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vargapaula's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
elaineruss's review
3.0
Fun, bawdy and occasionally a little disturbing. Semi adult fairy tales for the vaguely twisted. Part of the 'classic loves collection'.
andreastopit's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
trulybooked's review
4.0
Crude and humorous in a strange way, these are for people who didn't think their fairytales were raunchy enough. There are a lot of problems with them, or I found there were a lot of problems with them, but considering the time that they were produced that can be overlooked. The first story starts your right off in the ribald feeling with a man seducing nuns in a convent. The title talks about love, but a better one would be "Unlikely tales of sex" as that's what most stories revolve around.
lisvhout's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
veelaughtland's review
3.0
This is definitely my favourite of the Penguin Great Loves series that I have read so far. The Eaten Heart is a selection of 11 of the tales from Boccaccio's Decameron, a text that I previously knew nothing about, but this little selection has definitely piqued my interest to read the text in full some day!
The stories contained in this slim volume are surprisingly bawdy and silly, and a lot were very good fun. From a young peasant pretending to be deaf and dumb to seduce a whole nunnery, to a ridiculous Carry On-esque bed swapping tale, the first couple of stories were light and fun. However, a lot of the stories took an equally sexual but dark turn, and I did really enjoy that aspect.
Not all of the stories however were as interesting, and there was a degree of repetition amongst them - a young couple who want to sleep together find a subtle way, and something happens as a result. Also, there was one story in particular (the longest one unfortunately), that involved a fair amount of rape - I understand that this book is from a COMPLETELY different time period, and this was probably fairly normal, but it doesn't make it any more fun to read about.
Overall though this is a solid collection of short stories, and a surprisingly quick read.
The stories contained in this slim volume are surprisingly bawdy and silly, and a lot were very good fun. From a young peasant pretending to be deaf and dumb to seduce a whole nunnery, to a ridiculous Carry On-esque bed swapping tale, the first couple of stories were light and fun. However, a lot of the stories took an equally sexual but dark turn, and I did really enjoy that aspect.
Not all of the stories however were as interesting, and there was a degree of repetition amongst them - a young couple who want to sleep together find a subtle way, and something happens as a result. Also, there was one story in particular (the longest one unfortunately), that involved a fair amount of rape - I understand that this book is from a COMPLETELY different time period, and this was probably fairly normal, but it doesn't make it any more fun to read about.
Overall though this is a solid collection of short stories, and a surprisingly quick read.
blchandler9000's review
3.0
I wanted to add more stars to this book because I love the object of this book. Part of Penguin's series of classics with a very hand-made feel. (Many books in the series have embossings and blind printing on the cover.) But the content only rated 3 stars.
The 3rd in Penguin's "Great Loves" series, this one contains 11 stories from Boccaccio's Decameron. Some the later stories in the book are quite nice—little tragedies similar to Romeo and Juliet where women keep their lover's head in a pot of basil (watered with tears) or the one where the husband feeds his wife a mince pie made of her lover's heart. But other stories come off as little more than dirty jokes. (e.g., Once, this guy, went to work at a nunnery, and he ended up sleeping with every nun. Ha!)
Still, it was a nice little book, and I'd be more than happy to read other books in this handsome series.
The 3rd in Penguin's "Great Loves" series, this one contains 11 stories from Boccaccio's Decameron. Some the later stories in the book are quite nice—little tragedies similar to Romeo and Juliet where women keep their lover's head in a pot of basil (watered with tears) or the one where the husband feeds his wife a mince pie made of her lover's heart. But other stories come off as little more than dirty jokes. (e.g., Once, this guy, went to work at a nunnery, and he ended up sleeping with every nun. Ha!)
Still, it was a nice little book, and I'd be more than happy to read other books in this handsome series.
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