He knows the text inside out, and has the technique to convey every voice individually and excitingly. We know how well he handles epic narrative from his solo recordings of the Iliad and Vergil. Why Penguin didn’t commission him to do the whole work is a mystery.

That said, Jacobi, who gives us a superb Reeve’s Tale, Merchant’s Tale and Man of Law’s Tale, is worth the price of the whole thing. Nobody hearing the original would prefer this version. Chaucer really doesn't need to be 'modernised'. The 1950s 'translation' is pretty accurate and fluent but misses so much of Chaucer's rich music, humour and verbal vitality that this recording feels like an important job half done. So it's wonderful to have, at last, at least this version of Coghill's workaday modernisation. It is a national scandal that there is still no complete recording of our greatest, most vigorous and entertaining poem: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

A story-telling competition between a group of pilgrims from all walks of life is the occasion for a series of tales that range from the Knight's account of courtly love and the ebullient Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend, to the ribald anecdotes of the Miller and the Cook.Īn Important Job Half Done.

In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer created one of the great touchstones of English literature, a masterly collection of chivalric romances, moral allegories and low farce. This definitive recording is translated by, and includes an Introduction by Nevill Coghill. This Penguin Classic is performed by Lesley Manville (winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress and known for Phantom Thread and Mum), Derek Jacobi (winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and known for Gladiator and Gosford Park), Michael Balogun (known for National Theatre Live: Macbeth), Jay Bernard (writer of Surge, artist, film programmer and activist), Seroca Davis (known for Prime Suspect and Doctor Who), Daniel Weyman (winner of Audiobook Narrator of the Year at the Audio Production Awards 2016 and known for Gentleman Jack and A Very English Scandal) and Roy McMillan (winner of an Earphone Award for narration on Conclave and award-winning producer).

The canterbury tales nevill coghill