The Decameron (Penguin Classics) | 
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Product Description
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by G. H. McWilliam
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Customer Reviews:
• A Book To Dip Into 02 January, 2007
For history-lovers, medieval scholars and anyone interested in the development of story-telling in the written as opposed to verbal form, this book is very important. I started by dipping into it, reading one story here and one there (it is a collection of a hundred short stories) and then slowly reading the whole book. Some of the stories could have benefited from a more 'up-beat/modern' translation but overall the book works well and Boccacio is good, although, I have to say, nothing beats reading Chaucer in the original Middle English. It's like Strindberg - great in Swedish, dreadful in English. Boccacio in Latin would probably be awesome but beyond me I'm afraid!!!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1BVTF4162MMVO
• A 10 Days Work To Read 14 March, 2007
The Decameron is one of the most revered works in Italian literary history. That being said it is surpsingly not hard for the modern reader to both understand and enjoy this lengthy novel. The book tells the tale of 10 people, 7 female and 3 male, and the 100 stories that they tell while in the Italian countryside while trying to escape from the plague. The stories are even whimsically funny at times but in the end a deep moral truth is revealed. A student of history would be well advised to read this classic tale as it allows for a deeper understanding of the time period.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2MG9POS63L0ZE
• The Howard Stern Of The Middle Ages 12 October, 2006
Yes, the Decameron is an iconic classic, and a fascinating and valuable piece of medieval literature, and I did find some of the stories funny and entertaining, but is it really of value today on its own merits or only as a historical/literary artifact? Most of its very predictable stories revolved around casual adultery, fornication and/or scatalogical humor, which doesn't necessarily condemn it as a piece of art, but I personally found the majority of the tales to be either silly or prosaic. Read it if you have the yen; it's divided into easily digestible tales that will enable you to put the book down for any length of time and not lose any sort of continuity when you pick it up again. Just try to read it without any preconceived notions of veneration, just because of its age.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2B0DPQK20LYYJ
• A Reward Not For The Faint Of Heart 17 June, 2008
A wonderful work, these refreshing pieces have a verve that is hard to find in medieval literature. Irate Italians who complain of Chaucer stealing from Boccaccio should consider medieval thought on authority and originality. A complex collection, rightfully earning its place as one of Italy's greatest literary products.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1ETGEK54P1SRZ
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