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A review by justinlife
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
So like, there’s a plague right? And like these seven sisters are like “look, we can stay here in Florence with all the poors or like leave the city and like have a good time. But like since we’re women we can’t do it alone, how about those three guys that are into us? Like what if we take them w/us? But like we’re like all unmarried and shit and people will judge, but like let them. We’re gonna live by our morals!”
So sets the scene for the Decameron. To escape death 10 young folk go the countryside with their staff to get away from the plague and be merry and have fun. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT ESCAPING A PLAGUE WOULD BE RELEVANT AGAIN?! To pass the time in the afternoon, each person must tell a tale based on a theme set forth by that day’s ruler (they each take turns as king and queen). 100 tales are told over 10 days.
Taken as a whole, the tales speak to the sexual politics, morals, and corruption of the time. The characters tell stories including many corrupt clergymen and unfaithful spouses that it leads me to believe that as much reverence as the church and marriage now hold, maybe it wasn’t the case. I mean he goes in on the church!
The stories are incredible. It’s truly impressive how many euphemisms Boccaccio came up about sex and sexual organs. Some of the stories were SAUCY! That’s Ragú, momma. People were fornicating all up in this book.
Others were sweet and at times sad. There were at least three instances of a heart being ripped out which was somewhat surprising.
This is a good book if you’re looking to get insight on the role of women in the Middle Ages. At times it felt contradictory but I think that continues to this day. A woman’s purity is valued but it all seems like a game. Like it’s all fine unless you get caught. Which, honestly, still rings true. Women are still property and at times are abused in ways that, at the time, probably might not have been considered abuse, but now we know and can be “the fuck?” Consent isn’t always important in some of these tales.
Overall I enjoyed this. The meta fiction aspect is fun. Who is telling which tale? Are we getting insight into that character or is this just another way the author is getting his point across? Am I really to believe that these young people ain’t screwin after sitting in the sun reading letters to Penthouse?!
So sets the scene for the Decameron. To escape death 10 young folk go the countryside with their staff to get away from the plague and be merry and have fun. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT ESCAPING A PLAGUE WOULD BE RELEVANT AGAIN?! To pass the time in the afternoon, each person must tell a tale based on a theme set forth by that day’s ruler (they each take turns as king and queen). 100 tales are told over 10 days.
Taken as a whole, the tales speak to the sexual politics, morals, and corruption of the time. The characters tell stories including many corrupt clergymen and unfaithful spouses that it leads me to believe that as much reverence as the church and marriage now hold, maybe it wasn’t the case. I mean he goes in on the church!
The stories are incredible. It’s truly impressive how many euphemisms Boccaccio came up about sex and sexual organs. Some of the stories were SAUCY! That’s Ragú, momma. People were fornicating all up in this book.
Others were sweet and at times sad. There were at least three instances of a heart being ripped out which was somewhat surprising.
This is a good book if you’re looking to get insight on the role of women in the Middle Ages. At times it felt contradictory but I think that continues to this day. A woman’s purity is valued but it all seems like a game. Like it’s all fine unless you get caught. Which, honestly, still rings true. Women are still property and at times are abused in ways that, at the time, probably might not have been considered abuse, but now we know and can be “the fuck?” Consent isn’t always important in some of these tales.
Overall I enjoyed this. The meta fiction aspect is fun. Who is telling which tale? Are we getting insight into that character or is this just another way the author is getting his point across? Am I really to believe that these young people ain’t screwin after sitting in the sun reading letters to Penthouse?!