Review: The Life and Times of Chaucer

The Life and Times of Chaucer by John Gardner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Older girls played ring-dance with boys, especially parish clerks (or so we're told in popular poetry), and had a way of dropping gloves or scarves, which had to be returned late at night through a bedroom window, much to the increase of the population."

I found this for $1.98 at the Book Rack (a local bookstore), and it sat on my shelf of a few months before I finally decided I should give it a go.

The reason I was delaying was that I know very little about Chaucer, and thought I should read some of his works before diving into his biography.

Well, it turns out there wasn't any need. The author's writing is excellent, and it seems like just as much time is spent on the general background, culture, and other people surrounding Chaucer as is spent on his life, interspersed with his verses throughout, so you can get a clear picture as to what was happening and why.

This book actually makes me very curious about the author's fiction, which I'm seeing here on Goodreads. I'll have to check it out.


4.5 Stars

Also, a line about legally-sanctioned wife-beating:
"it was legal to beat a wife into unconsciousness, but not acceptable to beat her until her inert body farted, a sign that she was in shock and might possibly be dying"

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