Reviews

Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

cheshir42's review against another edition

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4.0

В этой книге есть все чего нет в моей жизни:похоть,разврат и прочие многочисленные пороки.Средневековые литературные герои умели развлекаться

alanyoung's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a good read. The device chosen to account for the existence of the group and the need to pass the time in story telling was a parallel to other collections, like the Canterbury Tales. In some ways it was, to me, weaker for the device did not give and same variety of story tellers.
The style was ornate in keeping with the refinement of chosen story tellers and, although the stories included examples of less refined activities, the language in which they were described remained refined. (Boccaccio refers to this in his postscript.)
The tales themselves were, to this modern reader, very varied in the way they engaged me. Many were clever and highly amusing. Some described beautiful attitudes and respect. Some disturbed me by finding amusement in the deception of the vulnerable and there was one simple character who was the butt of the humour in many stories.
Overall it was a good read and a glimpse into the lives, expectations, attitudes and foibles of the privileged in a long past era.

kirjoihinkadonnut's review against another edition

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4.0

Yllättävän hauskoja tarinoita!

prelina's review against another edition

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2.0

[..] es vēlreiz atgādinu, ka sieviete, kam ir kaut kas cits darāms, rīkotos muļķīgi, šīs noveles lasīdama [..]
Paldies, Džovanni, ar šo vajadzēja sākt, nevis nobeigt grāmatu :/

Bet paldies pandēmijai, Kvadrifronam un Spotify! Bez jums visticamāk nebūtu šos viegli izklaidējošos, tomēr ne līdz galam saistošos pastāstus piebeigusi.
Autora apņēmību gan drusku novērtēju. Bet, lai arī kaut ko nebūt no šiem 100 stāstiem varu paņemt sev līdzi, tomēr neņemšos vēl kādam ieteikt.

steph_stamp's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

michael5000's review against another edition

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Interesting to listen to during the plague. Kind of hard to fully attend to in the classic translation, though.

monsterful_alex's review against another edition

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3.0

It's a must-read in the grand scheme of literature's-most-important-oeuvres, and it's very very naughty. It's a win-win for any reader patient enough to withstand several hundreds of pages worth of short stories about 14th cenutry sex.

nightmarekitty13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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

4.0

benrogerswpg's review against another edition

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3.0

The Demogorgon?

The Decameron is a classic work of Italian literature that provides a glimpse into the cultural, social and moral norms of the 14th century. The book is comprised of 100 tales told by a group of young men and women over ten days, as they flee the plague-ridden city of Florence.

Although I did not find this as intriguing as other works of Italian literature such as [b:The Prince|28862|The Prince|Niccolò Machiavelli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390055828l/28862._SY75_.jpg|1335445], it still provides an entertaining read and offers a unique perspective on the values and beliefs of the time period.

It is worth noting that the book is often considered one of the earliest examples of a story collection in European literature and has influenced countless other works of fiction in the centuries since its publication.

Overall, The Decameron is an enjoyable read that offers a window into a fascinating period of Italian history and culture.

I give it an alright rating of...

3.0/5