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babaroga's review against another edition
DNF @ 17%
This is only the second time in my life that I did not finish reading a book, I never dnf and always push through but this one was honestly making me feel depressed every time I looked at it or thought about reading it. The thing is, the premise is actually really interesting and I've heard so many good things about it but the writing is simply too dry and way complicated for me to like. It was impossible to get into and I'm learning to let things go, so yeah.
This is only the second time in my life that I did not finish reading a book, I never dnf and always push through but this one was honestly making me feel depressed every time I looked at it or thought about reading it. The thing is, the premise is actually really interesting and I've heard so many good things about it but the writing is simply too dry and way complicated for me to like. It was impossible to get into and I'm learning to let things go, so yeah.
leelulah's review against another edition
2.0
Read for The Literary Life Podcast Reading Challenge: 19 in 2021
I did a curious experiment with this one, for the most part, except for the brief day 7, I listened to half of the stories as an audiobook. It worked. The Decameron got me out of my reading slump! Stars reflect only my level of enjoyment and not the unarguable value of this literary work as the first "novel" in "Modern Italian".
14. A 14th, 15th, or 16th century book
Imagine 10 young adults between the ages of 18-25 who are bored and at risk of dying of a pandemic in the year of our Lord 1348. Of course, the plague has killed lots of people, and they need a source of relax and entertainment, so they leave the city and, agreeing to lead the topic of narrations, they sit (presumably in a circle) and during the nights, they tell each other tales of love and lust, deception and humor, irreverence (religious relativism) and piety. 10 stories for 10 days. A total of 100 tales. It's no wonder the reading of this book increased the past year with our very own pandemic.
Some tales were kind of repetitive, especially the adulterous kind. Most religious people were presented as corrupt, the least were presented as naïve. The best tales, for me, were those where simple words were enough to get out of situations which resulted in some comedic value that didn't rely on 'and then the spouse never found out and they had sex forever and ever', or a character who's just gets something after persevering.
I actually don't agree much with the idea of the majority of the tales being laugh out loud funny, as the characters seem to imply... it seems more high school kind of humor at some point, but some tales were more tragic, including, but not limited to rape, beheading, taking someone's heart out... still, it's good for cultural interest and to see the mindset of someone who would help kickstart the Renaissance, though I argue this book is Medieval in many senses and not just by chronology, think of someone like Chaucer.
Though I would recommend its reading for mature teens and adults due to a few sexual references, it's by no means pornographic. It would be probably a good proof to show that the Middle Ages did not suffer from the decried Victorian mores of yesteryear.
I did a curious experiment with this one, for the most part, except for the brief day 7, I listened to half of the stories as an audiobook. It worked. The Decameron got me out of my reading slump! Stars reflect only my level of enjoyment and not the unarguable value of this literary work as the first "novel" in "Modern Italian".
14. A 14th, 15th, or 16th century book
Imagine 10 young adults between the ages of 18-25 who are bored and at risk of dying of a pandemic in the year of our Lord 1348. Of course, the plague has killed lots of people, and they need a source of relax and entertainment, so they leave the city and, agreeing to lead the topic of narrations, they sit (presumably in a circle) and during the nights, they tell each other tales of love and lust, deception and humor, irreverence (religious relativism) and piety. 10 stories for 10 days. A total of 100 tales. It's no wonder the reading of this book increased the past year with our very own pandemic.
Some tales were kind of repetitive, especially the adulterous kind. Most religious people were presented as corrupt, the least were presented as naïve. The best tales, for me, were those where simple words were enough to get out of situations which resulted in some comedic value that didn't rely on 'and then the spouse never found out and they had sex forever and ever', or a character who's just gets something after persevering.
I actually don't agree much with the idea of the majority of the tales being laugh out loud funny, as the characters seem to imply... it seems more high school kind of humor at some point, but some tales were more tragic, including, but not limited to rape, beheading, taking someone's heart out... still, it's good for cultural interest and to see the mindset of someone who would help kickstart the Renaissance, though I argue this book is Medieval in many senses and not just by chronology, think of someone like Chaucer.
Though I would recommend its reading for mature teens and adults due to a few sexual references, it's by no means pornographic. It would be probably a good proof to show that the Middle Ages did not suffer from the decried Victorian mores of yesteryear.
clellman's review against another edition
After six months of weekly read-alouds (starting at the beginning of the pandemic in the US), we finished!!!
alina_24's review against another edition
indubbiamente un capolavoro della letteratura italiana. letto e studiato per un esame
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
vstewart76's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
A lot of sexual jokes and innuendos. Some stories are violent and women are treated badly, but the women in the stories usually fight back. There are especially several stories of sexual encounters between nuns and priests, and tricking others into sex. The stories are 700 + years old. Most are entertaining, a few downright disturbing,, but it is mostly tongue in cheek. If you’re setting out to read this, you probably don’t care about the content warnings. It’s a fun book—a great look into a specific time, some memorable stories, but ultimately, not incredibly deep (that’s not to say it’s not worth it).noteworthy_fiction's review against another edition
Not what I expected. Lots of religious satire, which I don't mind, but I need to come back to it when that's what I'm looking for.
icallaci's review against another edition
3.0
I've read 600 pages out of 1,000 and I quit. All the stories are very similar, and virtually all involve "love," which apparently meant kidnapping and rape more often than not in the 1300s. And everything is solved by either coincidencidental interventions or by the woman (who has just been raped) falling in love with the rapist because he's just so good at "making love" that she decides he's the man for her and they live happily ever after. Not all the stories follow this pattern, but enough of them do that I can't keep reading the same thing over and over and over. I understand things were different back then, but I've had enough.
P.S. This review is brought to you by the same person who loved Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
P.S. This review is brought to you by the same person who loved Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
cinaedussinister's review against another edition
5.0
This is not a short book. It is, actually, quite long. Despite this, not once did I feel lethargic reading it, as one often does with books as long as this one is. No: thanks to its format of a series of interconnected short stories with an overarching plot, with each story being hilariously entertaining and tantalisingly blasphemous, it is impossible to be bored. Had this book been merely a set of well-crafted, humorous short stories about love, generosity, and deception, I would have rated it four stars, but what really makes its reading experience special is the boldness of Boccaccio in flagrantly and extravagantly lauding such controversial heresies as adultery, disrespecting the clergy, and even a bisexual ménage a trois! The liberality of Boccaccio's social values caught me completely off guard (it was published in 1353!), which is exactly what makes a great book.