The Riverside Chaucer by Geoffrey Chaucer (1987)

The Riverside is massive, of course, as it collects everything that Chaucer wrote, plus of course there's critical commentary and explanatory notes. It's a hefty tome, but well worth it. The editing is top-notch, and the explanatory notes are superb-- if there's something worth knowing about Chaucer, it's probably in here. It's not perfect-- there are some omissions, and a few strange editorial choices that seem to be made more out of tradition than genuine good reasons-- but these are the exceptions, not the rule. Well worth having for every medievalist.

I feel as though I should say something about Chaucer's works themselves, but I don't quite feel qualified. Even though I'm much better with Middle English than I was four months ago, it's still not exactly second nature, and having to interpret everything you read prevents it from having immediate impact, I think. But sometimes Chaucer overcomes that barrier-- or I do when I read something again and again. Chaucer is a master of character, and creations in The Canterbury Tales like the Wife of Bath, the Miller, and the Host just leap off the page. Many of the tales are hilarious, of course, but my favorite one was "The Franklin's Tale", a surprisingly moving story about a woman separated from her husband, with some beautiful imagery as she walks along the cliffs over looking the rock-strown shores of Brittany. Though it wouldn't be a medieval tale if it didn't have a bizarre, nonsensical ending. On the other hand, sometimes Chaucer's just dull. But I think he knows it; "The Tale of Melibee" has to be a joke, and I'm convinced that I'm the butt of it. He just wanted to make me suffer. Troilus and Criseyde is a masterpiece, too, or at least it had better be, given how much time I've sunk into my paper on it.

This is still the standard sine-qua-non edition of Chaucer for college students ( )

I like Chaucer. Admittedly, I only studied his work for ‘A’ level, my university course starting from the Renaissance period. The language is relatively easy to get into once a decent glossary has been procured. It is worth the effort for the enjoyment of such engaging tales.
The premise behind the Canterbury Tales is that a group of pilgrims are travelling and, to pass the time, the innkeeper suggests that each pilgrim tell a story. Half of the fun is in the remarks of the others about a particular tale. Some pilgrims are cut short after waffling on. This is a truly communal experience.
The best place to read Chaucer is by the riverside, either to yourself or aloud to others. ( )

The quintessential Chaucerian tome, with his complete (known) surviving works in their original state; the only way in which they should be read. ( )