one thing that can rouse Badger out of his cosy retirement. Together, he and Rat lecture Toad with the inflexible moral fervor of Alcoholics Anonymous. Will Toad ever come to a sincere repentance and reform? Well, that is the question.

Throughout the whole book there runs the leitmotif which may be roughly described as the conflict between Us and Them - or more specifically, the attempts made by Grahame's ideal rural society to defend itself against encroachment. I personally believe that this subtle theme can be a great vehicle to instill in the young reader (or listener) a sense of the importance of peaceful living, and of how our actions affect others. Adult readers will definitely have lived long enough to clearly recognize themselves in one of the main animal characters. Alas... I am undoubtedly Toad!

While looking at my bookshelf for books, I picked up a book that seemed like new. I looked at the bottom of this book, it said, 'by Kenneth Grahame'. Above those letters were written the words, 'Illustrations-Helen Ward'. I examined the picture on the cover; it was vividly drawn, with colors ranging from birch white to algae green. The book was called The Wind in the Willows. When I flipped open the front cover I looked on the back of the title page. It wasn't like any of the other copyright and publishing pages I've seen. They were based on the edition I had. The edition I acquire is copyrighted 2000 by Templar Company plc, and published by Borders Press.

After flipping over the cover of this wonderful book, I started reading it. I found out that this astounding book is about the adventures of Mole and his friends. Mole, dwells in a small house in Wild Wood. He met many friends including the gentle Water Rat, the kind Badger, and the foolish but friendly Toad. The Badger hates society, and the Toad daydreams all day and his foolishness leads him to endless trouble yet Toady is still proud himself for everything he does. One day Toad was walking and his eyes caught a deserted car. He couldn't resist it, so he hopped in and took a ride. In time he got caught and sent to a jail in England. Eventually Toady escaped and returned to Wild Wood. There he found out that the weasels and stoats, the Wild Wooders, had taken over Toad Hall. The friends came up with a way to repossess Toad Hall. Thus one night when the Wild Wooders were having a grand feast, Toady, Ratty, Mole and Badger went through a secret passage past the guards and attacked the feasting stoats and weasels. After that battle Mole and his companions could finally live peacefully in Wild Wood.

There are plenty of high-quality chapters in this book but my favorite chapter is the last chapter, The Return of Ulysses, which is approximately 15 pages long.
It's the most exciting part of the book because it has the section where Mole and his friends defeat the Wild Wooders. I also like the ending of the chapter because it really sounds like what a mom would say to her kid in real life. The mother weasel tells the babies that if they don't behave, the terrible gray badger would get them.

Though there are many good parts, the part I hated was a chapter called the Wild Wood. It was all about the tedious subject of finding the hole of Mr. Badger. Half of the part was walking in the woods doing absolutely nothing! It also had a great deal of complex words, which made it kind of hard to understand. It was so boring; you could fall asleep just reading it! However, this is still a superior hardback.

Anyone who likes books with animal characters with human traits would thoroughly enjoy this book. The book has series of events that don't really fit in to the main problem but those events are what makes this book interesting. What made this book special to me is that each creature has a different personality. For example, there's the foolish Toad, the Badger that hates society, and Ratty who is obsessed with poems and river life. If this article interests you, why don't you try to read The Wind in the Willows yourself?

Before there was Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, there was the Scarlet Pimpernel, the greatest of all masked heroes, a man who uses his great intelligence and bravery to save French aristocrats from certain death at the guillotine. He, with the help of his band of brave English gentleman, risk their lives time and time again for this "sport." He's famous throughout England, infamous throughout France - and yet no one knows his true identity.

Enter Marguerite Blackenly, nicknamed "the cleverest woman in Europe" yet married to the inane fop, Sir Percy. In an effort to save her brother from the clutches of the new dangerous French government, she consents to help her old friend, and new enemy, to discover the identity of the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel. But with the knowledge she gains, she becomes more deeply involved than she bargained for.

An adventure, a history, and a romance all rolled into one, The Scarlet Pimpernel is a book you'll never forget.

I picked up this book when I was fourteen and have read it numerous times since. Orczy's dramatic writing fully captures the drama and the tragedy of the French Revolution. This novel has something for everyone: political intrigue, adventure and romance. I particularly appreciate the development of her three main characters. They live lives that require superhuman intellect and courage. All of them find themselves searching for something: whether it be love, power or heroic fulfillment. Orczy has a true talent for writing. She envelopes her plot with dramatic dressing. One can see this by reading the novel's first sentence: "The seething, surging, mumuring crowd of people, human only in name..." If you enjoy this book, I recommend you read her other titles in the series. Most are not in print, but usually libraries have some or most of the hard to get titles. My other favorite novel in the series is The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel. It carries the same premise as the first book but incorporates more edge-of-your seat excitement.

Having read this book roughly 4 times now,I can fully back the review of 5 stars. It is by far the best tale of Revolutionary France that I've ever read. Sir Percy's foppish tendencies keep the reader entertained while Chauvelin chases after him,adding much suspense. Percy's love, Marguerite, is who every girl would like to be. She is famed, beautiful,and wife to the swashbuckley and elusive Scarlet Pimpernel. Of course,one cannot forget the abundance of run-ins with Madame la Guillotine! I highly recommend reading this book, no matter what your usual preference of literature may be. It's amazing! "They seek him here,they seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? or is he in hell? That demmed elusive Pimpernel." ~*

There have not been many books that made me laugh out loud so many times during reading as 'a Confederacy of Dunces'. It ranks among the best examples of literary slap stick that I have encountered, and I can hardly imagine anybody not appreciating this tragi-comedy. Toole had a unique gift for intellectualized absurdity and absurdized intellectuality. In addition, he possessed a great sense of style and dialect. Especially the rendition of the accent of the cold-struck New Orleans patrolman Mancuso is a real tour de force.

Despite the enormous entertainment I got out of reading this book, I consider 4 stars the most appropriate rating. While the combination of ingredients of the novel is unique, more than obvious resonances from both Rabelais and especially Cervantes echo through this book. While it is unfair to compare the young Toole to two of mankinds greatest comedy writers, it is hard to close ones mind to the parallels between Reilly's Boetius fixation and Don Quichote's dependence on chivalry romances for his worldview. As a consequence I can not help to compare Toole's effort, and the final destination of his novel, to the one that Cervantes accomplished many centuries earlier. Such a comparison can not but highlight the highly skilled superficiality on which 'a Confederacy of Dunces' was built. I hope that cult followers of this book will not be offended too much by this review, because I am certain that Toole could have developed in one of the greatest comedy writers of all time.

Have you ever found a book that you re-read every few years and see in a new light each time? This is one of those books. O'Toole shows an almost Einsteinian genius for seeing the same people, things and events quite differently through the eyes of his different characters. To Jones, Ignatius is "that green-cap, fat mother." To Mrs. Levy, he's "the young idealist." To patrolman Mancuso, he's "a suspicious character." To Lana Lee, he's "a threat to her investment." To the aspiring exotic dancer Darlene, he's "the big crazyman." To his long suffering mother, he's the perfect son (for a while, anyway). To sweet Santa Battaglia, he's "that Ignatius." To himself, of course, he's the last word on "decency and geometry." What O'Toole pulls off, amazingly, is to present each view in a convincing, believable way. (Given the plain craziness of this book, that in itself is an accomplishment.) The comedy, absurdity and sheer lunacy of the scenes, events and dialogue in this book are brilliant: Ignatius' letter to Abelman's Dry Goods ("Mr. I. Abelman, Mongoloid, Esq...If you molest us again, sir...Yours in Anger..."); Jones' running commentary ("Hey!...Whoa!...Oo-wee"); Darlene's careful practice for her big opening night ("There sure was plenty balls at that ball..."); Ignatius' take on the nude photo of Darlene reading Boethius ("Some destitute woman intellectual was doing anything for a dollar."); Santa's compassion and way with words ("Get the hell away from that stove Charmaine and go play on the banquette before I bust you right in the mouth...Lord,them kids is sweet...Charmaine! Get the hell outside and go play on your bike before I come slap your face off.") There is so much here. Despite the obvious comedy, there is a serious side here, too, that's hard to put your finger on. Walker Percy's Foreward says of the book, "It is also sad. One never quite knows where the sadness comes from...." True enough. I'm hardly the first to say you will either love it or hate it. In any event, simply the number of reviews here tells you it's no ordinary work.

In his book "On Writing", Stephen King's advice to aspiring writers is not to focus so much on plot or theme, but on creating characters that act true to themselves, and the plot will basically write itself. "A Confederacy of Dunces", I believe, does just that. The strength of this book is in its characters, and as they interact, the plot develops in an often hilarious fashion. There are enough "minor" characters to rival the cast of "The Simpsons", and they all have their quirks and eccentricities. There is Mancusco, the disgraced policeman who is forced to patrol wearing absurd costumes and disguises. There is the jive-talking Jones, trying to keep one step ahead of the law by working at sub-minimum wage in a seedy dive. There is Darlene who has the "bright" idea of performing a striptease act with a trained cockatoo, with disastrous results. There is Miss Trixie, a senile secretary still waiting for her Christmas ham. There is the henpecked CEO of Levy Pants, who is content to let the company run itself much to the chagrin of his shrewish wife. These characters and many more populate the universe of this expert novel.

The character around which this whole universe revolves is Ignatius J. Reilly. Ignatius cannot fully be described, only experienced. An overweight slob with the vocabulary of an elite snob, Ignatius is at the same time a reactionary and a revolutionary, decidedly out of place in the 20th century, a man with a "unique world view", writing out his manifesto on an endless supply of Big Chief Tablets. Ignatius is usually screaming at almost everything, especially his tippling mother, but also at the dancers on an "American Bandstand"-type show and the actors on the movie screen. His entrance into the job market, as a file clerk who refuses to file and a hot-dog vendor who eats most of the product himself, his botched attempts at political organization, and his obsessive disgust with his "girlfriend" in New York make for a character the likes of which is previously unknown in all of literature.

Reviewer have called this a great comic novel, which I feel is shortchanging this book quite a bit. It's a great novel, period.

This version of the Canterbury Tales (Everyman) contains all of the tales (including the rather tedious prose tales), and is in the original language. As anyone planning to read the Tales will be aware, old English is not easy! This book takes a lot of time to read. Is it worth it?

Yes. But a qualified yes. As an insight into life during this time in history, and particularly as a demonstration of how little humans have changed over the centuries, this book is very useful. Many of the tales are quite amusing and interesting. On the other hand, many tales are filled with rather drawn out, tedious sections, and a couple are just plain boring.

For a person who wishes to read most of the major English classics, this book must be read, and I think the only way to really appreciate it is in its original form, not in modernised English. For this purpose, the Everyman version is excellent, as it features convenient gloss on each page, so looking up difficult words can be done at a glance, which disturbs the flow a lot less. I would highly recommend trying to read the book in as short a space of time as possible, though, because you do get used to the grammar and vocabulary, and while it is fresh in your mind, it allows you to read the rest of the book with a lot less glossing.

Be aware that I read this book for personal interest, not as part of any particular course, so I am reviewing from the point of view of a general reader, not a literary scholar.

In addition to its literary importance, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are an enchanting reading experience. The Bantam Classic edition presents the tales in Modern English translation alongside the Middle English so that one can fully appreciate the tales as Chaucer composed them, or if you're just in the mood for a fun romp you can speedily read the translation. The tales themselves move at a quick pace, so beginners will probably enjoy the modern version much more.

The Canterbury Tales revolve around a group of 29 on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral to pay homage to the martyred St. Thomas a'Becket. The members of the pilgrimage come from all walks of life, including a Knight, Prioress, Merchant, Miller, the ever-entertaining Wife of Bath, and many others. The Canterbury Tales are the pilgrims' stories and each one reflects the individual character's personality beautifully. One can't help but feel a part of this lively group.

Whether you like a bawdy, raucous tale or a morally sound fable you will definitely find something entertaining in this book. I laughed out loud several times and found Chaucer's use of symbolism, wit, wisdom, and the glimpse into 14th Century life absolutely fascinating.

The biggest hurdle in reading Chaucer is the language. Trying to read his work in Middle English is impossible without really good footnotes, and some of the "translations" are even worse--they're written in a high-blown, pompous style that takes all the fun out of the stories.

All this being so, I was delighted to find the Puffin Classics version retold by Geraldine McCaughrean! The tales are told in an easy-to-read, flowing style that captures the bawdy humor of the originals, without being over-crass (this is a children's book, after all.) I found myself often laughing out loud, and wishing I'd found this version much sooner, because it makes Chaucer fun to read! I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to try Chaucer but feels intimidated by the scholarly-looking versions available in the "Literature and Classics" sections. You won't become expert in reading Middle English, but you WILL see why The Canterbury Tales has such a wonderful reputation!