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ilarkive's review against another edition
5.0
Nulla da dire, un capolavoro. Ringraziamo la mia università che me l’ha fatto leggere :D
martijnvos's review against another edition
5.0
Heerlijke verhalen die je echt ´pakken´. Schrijfstijl is niet voor ieder weggelegd, maar gelukkig houdt de schrijver je binnen door momenten die aanspreken met her en der een beetje humor en schunnigheid.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
Years ago I read and loved the first 20 or so stories in The Decamaron. I have been meaning to read it all ever since and was excited about the great reviews of the Wayne Rebhorn translation a few years ago. In January I decided I would read it over the summer, little realizing just how relevant the timing would be. Originally I planned to read a story a day but I found that I got into them and wanted to read 5 or 10 at once but then need a break of several days or weeks. It ended up taking me 113 days—which is 13 days more than there are stories and 103 days more than the frame tale itself is supposed to take.
And I loved it. Almost every tale was a marvel and collectively they are something even more marvelous. It is amazing that one person composed this nearly 700 years ago, even if he was drawing on other stories. The stories are funny, surprising, shocking, filled with sex and violence, have a consistent morality to them but almost no moralizing, and work together in a nice rhythm. In general I love frame tales and tales within tales like the Arabian Nights and even have the unfashionable opinion of loving the interpolated tales in Don Quixote Part One. This is a spectacular set of them that I will certainly return to in the future, hopefully not waiting for the next pandemic.
And I loved it. Almost every tale was a marvel and collectively they are something even more marvelous. It is amazing that one person composed this nearly 700 years ago, even if he was drawing on other stories. The stories are funny, surprising, shocking, filled with sex and violence, have a consistent morality to them but almost no moralizing, and work together in a nice rhythm. In general I love frame tales and tales within tales like the Arabian Nights and even have the unfashionable opinion of loving the interpolated tales in Don Quixote Part One. This is a spectacular set of them that I will certainly return to in the future, hopefully not waiting for the next pandemic.
alfyasmeen's review against another edition
4.0
I've read this book when I was 15, I remember really loving it. It was a very engaging collection of 100 atmospheric novellas. In the beginning the author states that a few young women and men fled from Florence because there was some sort of plague there, so they're staying in an isolated villa for 10 nights. Then, to pass the time, each one would tell a story/tale every night. Some were okay, others were great. Overall, it's a recommended read for people who like classics.
dewey_the_composer's review against another edition
4.0
Fun stories showing not all old tales are what you'd expect
evelyne_crowe's review against another edition
5.0
This is nothing more than a collection of stories, some rather adult, some humorous, and others violent. Highly recommended.
marielouiseolsenn's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Read for uni - few stories per month
justinlife's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
So like, there’s a plague right? And like these seven sisters are like “look, we can stay here in Florence with all the poors or like leave the city and like have a good time. But like since we’re women we can’t do it alone, how about those three guys that are into us? Like what if we take them w/us? But like we’re like all unmarried and shit and people will judge, but like let them. We’re gonna live by our morals!”
So sets the scene for the Decameron. To escape death 10 young folk go the countryside with their staff to get away from the plague and be merry and have fun. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT ESCAPING A PLAGUE WOULD BE RELEVANT AGAIN?! To pass the time in the afternoon, each person must tell a tale based on a theme set forth by that day’s ruler (they each take turns as king and queen). 100 tales are told over 10 days.
Taken as a whole, the tales speak to the sexual politics, morals, and corruption of the time. The characters tell stories including many corrupt clergymen and unfaithful spouses that it leads me to believe that as much reverence as the church and marriage now hold, maybe it wasn’t the case. I mean he goes in on the church!
The stories are incredible. It’s truly impressive how many euphemisms Boccaccio came up about sex and sexual organs. Some of the stories were SAUCY! That’s Ragú, momma. People were fornicating all up in this book.
Others were sweet and at times sad. There were at least three instances of a heart being ripped out which was somewhat surprising.
This is a good book if you’re looking to get insight on the role of women in the Middle Ages. At times it felt contradictory but I think that continues to this day. A woman’s purity is valued but it all seems like a game. Like it’s all fine unless you get caught. Which, honestly, still rings true. Women are still property and at times are abused in ways that, at the time, probably might not have been considered abuse, but now we know and can be “the fuck?” Consent isn’t always important in some of these tales.
Overall I enjoyed this. The meta fiction aspect is fun. Who is telling which tale? Are we getting insight into that character or is this just another way the author is getting his point across? Am I really to believe that these young people ain’t screwin after sitting in the sun reading letters to Penthouse?!
So sets the scene for the Decameron. To escape death 10 young folk go the countryside with their staff to get away from the plague and be merry and have fun. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT ESCAPING A PLAGUE WOULD BE RELEVANT AGAIN?! To pass the time in the afternoon, each person must tell a tale based on a theme set forth by that day’s ruler (they each take turns as king and queen). 100 tales are told over 10 days.
Taken as a whole, the tales speak to the sexual politics, morals, and corruption of the time. The characters tell stories including many corrupt clergymen and unfaithful spouses that it leads me to believe that as much reverence as the church and marriage now hold, maybe it wasn’t the case. I mean he goes in on the church!
The stories are incredible. It’s truly impressive how many euphemisms Boccaccio came up about sex and sexual organs. Some of the stories were SAUCY! That’s Ragú, momma. People were fornicating all up in this book.
Others were sweet and at times sad. There were at least three instances of a heart being ripped out which was somewhat surprising.
This is a good book if you’re looking to get insight on the role of women in the Middle Ages. At times it felt contradictory but I think that continues to this day. A woman’s purity is valued but it all seems like a game. Like it’s all fine unless you get caught. Which, honestly, still rings true. Women are still property and at times are abused in ways that, at the time, probably might not have been considered abuse, but now we know and can be “the fuck?” Consent isn’t always important in some of these tales.
Overall I enjoyed this. The meta fiction aspect is fun. Who is telling which tale? Are we getting insight into that character or is this just another way the author is getting his point across? Am I really to believe that these young people ain’t screwin after sitting in the sun reading letters to Penthouse?!