Customer Reviews

The Decameron (Mentor)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up Decameron expecting it to be dry and boring-- after all, it is hundreds of years old. But as soon as I started reading it, I was hooked-- first by Bocaccio's vivid description of life during the Black Plague, then by the hundred fabulous stories. Definitely more fun to read than any other book. Each story is entertaining, clever, and so humorous. This could be the best book you've ever read; I know it will always be one of mine.

If you read Chaucer's Cantebury Tales and found it twisted and amusing, this books is even better. A loose (in more ways than one) collection of 100 tales, this book was written to keep Italian maidens entertained during the Rennaissance. Want a highly amusing tale? Take your pick. An idea for a prank? There's plenty! Including pranks that have backfired...... This book is also loaded with rather bawdy if not outright shameless tales. Do not be mistaken by the literary merit of this masterpeice! It is indeed rather naughty, while something you could read for an English class. I suggest not trying to read the whole thing like I did(it too me a whole summer), but a story a day is well worth the read.

God created heaven and earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th day. These often funny and sexy tales were told in ten days--100 stories in all--by 10 women and 3 men, taking a break from the black death in the middle ages. Each of these individuals was crowned queen or king when it was his or her turn to relate stories.

These are stories of husbands cheating on their wives, wives cheating on their husbands, for which a woman could be put to death or at the very least be beaten by her husband. In one tale a wife complains of the unfair and unequal treatment of women in the punishment statutes. She succeeds in having her execution commuted.

There are a set of tales where women play tricks on men, where men play trick on women, and where men play tricks on other men. There is a surprising and bawdy story of an abbott and an abbess sleeping together. In another story a priest is encouraged to live temporarily in a nunnery just to prove how lonely nuns could get. There are some tales that speak of an entombed "dead" person being brought back to life. Such is the power of true love.

One of my favorite stories speaks about the enduring and healing powers of true friendship.

Boccaccio helped lay the ground work for Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_. As much as I enjoyed Chaucer's work, I found _The Decameron_, in the end, deeper and more affecting.

I found the Decameron by chance, as an adult. I was astonished to find myself unable to put it down. It was a hundred greatlittle sitcoms--the basis for modern TV. Wonderful spoofs on the church,relationship,lots of lust and bawdiness. No wonder the nuns wouldn't let us see this in high school. An clever, fun read for all, including today's savvy teenagers IMHO.

If you are looking for the Middle Ages and want to discover what life back then was like, you won't miss Boccaccio's Decameron. It contains Life: you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be entertained. One of Italy's greatest works of Art.

I picked up Decameron expecting it to be dry and boring-- after all, it is hundreds of years old. But as soon as I started reading it, I was hooked-- first by Bocaccio's vivid description of life during the Black Plague, then by the hundred fabulous stories. Definitely more fun to read than any other book. Each story is entertaining, clever, and so humorous. This could be the best book you've ever read; I know it will always be one of mine.

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.

Boccaccio's Decameron is a masterpiece in the work of literature. It presents a time when death was common, yet also portrays the power of stories. From the beginning to the very end, Boccacio has been able to weave together a story that will surely continue to live on in today's society. Each story told is interesting and spellbinding. A book for all to read. =)

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

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.