Book thread

[sighyoung]

I doubt this is generally available, but I have to say, this was not only a great quiz book, but one of the funniest books I owned in my youth.

[pioneer98]

I finished "Baseball's Starry Night". It was a good book, not what I'd call "great". It did give a little bit of historical context to the night, but the main thrust of it was stories from fans from that night. I really enjoyed reading about the scene in Houston with all the Cardinals fans, and then there was one Red Sox fan at the game in Baltimore that had a funny and emotional account. Those are what stood out to me. It was a very quick read. It was a fun book, but I feel like the night deserves something a bit more in depth. Because really that night was the climax of many stories that went on for many months, and in some cases, years.

[Vidor]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

[Swirls]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

Isn't that just an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?"

[Vidor]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

Isn't that just an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?"

Yes.

[redbirdjazzz]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

Isn't that just an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?"

Yes.

One of the dirtiest of the funny ones, if I remember correctly.

[Swirls]

I remember we had to read that whole thing in high school English one year (Freshman year I think?). Our teacher had each person in the class take a tale, and then write a 1-2 page report on the overall story and how it related to the overall times/region.

[Smith Corks One]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

Isn't that just an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?"

Yes.

One of the dirtiest of the funny ones, if I remember correctly.

We were reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English for a class at Wash U. One day, when discussing "The Miller's Tale," the professor (a tall, wiry gentleman who had to be 80) asked if everyone understood what the following line meant:

As clerkes ben ful subtile and ful queynte,
And prively he caughte hire by the queynte

When nobody responded, he stood up and said, "It means he grabbed her....like.....THIS!" as he reached down just below waist level and thrust his thin, bony hand violently outward, middle two fingers stuck together, as if someone were actually standing right in front of him. He held the pose for several seconds as his hand shook with conviction (or Parkinson's, I'm not quite sure). It was great.

[sighyoung]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

Isn't that just an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?"

Yes.

One of the dirtiest of the funny ones, if I remember correctly.

We were reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English for a class at Wash U. One day, when discussing "The Miller's Tale," the professor (a tall, wiry gentleman who had to be 80) asked if everyone understood what the following line meant:

As clerkes ben ful subtile and ful queynte,
And prively he caughte hire by the queynte

When nobody responded, he stood up and said, "It means he grabbed her....like.....THIS!" as he reached down just below waist level and thrust his thin, bony hand violently outward, middle two fingers stuck together, as if someone were actually standing right in front of him. He held the pose for several seconds as his hand shook with conviction (or Parkinson's, I'm not quite sure). It was great.

John Morris' hands shook like that. But that might be before your time at Wash. U.

[Vidor]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

Isn't that just an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?"

Yes.

One of the dirtiest of the funny ones, if I remember correctly.

We were reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English for a class at Wash U. One day, when discussing "The Miller's Tale," the professor (a tall, wiry gentleman who had to be 80) asked if everyone understood what the following line meant:

As clerkes ben ful subtile and ful queynte,
And prively he caughte hire by the queynte

When nobody responded, he stood up and said, "It means he grabbed her....like.....THIS!" as he reached down just below waist level and thrust his thin, bony hand violently outward, middle two fingers stuck together, as if someone were actually standing right in front of him. He held the pose for several seconds as his hand shook with conviction (or Parkinson's, I'm not quite sure). It was great.

The best thing about that is the pun in that couplet between the old, filthy meaning of "queynte" and the modern meaning "quaint".