moseslh's review against another edition
I had long heard good things about The Decameron as a funny and irreverent piece of medieval literature, influenced by Dante and later influencing Chaucer. The Covid-19 pandemic seemed like the perfect time to finally read it. The Decameron was written during the Black Death. Its premise is that a group of Florentine nobles quarantine in the countryside to escape the plague and tell each other 100 stories to pass the time, which all of a sudden felt like relatable content!
I did enjoy The Decameron at first. The humor aged better than I had anticipated, and (more significantly) I was entertained by the shock value of it all. A reader who imagines medieval times as prudish and repressive will be tickled by this 14th Century celebration of licentiousness and mockery of the Church. After a while, however, this grew tiresome. I never expected to criticize a medieval text for its amorality and hedonism, but half the stories in this book crossed that line for me.
Structurally, I found The Decameron to be disappointing. The outer layer that supposedly bound the stories together (the friends escaping plague) lacked character development and never connected to the stories in a particularly meaningful way. Of course, it wouldn't be fair to Boccaccio to expect his book to include literary innovations developed centuries after his time—the book's structure was fresh and innovative in the context of 14th Century Italy—but you can't go into this book with expectations of a tight, complex modern narrative. Chekhov hadn't been born yet to tell Boccaccio about his gun. This stands in contrast to one of Boccaccio's major inspirations, Dante's Divine Comedy, which also consisted of 100 discrete cantos but formed a far more cohesive whole that I found quite satisfying.
Finally, Wayne Rebhorn's translation seemed fine but was definitely a bit awkward. While I appreciated his effort to capture the variation in dialect of characters from different locations and social class, the changes in tone often felt jarring.
The best advice regarding this book is given by Boccaccio himself in his conclusion: "whoever reads through these stories can skip over those that give offense and read only those that promise delight." Boccaccio provides a helpful summary before every story, and (as mentioned above) they don't connect to a broader narrative in a clear or meaningful way, so it's easy to pick and choose. Don't try to read this cover-to-cover unless you're an academic. It'll be a lot more fun to read a few stories of interest.
I chose not to give this book a rating because I don't know what a rating of a 21st Century translation of a 14th Century Italian collection of short stories would mean. This felt like a 3-star translation of a book that gives 5-star insights into the late Medieval world, but was an overall 1-star reading experience despite a few 4-star stories.
I did enjoy The Decameron at first. The humor aged better than I had anticipated, and (more significantly) I was entertained by the shock value of it all. A reader who imagines medieval times as prudish and repressive will be tickled by this 14th Century celebration of licentiousness and mockery of the Church. After a while, however, this grew tiresome. I never expected to criticize a medieval text for its amorality and hedonism, but half the stories in this book crossed that line for me.
Structurally, I found The Decameron to be disappointing. The outer layer that supposedly bound the stories together (the friends escaping plague) lacked character development and never connected to the stories in a particularly meaningful way. Of course, it wouldn't be fair to Boccaccio to expect his book to include literary innovations developed centuries after his time—the book's structure was fresh and innovative in the context of 14th Century Italy—but you can't go into this book with expectations of a tight, complex modern narrative. Chekhov hadn't been born yet to tell Boccaccio about his gun. This stands in contrast to one of Boccaccio's major inspirations, Dante's Divine Comedy, which also consisted of 100 discrete cantos but formed a far more cohesive whole that I found quite satisfying.
Finally, Wayne Rebhorn's translation seemed fine but was definitely a bit awkward. While I appreciated his effort to capture the variation in dialect of characters from different locations and social class, the changes in tone often felt jarring.
The best advice regarding this book is given by Boccaccio himself in his conclusion: "whoever reads through these stories can skip over those that give offense and read only those that promise delight." Boccaccio provides a helpful summary before every story, and (as mentioned above) they don't connect to a broader narrative in a clear or meaningful way, so it's easy to pick and choose. Don't try to read this cover-to-cover unless you're an academic. It'll be a lot more fun to read a few stories of interest.
I chose not to give this book a rating because I don't know what a rating of a 21st Century translation of a 14th Century Italian collection of short stories would mean. This felt like a 3-star translation of a book that gives 5-star insights into the late Medieval world, but was an overall 1-star reading experience despite a few 4-star stories.
christar_123's review against another edition
3.0
Some stories were definitely better than others. Lots of very funny and very strange vignettes. I must admit I kind of breezed over the parts where Boccaccio was describing the meals and songs and dances that the characters were involved with....wasn't that interested and these parts felt a lot more dated and medieval. The short stories themselves were often fascinating for both the content and the picture they give of life during the time.
theabee's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
dragonwasrobot's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
lizzybug's review against another edition
5.0
This is a perfect book for what it is-- and be aware of what it is if you're going to read it. The Decameron is an odd, profane, irreverent collection of stories intended both to be erotic enjoyment and comfort in the wake of a great plague. It is not beautifully written and the stories are uneven, to say the least. But it is a wonderful medieval celebration of life. Much as Boccaccio's storytellers are a group of friends, I suggest reading this book with others.
lydia_cap's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
cathydavies's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed the Decameron and may even buy a copy to dip into now and then.
kristenmtan's review against another edition
2.0
1.5/5
read excerpts for hum. you know those classics that are revered as so good and some of the best works of human literature but then you read them and it’s so fucking bad that if anyone tried to publish this shit now they probably wouldn’t even get to querying? this is one of them. it’s the same shit over and over again, most of it is heavily misogynistic in ways that i am quite frankly very bored of, and the ONLY redeeming story in this book is day 3 story 1 where all the nuns fuck that one guy.
read excerpts for hum. you know those classics that are revered as so good and some of the best works of human literature but then you read them and it’s so fucking bad that if anyone tried to publish this shit now they probably wouldn’t even get to querying? this is one of them. it’s the same shit over and over again, most of it is heavily misogynistic in ways that i am quite frankly very bored of, and the ONLY redeeming story in this book is day 3 story 1 where all the nuns fuck that one guy.
steven_nobody's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to this translation on naxos audio. I really like the material that falls in between the stories and in between the days - so full medieval details! The songs were sung with Renaissance style music, I suppose, a lute, anyhow. And all the characters had different narrators. One of the readers was Irish so this certainly added a new level of texture that I would not have had if I had read it on my own. As for the stories, I like the cuckolding and horny clergy stories the best. The tragic stories we're also very good. The only real letdown where the noble stories which took up the last day. Otherwise I just loved this experience!