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alanyoung 's review for:
The Decameron
by Giovanni Boccaccio
This was a good read. The device chosen to account for the existence of the group and the need to pass the time in story telling was a parallel to other collections, like the Canterbury Tales. In some ways it was, to me, weaker for the device did not give and same variety of story tellers.
The style was ornate in keeping with the refinement of chosen story tellers and, although the stories included examples of less refined activities, the language in which they were described remained refined. (Boccaccio refers to this in his postscript.)
The tales themselves were, to this modern reader, very varied in the way they engaged me. Many were clever and highly amusing. Some described beautiful attitudes and respect. Some disturbed me by finding amusement in the deception of the vulnerable and there was one simple character who was the butt of the humour in many stories.
Overall it was a good read and a glimpse into the lives, expectations, attitudes and foibles of the privileged in a long past era.
The style was ornate in keeping with the refinement of chosen story tellers and, although the stories included examples of less refined activities, the language in which they were described remained refined. (Boccaccio refers to this in his postscript.)
The tales themselves were, to this modern reader, very varied in the way they engaged me. Many were clever and highly amusing. Some described beautiful attitudes and respect. Some disturbed me by finding amusement in the deception of the vulnerable and there was one simple character who was the butt of the humour in many stories.
Overall it was a good read and a glimpse into the lives, expectations, attitudes and foibles of the privileged in a long past era.