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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
funny
This is a perfect book for what it is-- and be aware of what it is if you're going to read it. The Decameron is an odd, profane, irreverent collection of stories intended both to be erotic enjoyment and comfort in the wake of a great plague. It is not beautifully written and the stories are uneven, to say the least. But it is a wonderful medieval celebration of life. Much as Boccaccio's storytellers are a group of friends, I suggest reading this book with others.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed the Decameron and may even buy a copy to dip into now and then.
1.5/5
read excerpts for hum. you know those classics that are revered as so good and some of the best works of human literature but then you read them and it’s so fucking bad that if anyone tried to publish this shit now they probably wouldn’t even get to querying? this is one of them. it’s the same shit over and over again, most of it is heavily misogynistic in ways that i am quite frankly very bored of, and the ONLY redeeming story in this book is day 3 story 1 where all the nuns fuck that one guy.
read excerpts for hum. you know those classics that are revered as so good and some of the best works of human literature but then you read them and it’s so fucking bad that if anyone tried to publish this shit now they probably wouldn’t even get to querying? this is one of them. it’s the same shit over and over again, most of it is heavily misogynistic in ways that i am quite frankly very bored of, and the ONLY redeeming story in this book is day 3 story 1 where all the nuns fuck that one guy.
I listened to this translation on naxos audio. I really like the material that falls in between the stories and in between the days - so full medieval details! The songs were sung with Renaissance style music, I suppose, a lute, anyhow. And all the characters had different narrators. One of the readers was Irish so this certainly added a new level of texture that I would not have had if I had read it on my own. As for the stories, I like the cuckolding and horny clergy stories the best. The tragic stories we're also very good. The only real letdown where the noble stories which took up the last day. Otherwise I just loved this experience!
I only read day one and day ten for school and I liked it! This book is certainly one I'd like to finish :)
I had to give up reading this halfway through. The stories are just too awful and didactic and trapped in a moralizing medieval milieu, centering around caricatured one-dimensional characters. However important and key to the history of literature it is, it's not worth reading for any but scholars or historians.
an interesting thing to sample, but it's too dated and repetitive to normally read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism
A 700-year old Monty Python written during the Black Plague. If you don't mind sexist humor from an era when wife-beating was the rule of thumb, you will love this classic. A hundred folk tales bound up in a single volume wherein the wealthy avoid the pandemic by eating, drinking, dancing, and storytelling. I found it a labor to read and impossible to accept as entertainment. Seek out Canterbury Tales of Tales of the Arabian Nights instead.