The Decameron

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Really, a collection of 100 stories told within the story of 10 young people escaping the plague. The individual stories are brilliant, you will cry at some and laugh out loud at others but you will always be entertained. Take it slowly and reveal the deep wisdom that is contained in Boccaccios tales. Have a good read!

Rating:
Summary: A Book of Laughter
Review: Ten young Florentine noblemen and women escaping the Black Death in Florence in 1348 entertain themselves by each relating a story per day for ten days - 100 entertaining stories in all, mostly set in and around medieval Florence. Although famously naughty, none of these stories strikes a modern reader as more than mildly erotic. Rather, they consistently astonish by their thoroughly modern message that women are as good as men, nobility doesn't come from birth, sanctity doesn't come from the church, and - above all - true love must never be denied. Amazingly, Boccaccio often delivers this message while pretending to say the exact opposite; sometimes he presents very sympathetic characters who get away with things thought scandalous in his time, offering a mere token condemnation at the end, while other times he depicts someone actually following the accepted code and committing some horrible act of cruelty in the process. Either way - and despite his claims to be upholding convention - we always know what he really means, and apparently he didn't fool too many people in his own day either.

But one doesn't need to focus on the revolutionary aspects of the Decameron to enjoy the book; each of the stories delights the reader with a different tasty morsel, and, you can read as much or as little at a time as you please. Once you get past the introduction, (and that's probably the most serious part of the book, so be sure not to give up before you get to the first story) the stories will make you laugh, make you cringe, and make you sit on the edge of your seat. Inspiring authors from Chaucer to Shakespeare and entertaining audiences for over 700 years, the Decameron continues to delight.

Rating:
Summary: clever stories, not engaging for modern audiences
Review: The Decameron consists of 100 stories, linked together by the thinnest of narrative devices. Some of the stories are clever, and many reveal things about customs and attitudes in Boccaccio's time. However, storytelling has changed a lot since the 1300's!

The stories in the Decameron are told in a very skeletal way. There is little dialog, and no character development. Without these things, the stories are flat and unengaging.

I would recommend this book to students of history, or writers looking for plot outlines. I would not recommend it to general readers because the stories simply aren't very well told, by modern standards.

Rating:
Summary: Tasty
Review: The Decameron is -- I must say -- a "must-buy", because it is the real book of tales, it is funny, witty, I love it!

Rating:
Summary: Essential book for any High School Student.
Review: The Decameron is a book which is so diverse and full of information, style, insight, that it is an esstial novel for the high school english student to read. It is saterical and entertaining, I found it hard to put down. When i was taking English class in high school I found that the Decameron gave me a base for all that I learned in class. I used it for examples, references, as well as a source of information which gave me an idea on what people were like during that time period of history. I also found that I helped me endlessly when my class revieved The Canterbury Tails, which based most or all it's tails on the Decameron.

Rating:
Summary: EXCELENT!!!!
Review: The Decameron is one of the best works of littature ever composed. At times it will make a reader laugh or cry. It is erotic but tactiful in its multiple refrences towards the ideas of love.

Rating:
Summary: The Black Plague's literary legacy
Review: The grim, solemn portrayals of humanity in most medieval art would lead us to think of the Middle Ages as a harsh, heartless time of disease, ignorance, oppressive piety, and puritannical drudgery, but "The Decameron" shows that people back then did indeed have a sense of humor, and they needed it more than ever during the Black Plague of the mid-14th Century. Boccaccio's intention is to present a lively diversion to the reading public of the time, and he makes no apologies to those who would be easily offended by silliness, sexual innuendo, or unflattering portrayals of hypocritical, licentious clergymen.

The book's background is an eerie reflection of the time in which it was written. Seven young ladies and three young men from Florence, Italy, depressed and frightened about the plague that is currently sweeping throughout the lands and taking large chunks out of the population, decide to escape to the countryside, camp out in vacant castles, and tell each other stories to distract themselves from the horrors of the plague and bide their time until it passes.

Each of them tells a story per day for ten days -- one hundred stories total -- and each day has an established theme which the stories told that day must follow. The stories are simple fables about love, adultery, deception, generosity, and fortune, in which stupid or gullible people are fooled, selfish people are cheated, arrogant people get their comeuppance, and smart, honest, or virtuous people are rewarded. Running the gamut from farcically ridiculous to decadently ribald to melodramatically sad, they are apparently the kinds of stories people back then probably would have found entertaining.

Because of the unifying daily themes, the stories on any given day can start to seem homogeneous after a while, so it would not be unreasonable to skip some. Don't take that comment as a slight against Boccaccio's accomplishment, though. If we must look to the ages for wisdom, we should be pleased and grateful to find this 700-year-old pre-Renaissance book, which serves as a reminder that humor is, and always has been, an effective drug to numb the pain from even the worst tragedies and catastrophes.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful
Review: They say human nature doesn't change very much and it was fascinating for me to learn that there were people as sophisticated, witty and enlightened as Boccacchio was, even in the dark ages.

Rating:
Summary: funny
Review: This book is no doubt a revealtion of human nature. amusing indeed. everyone should read it and see how witty and cunning (!) the characters of the stories were.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for Avid Readers
Review: This book is simply put, spectacular. For people who love to read and are literature fanatics, this edition is perfect. This edition is kept in a highly eloquent style with extensive explanatory footnotes. Boccaccio's humor carries through time beautifully. Even now, his sarcasm and dry (often biting) humor is not lost. I also found it humorous to see that people have changed very little over the centuries. It is a bit daunting upon first receiving it, but realize that it is a collection of short stories and thus can be put down for a "break" and easily picked back up again. I highly recommend this for people who strive to enhance their "repertoire" of classic literature. Boccaccio was a genius.