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A review by darwin8u
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
5.0
“Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
Like [b:The Canterbury Tales|2696|The Canterbury Tales|Geoffrey Chaucer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1261208589s/2696.jpg|986234], [b:The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|76527|The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|Laurence Sterne|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403402384s/76527.jpg|2280279], [b:The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights|93101|The Arabian Nights|Richard Francis Burton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388212809s/93101.jpg|859375], etc., "The Decameron" is an early masterpiece of literature. It is one of those books I avoided because I thought it would be stilted and boring. Hells NASTY Bells was I wrong. Boccaccio is funny, flippant, irreverent, libidinous, provocative, inspiring, insulting, crazy and always -- always entertaining.
100 stories told during the the summer of 1348 as the Black Death is ravaging Florence (and Europe). Ten aristocratic youths take to the country to escape the death, stink and bodies of the City and to hang out and amuse themselves on stories of love and adventure and sex and trickery. Bad priests, evil princes, saints, sinners, and various twists and turns paints a detailed picture of Italy from over 660 years ago that seems just as modern and funky as today. Things have certainly changed, but lords and ladies it is incredible just how many things have stayed the same.
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
Like [b:The Canterbury Tales|2696|The Canterbury Tales|Geoffrey Chaucer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1261208589s/2696.jpg|986234], [b:The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|76527|The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|Laurence Sterne|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403402384s/76527.jpg|2280279], [b:The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights|93101|The Arabian Nights|Richard Francis Burton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388212809s/93101.jpg|859375], etc., "The Decameron" is an early masterpiece of literature. It is one of those books I avoided because I thought it would be stilted and boring. Hells NASTY Bells was I wrong. Boccaccio is funny, flippant, irreverent, libidinous, provocative, inspiring, insulting, crazy and always -- always entertaining.
100 stories told during the the summer of 1348 as the Black Death is ravaging Florence (and Europe). Ten aristocratic youths take to the country to escape the death, stink and bodies of the City and to hang out and amuse themselves on stories of love and adventure and sex and trickery. Bad priests, evil princes, saints, sinners, and various twists and turns paints a detailed picture of Italy from over 660 years ago that seems just as modern and funky as today. Things have certainly changed, but lords and ladies it is incredible just how many things have stayed the same.