The Clerkenwell Tales

By Peter Ackroyd

Book Overview

From the foremost contemporary chronicler of London's history, a suspenseful novel that ingeniously draws on Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales to recreate the city's 14th century religious and political... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385511213
• ISBN13: 9780385511216
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.9" x 5.9"

Customer Reviews

An author well Versed

The author displays such thorough knowledge of customs, culture and language of 1399 London as to place the reader directly into the midst of the superstition, bad medicine, medieval law and class struggle during a time when the king Richard II is being overthrown. Religious political forces are at work to frighten the citizenry and further the overthrow. Common folk are caught up or nearly missed as daily lives are written of in the format of the Canterbury Tales (but easier to read, although it is in the English of the period). There is murder, double crossing, simple folk, master deceivers and a touched nun who maybe speaking from God or the Devil. Entertaining. Certainly excellent for someone with an interest in medieval times and life, London, British history, or murder and political intrigue. At 211 pages or so an easy and satisfying read. After reading this I am inclined to read more of Ackroyd's work.

Ackroyd's Canterbury Tales

Beautifully written - an interesting tale and portrait of London based on the Canterbury Tales set against a backdroop of religious machinations. Worth the read and entetaining.

The Canterbury Tales with a twist

Peter Ackroyd draws on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to tell a tale of suspense and intrigue in late-14th century London. The characters are all Chaucer's, but Ackroyd chooses to display them in a much different light. In the 14th century, there was much dissention in the church. The advent of the Black Death earlier in the century had changed people's belief systems. While most of England remained Catholic, there were many people who wanted to break away from the Church. One of these groups was the Lollards, declared heretics for their liberal views on religion. In this book, there is a group of people who want to rock the foundations of the church to its core, and the burning of churches in London is ascribed to the Lollards. The fictional story also includes the mad prophesies of a nun called Clarice. Like the Canterbury Tales, the Clerkenwell Tales have a structure, though the vignettes are in a different order than the original Tales. Ackroyd does a great job of discussing each character in great detail, adding on to what we know of the characters from Chaucer. While Ackroyd does not stick with the genres of the Canterbury Tales (ie fabliau, romance, etc), he does give his reader a peak at another aspect of medieval English life: the mystery plays, or the stories of the Bible as performed by the members of the town's trade guilds. Ackroyd does a fantastic job of pulling bits and peieces of medieval English life together in one coherent whole.

For the literati, a mighty tasty bit of a tome

It's 1399; do you know where your Chaucer is? Ackroyd borrows both form and characters but puts them to different tasks. Who knew (I guess I should have) that the Puritan concept (also Presbyterian) of predestination actually had its roots in an intense debate within The Church in the 13th and 14th centuries. Wonderfully written and enjoyable. E.g., Part of the secret tunnels that connected the Clerkenwell cloister to the priory of St. John of Jerusalem now can be seen in the basement of the Marx Memorial Library at 37a Clerkenwell Green, London. Who says history doesn't have a sense of humor?

veritable time-travel

the author has created a delightful, pensive, historical fiction whose genesis is Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales." This 213-page opus is recommended to all medievalists, early-renaissance lectors and avid readers of English history. If one enjoys "The Canterbury Tales" one should find pleasant satisfaction in this delicious re-creation.