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The Life and Writings of Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Seth Lerer
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
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Publisher's summary
Geoffrey Chaucer is one of our grandest and most enduring poets; an architect of our vocabulary and our literary style. By examining the English writer's texts, from his short love lyrics to the copious profusion of character and incident that is The Canterbury Tales, these 12 lectures will prepare you for the challenges of Chaucer's oeuvre, and will provide an understanding of what makes him the true "father" of English poetry. With Professor Lerer as your expert guide, you'll plumb the richness and depth of Chaucer's poetry and explore his life, the range of his work, and his impact on English language and literature. You'll examine Chaucer in virtually all the varieties of literature available to him: classical epic, domestic farce, ribald comedy, saint's life, beast fable, romance adventure, personal lyric, devotional prayer, and religious prose. You'll learn how Chaucer uses relationships between men and women, humans and God, social "insiders" and "outsiders," and high and low desires to explore our "ticklish" world, and the way life takes shape from literary forms-be they marriage vows, the verses of Scripture, or stories told by plain folk. You'll also meet some of the most vibrant characters in all of literature, including: the bawdy Wife of Bath, the manipulative Pandarus (whose very name gave rise to the term "pandering"), the upright Knight, and the ambiguous Pardoner.
Professor Lerer leads you deeply into the texts, so that you learn about their sources and syntax, and the rich repertoire of poetic techniques they display. And while he makes it clear that these texts remain eminently worth reading today, he also does full justice to their medieval context.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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Dr. Jekyll (Vanessa Kirby) is an elite international specialist in energy systems, working closely with her handler Louis (David Oyelowo) in a career that takes her across the globe to politically volatile territories such as Iran and North Korea. But when an arms dealer accuses her of having killed his family, Dr. Jekyll begins to question details of her life, who Louis really is, and whether her strange recurring dream has a greater meaning. She enlists the help of psychologist Sigrun (Sofie Gråbøl), and together they delve into Dr. Jekyll’s darker other side, a brutal assassin named… Hyde.
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Love the Originals !!
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Fahrenheit 451
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Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
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Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
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Dracula [Audible Edition]
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The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.
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IS THAT NOT SO?
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He Who Fights with Monsters 2
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But Jason Asano is settling into his new life. Now, a contest draws young elites to the city of Greenstone to compete for a grand prize. Jason must gather a band of companions if he is to stand a chance against the best the world has to offer. While the young adventurers are caught up in competition, the city leaders deal with revelations of betrayal as a vast and terrible enemy is revealed. Although Jason seems uninvolved, he has unknowingly crossed the enemy’s path before.
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Contrary to common reviews
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Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection
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As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
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Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
- By Michael Fuchs on 11-07-23
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The House on the Water
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Every year, Caroline Reed takes a trip with her best friend, Esme Lamont. They’re usually accompanied by their spouses - but this year, everything’s changed. Esme has just gone through a bitter divorce, and Caroline's wondering if her own marriage is reaching its breaking point as she and her husband, John, cope with the discovery that their son has been abusing drugs. Still, the inseparable duo books a weeklong stay at a beach-front home in Shoreham, Florida, inviting Esme’s brother, Nick, and his new husband. After a blissful first night in the vacation home, tragedy strikes.
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Wonderful Story
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Frankenstein
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Narrator Dan Stevens ( Downton Abbey) presents an uncanny performance of Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel, an epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror.
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ARE WE ALWAYS TO BE UNHAPPY?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 01-28-16
By: Mary Shelley
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What listeners say about The Life and Writings of Geoffrey Chaucer
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Arthur W. Hooper, Jr.
- 01-09-23
Great course
Worth every minute of listening. Great for literature as well as 15th century window on society
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- JR Pinto
- 07-19-18
Very good overview of Chaucer
If you have been introduced to Chaucer in a general survey course, this is an excellent in-depth analysis. It’s purpose is for the reader to encounter Chaucer anew.
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-27-16
"Chaucer is the name, writing is the game"
Loved this overview of Chaucer and his works! Thorough but still lively, the Canterbury Tales are reviewed for content as well as effect. Less known works are also covered with explanations and mentions of how they were received through the years.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Mary Elizabeth Reynolds
- 03-01-14
Not much about the life of Chaucer
When I was in school, college and high school I found Chaucer jarring. Older I thought, perhaps I missed something, After listening to this, I feel the same way. I wanted context as something is clearly lost in the translation of the first written English, but I didn't get it. Even though there is much documented for Chaucer, it wasn't in this work, so I was disappointed. Unlike Shakespeare, no one ever said that Chaucer didn't write the Canterbury Tales. Look elsewhere for something more definitive, unusual for these courses.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Hjalti
- 06-24-14
A complete waste of time
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
I can't think of a better target group than myself for this kind of course, since I desperately wanted an overview of Chaucer's life and writings. There is, however, no indication that the course supervisor has any clear idea of how to put things in context. The focus is always to narrow, so this feels like a series of footnotes on obscure details instead of a general overview.
What could The Great Courses have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Rethought the whole thing from scratch, presented things differently - found someone else to do it.
How could the performance have been better?
The course supervisor spends most of his time on the microphone citing passages from Chaucer, verbatim and directly in Middle English in a funny Jim Carrey-esque voice. Then he reads the same passages again in Modern English, commenting freely and spontaneously on what he has just said. Usually, the meaning is clear already so the commenting is superfluous. This is an extreme case of bad time management.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Nope!
Any additional comments?
I'd love to get another course on Chaucer and I will consider buying it if it becomes available.
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12 people found this helpful