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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
A group of seven young women and three young men are locked from the world outside, for ten days, close to the 14th century city of Florence. They took shelter from the Black Death and tell each other stories, trying to out wit each other, to deal with boredom. This is not the plot of a modern narrative. It's the set up for 100 tales, some of them quite short. They were actually written in the 14th century and it's a pleasure to read them. They're delicious and witty. This was written more than 600 years ago. And the tales still makes us smile in their humour and morals. Some are erotic, some are not.
After 70% I decided I got enough of the vibe to not need to finish it. It's what I expected, I was curious, and I know enough.
adventurous
reflective
medium-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
(for school) some of these stories were so crazy like.. italians are mental fr.. at least it was easy to read !
If my book club didn't choose this book to read in honour of the lockdown I wouldn't know it even existed. Now, I'm glad that I have read this book. I can't believe I've never heard of a book that is so influential. Unfortunately, the stories are not all hits. You can't help but compare it to The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer was inspired to write CT because of Boccacio) and I must say I like the Tales better. But The Decameron is still interesting nonetheless. I find that it's quite modern in terms of women's rights, male-female relationship and religion. I learned a lot about those times and gained many more euphemisms for sex ;)
I love this quote in the conclusion of Day 10.
"It seems to me that our activities have been marked from start to finish by a sense of propriety, harmony, and fraternal friendship, all of which certainly gives me great pleasure and rebounds to your honor and credit as well as my own."
It perfectly encapsulates my experience reading this book with my book club. I totally recommend group-reading this book.
So, why not 5 stars? Like I mentioned before the stories are interesting but there are more misses than hits. Some are anti-climactic, some punchlines just fell flat and some are just plain horrible. And I'm disappointed that Boccacio didn't even try to drop any details about the ten youths in the book. Who's in love with whom? Who broke Filostrato's heart? What did the girls really think of Dioneo's naughty stories? Ultimately, I don't know if I "benefited in any way from having read these stories" but I sure will remember Boccacio.
I love this quote in the conclusion of Day 10.
"It seems to me that our activities have been marked from start to finish by a sense of propriety, harmony, and fraternal friendship, all of which certainly gives me great pleasure and rebounds to your honor and credit as well as my own."
It perfectly encapsulates my experience reading this book with my book club. I totally recommend group-reading this book.
So, why not 5 stars? Like I mentioned before the stories are interesting but there are more misses than hits. Some are anti-climactic, some punchlines just fell flat and some are just plain horrible. And I'm disappointed that Boccacio didn't even try to drop any details about the ten youths in the book. Who's in love with whom? Who broke Filostrato's heart? What did the girls really think of Dioneo's naughty stories? Ultimately, I don't know if I "benefited in any way from having read these stories" but I sure will remember Boccacio.
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really loved this book!
It felt more like a journey to the past than a mere Sunday afternoon lecture and I thoroughly enjoyed Boccaccio's writing style.
highly recommend it :)
^It made me want to learn Italian to read it in it's original language
It felt more like a journey to the past than a mere Sunday afternoon lecture and I thoroughly enjoyed Boccaccio's writing style.
highly recommend it :)
^It made me want to learn Italian to read it in it's original language
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
7 women and 3 men start to live together to escape the plague. They tell each other stories and that's how this is a short story collection.
In my opinion I think this is too long for a short story collection but on the other hand it's quite a good book that learns you morals.
In my opinion I think this is too long for a short story collection but on the other hand it's quite a good book that learns you morals.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes