Can I just pick up The Canterbury Tales and start reading it,

>>9587667
are you a white conservative male? Then you'll get it.

If not, just give up

This worthy Clerk benignely answer'd;
"Hoste," quoth he, "I am under your yerd,
Ye have of us as now the governance,
And therefore would I do you obeisance,
As far as reason asketh, hardily:
I will you tell a tale, which that I
Learn'd at Padova of a worthy clerk,
As proved by his wordes and his werk.
He is now dead, and nailed in his chest,
I pray to God to give his soul good rest.
Francis Petrarc', the laureate poet,
Highte this clerk, whose rhetoric so sweet
Illumin'd all Itale of poetry,
As Linian did of philosophy,
Or law, or other art particulere:
But death, that will not suffer us dwell here
But as it were a twinkling of an eye,
Them both hath slain, and alle we shall die.

http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/glossar.htm

>>9587667
The middle English takes some getting used to. Pronunciation and spelling are different. Notes would help but you can understand the majority fine once you get into the flow of middle English.

>>9587667

The Riverside Chaucer is much better, since it has the complete Canterbury Tales and the rest of his works, and a lot of annotations to explain the language.

>>9588083
i want a book to take around with me, though, because i am travelling atm

I have the Oxford verse translation. It's surprisingly engaging. Read a story or two every day.

>>9587667

ive heard norton critical editions are great for understanding texts but make sure that you arent getting an abridged copy. i was about to pick up the moby dick edition of theirs until i saw

>generously abridged

>>9588286
No fucking way.
Did they ??

>>9587673
Your opinion of the average white conservative male is far too generous, and, of the ethnic male, too paltry.

>>9588230
Lol Chaucer is not a great choice for travel reading.

>>9588877
i dont want "travel reading" i just want to read him and i happen to be travelling

I picked up a copy of Canterbury Tales Collins Edition at the library thinking it was the original text. It turned out it was some half translated shit. Some of the middle english remained and some of it was modernized. It was strange because there was no explanation whatsoever and the book didn't say anyone translated it, while the receipt said it was translated by David Wright. So I looked into David Wright and the only thing he ever did was a full translation.
It really bamboozled me.

>>9588892
Look kid Chaucer is someone you need to sit down with and STUDY. You could read a translation but that really defeats the purpose since many of Chaucer's takes are simply adaptations of Boccaccio, etc.

>>9588933
i reject your notion i cannot read it

i can read stories whenever or wherever the fuck i want

>>9588727
No, it's not abridged.