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A review by zahirahz
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
4.0
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.