Status
Available
Collection
Genres
Publication
VINTAGE (2004), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 224 pages
Description
'I am sister to the day and night. I am sister to the woods.' Sister Clarisse, a nun in the House of St Mary at Clerkenwell, experiences visions. She dreams of the English King. Are her prophecies the babblings of the crazed? Or can she 'see' a future in which Henry Bolingbroke overthrows Richard II? This clever and colourful novel begins with The Nun's Tale, and continues with The Friar's Tale, The Merchant's Tale and The Clerk's Tale-. Thus, story by story, Peter Ackroyd builds his portrait of medieval London. The people are disenchanted by the Church, with its wealth and corruption, its Pope in Rome and its Pope in Avignon. But heresy is dangerous- almost as dangerous as rebellion. This is a novel about spies and counter-spies, radicals and idealists, murderers and arsonists, sects and secret societies...… (more)
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
224 p.; 5.12 inches
Media reviews
As usual, Ackroyd's learning is as impressive as his imagination, ranging from astrology and religious debate to the deep-rooted iconography that shaped the medieval mindset. But it is the description of daily life, of meals and mystery plays, of footwear and farting, which makes the past a smelly
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and fascinating presence. Show Less
The London of The Clerkenwell Tales is stalked by terrorists who use the most advanced explosives the 14th century can offer to destroy five churches, and the churches are chosen for the significance of their locations. Fans of Hawksmoor will recognise not only this theme, but also the subversive
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theology, the debate between reason and belief, the labyrinths under churches, the blackmail, the way gentlemen in taverns pee where they're sitting, and the purgative powers of flagellation. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member John
I enjoyed The Clerkenwell Tales. Ackroyd is a wonderful writer. I have not always liked him, but I did like Dan Lemo and The Limehouse Golem and I thought his biography of Dickens was wonderful. The Clerkenwell Tales is an historical novel set in London in 1399. It is a time of great unease in the
Lollardy (or Lollardry) was the political and religious movement of the Lollards from the late 14th century to early in the time of the English Reformation . Lollardy followed from the teaching of John Wyclif, a prominent theologian at Oxford, beginning in the 1350s. Its demands were primarily for reform of the Catholic Church. It taught that piety was a requirement for a priest to be a "true" priest or to perform the sacraments, and that a pious layman had power to perform those same rites, believing that religious power and authority came through piety and not through the Church hierarchy;. Similarly, Lollardy emphasized the authority of the Scriptures over the authority of priests. It taught the concept of the "Church of the Saved", meaning that Christ's true church was the community of the faithful, which overlapped with but was not the same as the official Church of Rome. It taught a form of predestination. It advocated apostolic poverty and taxation of Church properties. It also denied transubstantiation in favour of consubstantiation. It is not difficult to see why the official Church would take umbrage and fight against such "heretical" beliefs.
The Lollard philosophy also echoes that of the Gospel of Thomas. In the novel, Ackroyd has one of the characters refer to "the good doctor Thomas", who, "tells us that the soul has a faculty of its own for apprehending the true and that it may reach towards God with will and understanding". (See Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief, on the Gospel of Thomas.)
The story is well told with a wide cast of characters. Ackroyd knows London well in all of its periods (he wrote a book on the Biography of London), and he captures the sights and sounds and smells (particularly the smells) of medieval London, plus the intrigues, the superstitions, and the mores of a community and a time when lives were nasty, brutish, and short. And he does it with the vocabulary of the day! I also learned that ancient London was riven with various streams and rivers that fed into the Thames, the courses of which today follow a number of streets. The river Fleet, for example, figures prominently in the story.
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land under Richard II, but threatened by Henry Bolingbroke who did finally usurp the throne and became Henry IV. He had Richard murdered or starved to death in 1400. The novel, based on the structure of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, tells the story of a group of heretics, known as the predestined men, who were manipulated by a more powerful group bent upon the removal of Richard II, and who sought to sow disorder and chaos to undermine the credibility of Richard's rule. The predestined men, also known as Lollards, thought they were fighting against the official church and its beliefs, but in this case, they were being used. Lollardy (or Lollardry) was the political and religious movement of the Lollards from the late 14th century to early in the time of the English Reformation . Lollardy followed from the teaching of John Wyclif, a prominent theologian at Oxford, beginning in the 1350s. Its demands were primarily for reform of the Catholic Church. It taught that piety was a requirement for a priest to be a "true" priest or to perform the sacraments, and that a pious layman had power to perform those same rites, believing that religious power and authority came through piety and not through the Church hierarchy;. Similarly, Lollardy emphasized the authority of the Scriptures over the authority of priests. It taught the concept of the "Church of the Saved", meaning that Christ's true church was the community of the faithful, which overlapped with but was not the same as the official Church of Rome. It taught a form of predestination. It advocated apostolic poverty and taxation of Church properties. It also denied transubstantiation in favour of consubstantiation. It is not difficult to see why the official Church would take umbrage and fight against such "heretical" beliefs.
The Lollard philosophy also echoes that of the Gospel of Thomas. In the novel, Ackroyd has one of the characters refer to "the good doctor Thomas", who, "tells us that the soul has a faculty of its own for apprehending the true and that it may reach towards God with will and understanding". (See Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief, on the Gospel of Thomas.)
The story is well told with a wide cast of characters. Ackroyd knows London well in all of its periods (he wrote a book on the Biography of London), and he captures the sights and sounds and smells (particularly the smells) of medieval London, plus the intrigues, the superstitions, and the mores of a community and a time when lives were nasty, brutish, and short. And he does it with the vocabulary of the day! I also learned that ancient London was riven with various streams and rivers that fed into the Thames, the courses of which today follow a number of streets. The river Fleet, for example, figures prominently in the story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member scribe14
In "The Clerkenwell Tales", set in 1399, Ackroyd takes a look back to Chaucer, the great poet of the period, to tell the story of a mad nun who is visited by visions of the future and a secret sect called the Predestined Men who are plotting to overthrow the strange but interesting king, Richard
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the II. Ackroyd evokes the squalor and splendor of London at a time during which politics and religion, moral responsibility and superstition collide. Show Less
LibraryThing member aapjebaapje
Very strange style. The characterisation was poor so it was difficult to remember who was who and the names were unfamiliar which made this even worse. I probably wouldn't read another book by this author if I had the choice.
LibraryThing member kewing
Peter Ackroyd (who knows London better?) brings 14th c. London alive--with the intrigue of Bolingbroke's political machination, religious conflicts, superstitions, and near anarchy in the streets.
LibraryThing member MelmoththeLost
This is the first novel I've read by Ackroyd, though I'm familiar with his more famous work "Hawksmoor" which has been adapted as radio drama.
"The Clerkenwell Tales" is a relatively short work, some 205 pages and a few pages of explanatory notes, but it manages to pack a lot of action in
One novel (ahem) factor is Ackroyd's shameless hijacking of many, if not most, of the characters familiar as the pilgrims of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" who here are fleshed out and given specific identities as the players in the action and on whom, chapter by chapter, the story focuses in turn.
This book was almost worth 4 but was reluctantly marked down a notch due to several moments in which Ackroyd's hand is clumsy and intrusive in commenting on the action or implications for the plot of some development or other. It remains an easy and pleasing read however and whiles away a few hours.
"The Clerkenwell Tales" is a relatively short work, some 205 pages and a few pages of explanatory notes, but it manages to pack a lot of action in
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nevertheless. Essentially a political thriller set against the turbulent events of the end of Richard II's reign in 1399, it weaves threads of heresy, murder and intrigue into a coherent whole.One novel (ahem) factor is Ackroyd's shameless hijacking of many, if not most, of the characters familiar as the pilgrims of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" who here are fleshed out and given specific identities as the players in the action and on whom, chapter by chapter, the story focuses in turn.
This book was almost worth 4 but was reluctantly marked down a notch due to several moments in which Ackroyd's hand is clumsy and intrusive in commenting on the action or implications for the plot of some development or other. It remains an easy and pleasing read however and whiles away a few hours.
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LibraryThing member simplicimus
The Clerkenwell Tales, a story about a religious/political sect in medieval London, in some respects reminds me of the paintings of Pieter Brueghel, with its bustling, colourful town scenes with loads of characters. In each of the short chapters a couple of persons are described, with sufficient
The story imho wasn't exactly gripping, but still fun to read: the plot started furioso and con-tinued to be quite fast-paced, enhanced by a twist or a surprising revelation of the persons' past every now and then. I also enjoyed the explanations about art, religion and medical treatment: they were interesting and short enough not to interrupt the flow of the story, albeit a little wooden sometimes. Another flaw is due to its particular composition: None of the characters really emerged as protagonist, in this respect it is again similar to some of Brueghel's paintings. The persons were portrayed too briefly for me to understand them or even sympathise with them. But otherwise it was a very entertaining read.
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overlapping so that I could follow the plot line. The story imho wasn't exactly gripping, but still fun to read: the plot started furioso and con-tinued to be quite fast-paced, enhanced by a twist or a surprising revelation of the persons' past every now and then. I also enjoyed the explanations about art, religion and medical treatment: they were interesting and short enough not to interrupt the flow of the story, albeit a little wooden sometimes. Another flaw is due to its particular composition: None of the characters really emerged as protagonist, in this respect it is again similar to some of Brueghel's paintings. The persons were portrayed too briefly for me to understand them or even sympathise with them. But otherwise it was a very entertaining read.
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LibraryThing member YossarianXeno
For a writer of Ackroyd's learning and ability, seeking to tell a story through the format of the Canterbury Tales was no doubt an interesting exercise. The author's knowledge of the late 14th century, of the city of London, and the language and habits of those living at that time stand out in this
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novel. The basic story is of a plot to depose Richard II, told through the experience of a series of participants and observers. But the conspiracy isn't convincing; and the story, unfortunately, just isn't that interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
The very first thing you notice when you pick up Clerkenwell Tales is that the table of contents look a lot like the table of contents from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. This was definitely intentional. In fact, all of the characters are the same as Chaucer's only fleshed out a little differently
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than Chaucer. We start off with a deranged nun full of prophesy and a group of presumed heretics called the Lollards. The Lollards are a secret society of men who seek to overthrow the church, dethrone the king, wreak havoc across London. As a result, chaos will ensue for sure! Show Less
LibraryThing member Mercury57
There are times when I see the blurbs on cover of a book I've just finished and wonder if I'd been reading an entirely different book. And so it was with Peter Ackroyd's The Clerkenwell Tales; a book that seemed to have all the elements of a good read but proved to be — if not a dud exactly — a
I chose this novel to represent England in my Reading along the Prime Meridian challenge. It's set in the heart of London in 1399 which was a tumultuous year in English history. King Richard II, a staunch advocate of the divine right of kings to rule, has his throne threatened by a revolutionary army led by Henry Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke is not the only one who wants to overthrow the King. Dominus, a clandestine group of high-powered officials that seems to be in league with an apocalyptic religious sect is similarly intent on causing mayhem. The atmosphere of fear and anxiety is exacerbated by a nun whose prophesies of Richard's demise are unleashed on a superstitious public.
Murder, arson, conspiracy. With a plot like that, how can a book fail especially when written by an author with a tremendous skill with period detail? Ackroyd doesn't disappoint in that respect. His descriptions of daily life, of meals and mystery plays, of footwear and headwear, of tooth sellers and medical potions turn the past into a fascinating though smelly present. Next time I'm feeling ill, I won't bother my local GP, I'll just follow one of the cures from the leech featured in Ackroyd's book:
'he was much discomforted by her heaviness of stomach and suggested she mix the grease of a boar and the grease of a rat, the grease of a horse and the grease of a badger's, souse the concoction in vinegar, add sage and then put it upon her belly."
The problem with this book is the way Ackroyd chooses to tell his story. Each of his chapters is named after a character from Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Each of these characters has only partial knowledge of the plots and intrigues so what the reader experiences is a gradual revelation of the story. It's a clever idea, almost akin to the way witnesses in a trial contribute to the jury's understanding of the whole picture, but since none of the characters enters the story for more than a few pages it's difficult to get know them in anything more than a superficial way. It's such a shame because some of them have a lot of promise that is just bursting to be fully realised. But it never does.
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big disappointment.I chose this novel to represent England in my Reading along the Prime Meridian challenge. It's set in the heart of London in 1399 which was a tumultuous year in English history. King Richard II, a staunch advocate of the divine right of kings to rule, has his throne threatened by a revolutionary army led by Henry Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke is not the only one who wants to overthrow the King. Dominus, a clandestine group of high-powered officials that seems to be in league with an apocalyptic religious sect is similarly intent on causing mayhem. The atmosphere of fear and anxiety is exacerbated by a nun whose prophesies of Richard's demise are unleashed on a superstitious public.
Murder, arson, conspiracy. With a plot like that, how can a book fail especially when written by an author with a tremendous skill with period detail? Ackroyd doesn't disappoint in that respect. His descriptions of daily life, of meals and mystery plays, of footwear and headwear, of tooth sellers and medical potions turn the past into a fascinating though smelly present. Next time I'm feeling ill, I won't bother my local GP, I'll just follow one of the cures from the leech featured in Ackroyd's book:
'he was much discomforted by her heaviness of stomach and suggested she mix the grease of a boar and the grease of a rat, the grease of a horse and the grease of a badger's, souse the concoction in vinegar, add sage and then put it upon her belly."
The problem with this book is the way Ackroyd chooses to tell his story. Each of his chapters is named after a character from Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Each of these characters has only partial knowledge of the plots and intrigues so what the reader experiences is a gradual revelation of the story. It's a clever idea, almost akin to the way witnesses in a trial contribute to the jury's understanding of the whole picture, but since none of the characters enters the story for more than a few pages it's difficult to get know them in anything more than a superficial way. It's such a shame because some of them have a lot of promise that is just bursting to be fully realised. But it never does.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Cassandra2020
The Clerkenwell Tales by Peter Ackroyd - ok
Really not sure how to assess this. Peter Ackroyd picks such interesting subjects, but somehow I find him hard to read. Hawksmoor almost defeated me. This one was easier, but still not a quick read.
This is London at the turn of the century - 1399. Henry
Ackroyd tells the tale of these times in the style of Chaucer (although thankfully not in his language!) - each chapter told from someone else's perspective.
All very clever but it's not a period of history I know very well and I did find myself getting a bit confused.
Really not sure how to assess this. Peter Ackroyd picks such interesting subjects, but somehow I find him hard to read. Hawksmoor almost defeated me. This one was easier, but still not a quick read.
This is London at the turn of the century - 1399. Henry
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Bollingbrook is about to replace Richard II on the thrown of England, there are mysterious portents in the city and the citizens are restless and nervous. In amongst this there is Sister Clarice, a Nun in Clerkenwell who is having visions of the future.Ackroyd tells the tale of these times in the style of Chaucer (although thankfully not in his language!) - each chapter told from someone else's perspective.
All very clever but it's not a period of history I know very well and I did find myself getting a bit confused.
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Pages
224