The Decameron

The Decameron

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3.82 of 5 stars 3.82  ·  rating details  ·  11,540 ratings  ·  412 reviews
The Decameron (c.1351) is an entertaining series of one hundred stories written in the wake of the Black Death. The stories are told in a country villa outside the city of Florence by ten young noble men and women who are seeking to escape the ravages of the plague. Boccaccio's skill as a dramatist is masterfully displayed in these vivid portraits of people from all statio...more
Paperback, 909 pages
Published April 29th 2003 by Penguin Classics (first published 1351)
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Nikki
The Decameron is obviously a hugely influential piece of literature (actually, it's just plain huge), so it's no wonder I'd get around to it eventually. I'm not a huge fan of Chaucer, really, but I did recognise a couple of the source texts he used in this, and I imagine that the choice of frame narrative for the Canterbury Tales might've been suggested to Chaucer by The Decameron. Certainly The Decameron was an influence, anyway.

The Decameron also inspired a song by one of my favourite singers,...more
Alex
Suck it Boccaccio, I totally read your shit. Well, around 65% of it. I used a couple of different lists of "the best of them," and skipped any stories that weren't on either list.

I've read a bunch of non-fiction books recently that at least touch on Italy in the 14th century, and I keep thinking, "Yeah, I understand this from Boccaccio." Corruption in the church, the role of women, the lives of the nobles and the common people... I get a better sense of these things from the Decameron than from...more
David Lentz
This great book is set in a country estate outside Florence during a plague. The meaning of the setting was not lost upon me: with death beckoning from all corners, one is wise to enjoy life and pass the hours sharing experience among those about whom one cares. These comic and tragic tales are told in rotation among a group of wealthy people killing time within a garden, a little island of civilization, a little Eden -- paradise. The vast majority of these 100 tales involve amusing stories abou...more
Emm
My encounter with this book has been a delightful surprise. Expecting a dry and difficult medieval text, I was shocked to find myself unable to put it down. This is a completely rich text that is complex, yet easy and fun to read. Boccaccio has such a fun sense of humor! I found myself laughing aloud. For me, the dirty stories stole the show, but the other stories by no means fall short. His characters and stories are so richly human and he is able to laugh at them, embrace their flaws, forgive...more
Fahad
الديكاميرون

القرن الرابع عشر، مدينة فلورنس، مدينة الورود كما يوحي اسمها، والأهم مدينة الفن والأدب في إيطاليا، مدينة دانتي وبترارك وجيوفاني بوكاشيو صاحب هذا الكتاب (الديكاميرون) أي (الأيام العشرة) باليونانية، وهي أيام عشرة بالفعل، وبمثابة فصول عشرة للكتاب، الذي يتكئ على الوباء الذي اجتاح فلورنس سنة 1348 م، وقضى على الآلاف من ناسها.

في تلكم الظروف المحزنة، يتخيل بوكاشيو شبابا ً عشرة، ثلاثة رجال، وسبع نساء، يتركون المدينة الموبوءة ويلجئون إلى بستان خارجها، حيث يقررون البقاء هناك، بعيدا ً عن مشاهد ا...more
Tracy Duvall
You might suspect that this is a book to read because it's good for you and helpful to mention at wine-and-cheese parties. But it's a naughtily entertaining compendium of one hundred short tales wrapped within a touching scenario. Basically, to escape the horrors of the Black Death, ten well-to-do young adults from Florence, Italy, retire to the countryside for two weeks and, among otherwise chaste activities, tell each other bawdy tales.
When I praise this book, it is not because it tastes goo...more
Bruce
These one hundred short tales, written in about 1350, are framed within a charming and idyllic background wherein seven maidens and three youths leave Florence during the plague to spend time in lovely and implausible country palaces entertaining themselves until it is safe to return to the city. One of their means of amusement and entertainment is to tell each other stories, ten each day for ten days, and it is these stories that comprise The Decameron.

The stories are delightful and earthy, oft...more
Alex
The Decameron is known for being one of Italy's most important literary works, as well as one of the most racy of its time. Having taken Italian throughout my schooling, I'd heard much about it, and so it finally came time to read it. This damn thing took me about a month to complete... it's huge... but in the long run it was worth it.

Seven women and three men escape Florence for a bit during the time of the plague, and they live a life of leisure for a while and tell stories. It's easy to see t...more
Clark
The Decameron is something that I had wanted to read since 10th grade when I first heard about it. The concept is simple: 7 young ladies and 3 young men decide to get away from the plague for a few weeks by heading to the countryside. Once they arrive, it is decided that they will each tell one story per night for the ten days they are there. So it is a collection of 100 short stories.

However, I never realized how raunchy and hilarious the stories would be. These stories are crazy clever and sev...more
Lona






في البداية لدي اعتراف:- حكايات "ألف ليلة ولية" لم أقرأ الكثير منها وقد يستغرب البعض عندما أقول أنها ليست بالمفضلة لدي، و عندما قررت أن أقرأ "الديكاميرون" لاحظت أن أغلب المراجعات تشبهها بألف ليلة وليلة وهذا لم يكن بالأمر المشجع لقراءتها ولكني قررت خوض التجربة وهذا ما كان


**


أهدى "جيوفاني بوكاشيو" هذا العمل (الديكاميرون والمعروف أيضاً بالأمير غاليوتو) لجمهور النساء لتسليَّتهن .. .. النساء اللواتي لا يملكن ما يملك الرجال من مقدرة على الترويح عن أنفسهن عند الضيق والكآبة، لكون الرجال يملكون القدرة عل
...more
عبد الحميد بوحسين
الحكاية ،الأيروتيكا،الفكاهة
....
طيف الف ليلة ،رواة عشرة يروون الحكايات بعيدا عن موت لا يرى،موت يتحرك كشبح في الهواء،قد يختبئ ربما في ظل شجرة أو في خرقة مهملة في مكان ما: الطاعون الذي غزا فلورنسا،تحدي الموت بالحكي تماما كما فعلت شهرزاد

تتنوع مواضيع الحكايات ،كل يوم عشر حكايات،عشرة أيام بمائة حكاية هي التي تضمنها الكتاب
تسود الأيروتيكا،الحب ،المكر،الذكاء،السخرية و نقد رجال الدين

بوكاشيو يزعم أنه كتب الكتاب للنساء،بداية الكتاب عبارة عن إهداء مكتوب بعناية لهاته الأرواح الرقيقة

ثم ذلك التحذير الملغوم ،فقد...more
Michael
The Decameron, by Giovanni Bocaccio ****

Bocaccio followed hot on the heels of Dante but in many ways the books for which they are both known could not be more different. “The Decameron” is almost the exact opposite of Dante’s “Comedia”, written in prose instead of poetry, concerned with things earthy rather than divine, governed by the number ten instead of the famous “threes”, and telling many disparate stories rather than one.

The Decameron is a collection of 100 short stories that are set with...more
Samuel Breed
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Martin
I was introduced to The Decameron through a required reading list and only read the selected stories as per the syllabus. I can't wait to read the whole thing, cover to cover, all 802 pages! The Decameron is comprised of 100 stories of love, loss, betrayal, wit, alliance and the erotic. Yes, I said "erotic" - even a bit shocking at times.

A group of seven noble Florentine women are in the church of Santa Maria Novella trying to figure out how they can get out of town during the Black Plague. Thre...more
ميّ  أحمد
(أما ما يخصني فأقول أن الطبيعة قد مالت بي مذ كنتُ في بطن أمي , إلى التأملات الشعرية , وهو ما يدفعني إلى التقدير بأنني ولدتُ من أجل الأدب وحسب )*

يبدو أن بوكاشيو كان يعرف مصيره منذ أن خرج للحياة , هذا الإيطالي الذي كرس حياته لأجل خدمة الأدب , من يعتبره النقاد في أوربا المُعلّم البارز والمؤسس للرواية الحديثة , من شرع الأبواب أمام إيطاليا لتطرح البذرة الأولى لفن السرد القصصي ..
وقبل أن أخوض في الحديث عن الرواية أجد لزاما أن أشير إلى الفصل الرائع الذي تركه لنا صالح علماني, فصل خاص أفرده لحياة بوكاشي...more
Walkergeraldine
A collection of 100 short stories written in the 14th century, written not in a "high" or scholarly manner but for everyday folk, and not in Latin but in Italian. The book is overall very good, though the stories run the gamut from excellent to page-filler.
The best stories are the funny ones, particularly the ones told by Dioneo, whose tales conclude each set of ten stories and which are at times amazingly and hilariously vulgar. The story about "putting the Devil back into hell" made me laugh...more
Daniel Banker
Here's one to counter the old argument that any given contemporary society is by far the worst the world has seen as defined by the people that are forced by coincidence of time and place to live in it. The events necessary to produce every permutation of sex scene are so luridly transparent here that even ye olde immoral Hollywood no doubt would cringe. My favorite passage:

“What Peitro arranged after supper to satisfy all three of them has entirely gone out of my head. But I know that next morn...more
Nicholas Whyte
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1775820...

It is not all that long since I read The Canterbury Tales, which comes from the same century and draws from the same roots (the Reeve's Tale and the Franklin's Tale are indeed both in the Decameron in slightly different form). But I was struck by how much more enjoyable the Decameron is. For a start, it is actually complete - ten days of ten people telling a tale each, to give a hundred short stories and a framing narrative. It is also striking that the du...more
Rob
Overall not a bad book, but it suffered from too much repetition. Each story seemed quite similar to others, so over 100 tales it just didn't hold the interest that I would have hoped it would. It was also quite bawdy, which I don't particularly mind, but over 100 tales, it just got old. There's only so much of "he wants to nail her, she wants to nail him, he wants to nail 'em all, etc..." before its like enough already...

I also couldn't help but feel that a lot of the characters were really stu...more
Kate
Jul 25, 2009 Kate marked it as to-read
Shelves: rome
from amazon: (via my mom)

Bawdy tales of love, February 18, 2009
This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
The "Decameron" is a collection of 100 novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in 1350 and finished in 1353. It is a medieval allegorical work best known for its bawdy tales of love, appearing in all its possibilities from the erotic to the tragic. Other topics such as wit and witticism, practical jokes and worldly initiation also form part of...more
Kristin
I can't believe I actually finally finished this whole book! I started it almost 3 years ago for my freshman Honors seminar. Many of the stories are really fantastic, & it is especially interesting when you place it into historical context. Witty, funny, and deliciously dirty with the most wonderful euphemisms. It is pretty hefty, though, a hundred short stories, all similar in style. Without one strong through-line to pull you along, the book is best taken a little at a time (which is why,...more
Jennifer Malin
Ten young people flee medieval Florence during the plague and take refuge on a beautiful country estate, where they amuse themselves telling stories for ten days. For me, the stories were more intriguing than entertaining. It was interesting to see what sorts of stories people told at that time.

Some of the "clever" speeches or retorts made by characters don't seem to transcend time and translation, but the values these admired characters espouse are timeless. On the other hand, many other chara...more
Barbara78e
E’ un peccato che quest’opera non venga approfondita a scuola, così come la Commedia. Se Dante è il padre della poesia italiana, Boccaccio lo è sicuramente della prosa.
Siamo a Firenze, in piena peste. Sette donne e tre uomini si rifugiano appena fuori città. Qui passeranno dieci giorni e ogni giorno, governato da un “re” o una “regina”, i dieci narratori racconteranno ciascuno dieci novelle. Ci saranno dieci temi: il primo sarà libero; il secondo è il “lieto fine” dopo molte traversie; il terzo...more
Cody
yo so i only read half the stories because seriously there's a bunch but here are some key pranks

- guy pretends to be mute and works at a nunnery... and then the nuns all get on his dilz!!! all 9 of em! he has babies and becomes king of nuns SURPRISE
- guy wants to have sex with daughter so he tells her her youknowwhat is Hell and his youknowwhat is the devil... and he needs to send the devil back to hell.. SURPRISE
- guy wants to make sure his wife loves him, so he tells her he's sending their ba...more
Kevin
After The Inferno, I thought, why not give the Decameron a try? Well, it’s a hell of a lot longer than the Inferno--Decameron=10 days. That's 10 days of stories by 10 people, one story each/day. Do the math. That’s 100 stories. Now, I have absolutely nothing against long books. I can get lost in multi-hundred page books. But I pretty much got the idea after Day Two. The stories are slightly.. OK, often, quite ribald and sacrilegious. Which in itself is pretty funny, because Boccaccio dedicates t...more
Alex
The first time I came accross this book I opened it at a random page and starting reading. Having enjoyed the first story I returned to the beging to familiarise myself with the premise. Then continued coming back to it, picking a different story in no particular order every time.
I found the reading of The Decameron came surprisingly easy to me because of the simplicity in which the narrators convey their messages (after all story telling for your mates' entertainment should be effortless) and...more
Tereneh
The Decameron - interesting to read the different voices in the story Boccaccio created, some funny, a lot smutty, some insightful...

I am not sure if I had the best translation, I had Oxford not the Penguin version. I had a feeling that the translation was dumbed down a tad or maybe the translation was too too modern? Not sure.

I had to overlook all the many "love at first sight" and everyone or most in the stories were the "most beautiful" etc etc. But to put it in its context it makes sense, th...more
Allison
I found the look at 14th C Italian culture quite fascinating (at least as Boccaccio presented it)...and laughed at the ridiculously sexist comments the author and characters made. If I knew a friend were reading this, I'd recommend a different translation, because there seemed to be quite a few modern phrases...either that or Boccaccio is responsible for more colloquialisms in English than I was aware of (not being aware of any). Also, while I recognize the talent in having the 10 different char...more
Arwen56
Il Decamerone mi è piaciuto sin dalla prima lettura. Possiede una notevole modernità. Innanzitutto, è un’opera fondamentalmente “laica”, il che non è pregio da sottovalutare. In secondo luogo, le figure femminili hanno una certa valenza e incisività, ulteriore merito da considerare. La struttura letteraria è solida e ben organizzata. La materia è varia, benché predomini il tema “amoroso”.
Nell’insieme è, dunque, un testo molto armonioso. Qualche inciampo può derivare dal linguaggio, che è, ovvia...more
Erik Simon
Here's the deal. I picked this up and fully loved how ten people, seven dames and three guys, fled a city riddled with the plague and thousands of corpses and headed into the country to be happy during so much sadness. And I love how, to brook the hot afternoons, they agreed to tell a story, each, thus ten stories for what would be ten days. And I even loved the stories . . . the first day. By the end of the second day, I was thinking, "Okay, these stories are cute, and some are certainly tittil...more
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The Decameron (Paperback)
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The Decameron (Paperback)

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Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian author and poet, a friend and correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist in his own right and author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular. Boccaccio is particularly notable for his dialogue, of which it has been said that it surpasses in veris...more
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