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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I only read day one and day ten for school and I liked it! This book is certainly one I'd like to finish :)
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
DNF. The stories told felt boring and random.
I loved a lot of the stories, and honestly love the anthology framing narrative, but my goodness some of the stories drag
Decameron is a set of one hundred novels in which Boccaccio tells the story of seven women and three men who, fleeing the plague in 1348, retire to the countryside near Florence. For ten days, everyone tells a story. And, between one journey and another, the story of the ten adventurers unfolds. First, there is the structure' basis of the Decameron; from then on, novels began to teach (a total of one hundred) unrelated to the story of its ten narrators, who are the main characters of the Decameron.
These novels – sentimental, satirical, tragic or licentious – portray life in the 15th century in a style that has become a model in Italian prose.
Boccaccio is considered the creator of Italian prose. However, the circumstances of his birth are not known. Earlier biographies thought him Parisian (his mother was probably French), but Italian Romantics believed he was born in Tuscany (like his father).
These novels – sentimental, satirical, tragic or licentious – portray life in the 15th century in a style that has become a model in Italian prose.
Boccaccio is considered the creator of Italian prose. However, the circumstances of his birth are not known. Earlier biographies thought him Parisian (his mother was probably French), but Italian Romantics believed he was born in Tuscany (like his father).
lighthearted
relaxing
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:
N/A
Reading it for the 2nd time actually: 1st time was during my university years. Back than I probably would have raited it like 2 stars. However now, when years have passed and I am wiser & more mature (hopefully! lol), I believe this is an amazing example of 14th century literature that tells us more than 100 tales of that time. "Dekameron" gives us a sneak pick into the lives of people, and if not telling us exactly what was happening back than (because it's not a chronicle), at least gives us a view on what made them laugh and what made them sad, and what made them feel shameful or uncomfortable. Which - compared to today's life - is not exactly the same stuff. All in all, recommended as an enjoyable read!
Lido há décadas e recordado agora em tempos de pandemia.
Este livro tem por subtítulo «Príncipe Galeotto». Foi escrito por Boccaccio entre os anos de 1348 e 1353. Contém cem novelas que, em dez dias (daí o título), contaram sete donzelas e três donzéis.
Esses dez jovens tinham decidido abandonar a cidade e retirarem-se para o campo com o propósito de fugir aos perigos da peste negra. Para ocupar o tempo inventaram uma brincadeira: cada um contaria uma história durante o período mais quente do dia.
E assim foi! No primeiro dia, cada um tratou do assunto que mais lhe agradou; noutros dias, o tema foi previamente escolhido.
Uma leitura fascinante!
Este livro tem por subtítulo «Príncipe Galeotto». Foi escrito por Boccaccio entre os anos de 1348 e 1353. Contém cem novelas que, em dez dias (daí o título), contaram sete donzelas e três donzéis.
Esses dez jovens tinham decidido abandonar a cidade e retirarem-se para o campo com o propósito de fugir aos perigos da peste negra. Para ocupar o tempo inventaram uma brincadeira: cada um contaria uma história durante o período mais quente do dia.
E assim foi! No primeiro dia, cada um tratou do assunto que mais lhe agradou; noutros dias, o tema foi previamente escolhido.
Uma leitura fascinante!
So the title means a ten day event. Ten people telling ten stories in ten days - one each for ten days; now that is kind of maths I love. A king or Queen, chosen from themselves, decides a theme each day. We are the stories we tell - and the characters of story tellers are developed by the stories they tell.
I guess one of the reasons why this book is such an amazing classic is because it captures so successfully the after taste of death. Literature seems to grow successful if it can capture the state of minds of people of it's time. Boccario's tales though not incredibly amazing themselves or really well written capture the changing values of people. The idea of collecting stories that were already popular and doing rounds in Europe at that time also seems to make it more of a work of collective consciousness rather than product of an individual imagination. Though many of these stories are much older and/or originated from far off parts of world (I think at least a few were Italy-ised version of Indian or Persian stories); the fact remains they were popular antidotes among Italians of the time and that tells you something about them.
Social institutions are challenged constantly - mostly marriage (by givimg instances of adultery where we are supposed to support the cheating party) and church (priests having sex, chasing women, or being fooled by common folks, nuns having sex) but also, at least once, administrative officers. When you see so much of death, the instinct to question the authority of established institutions seems to come naturally. The institution of Ladydom (?) is also challenged which says women, who have titles of ladies, do not have dirty thoughts or fantasies. There is a story in here where an incredibly beautiful woman repeatedly gets kidnapped by men who will want to have sex with her- again, again, again, again, again .... It is the longest story in book I think and at the end of story, ladies listening to story are showed grieved at her tragedy but also secrety envious of the woman. Unfortunately descriptions of sex are not too vivid.
Another amusing consideration is that these tales are told by the author, as well as the characters of the frame story (seven women, three men - a lovely sex ratio) for women as prime audience rather than men. And though there is a lot of sexism - of patronising kind (an example would be women of the frame story are shown looking for men to accompany them for a journey); it probably has a very liberal atitude for its time. A big number of stories are about adultery - mostly women cheating on their husbands and mostly on grounds considered justified (really old husband, really jealous husband, boring husband, simple minded husband, husband absent on a long journey or mostly because they were in love).
Though not all values are agreeable to me personally. Cuckold humilation, a common theme, for example. And the most important virtue in the world of Decameron is ready wits and cleverness - which is a theme shared by lots of medical time classics (Don Quioxite, Arabian Nights etc) and, if you are simpleminded and gullible, you deserve to be laughed at or worse. There are stories about repeat characters that fool less clever people for fun and admired for it. A story has a priest telling a young gullible girl that men's and Women's private parts are devil and hell respectively and that it is important that devil be kept in hell.
I guess one of the reasons why this book is such an amazing classic is because it captures so successfully the after taste of death. Literature seems to grow successful if it can capture the state of minds of people of it's time. Boccario's tales though not incredibly amazing themselves or really well written capture the changing values of people. The idea of collecting stories that were already popular and doing rounds in Europe at that time also seems to make it more of a work of collective consciousness rather than product of an individual imagination. Though many of these stories are much older and/or originated from far off parts of world (I think at least a few were Italy-ised version of Indian or Persian stories); the fact remains they were popular antidotes among Italians of the time and that tells you something about them.
Social institutions are challenged constantly - mostly marriage (by givimg instances of adultery where we are supposed to support the cheating party) and church (priests having sex, chasing women, or being fooled by common folks, nuns having sex) but also, at least once, administrative officers. When you see so much of death, the instinct to question the authority of established institutions seems to come naturally. The institution of Ladydom (?) is also challenged which says women, who have titles of ladies, do not have dirty thoughts or fantasies. There is a story in here where an incredibly beautiful woman repeatedly gets kidnapped by men who will want to have sex with her- again, again, again, again, again .... It is the longest story in book I think and at the end of story, ladies listening to story are showed grieved at her tragedy but also secrety envious of the woman. Unfortunately descriptions of sex are not too vivid.
Another amusing consideration is that these tales are told by the author, as well as the characters of the frame story (seven women, three men - a lovely sex ratio) for women as prime audience rather than men. And though there is a lot of sexism - of patronising kind (an example would be women of the frame story are shown looking for men to accompany them for a journey); it probably has a very liberal atitude for its time. A big number of stories are about adultery - mostly women cheating on their husbands and mostly on grounds considered justified (really old husband, really jealous husband, boring husband, simple minded husband, husband absent on a long journey or mostly because they were in love).
Though not all values are agreeable to me personally. Cuckold humilation, a common theme, for example. And the most important virtue in the world of Decameron is ready wits and cleverness - which is a theme shared by lots of medical time classics (Don Quioxite, Arabian Nights etc) and, if you are simpleminded and gullible, you deserve to be laughed at or worse. There are stories about repeat characters that fool less clever people for fun and admired for it. A story has a priest telling a young gullible girl that men's and Women's private parts are devil and hell respectively and that it is important that devil be kept in hell.
4.5 stars.
An enjoyable set of stories (apart from story 9.9...). Very light-hearted and readable.
An enjoyable set of stories (apart from story 9.9...). Very light-hearted and readable.