The Decameron (Oxford World's Classics)

In 1353, Boccaccio wrote The Decameron, a remarkable collection of colorful, and at times, risqué anecdotes, purportedly told on country estates by twenty-somethings (or perhaps younger) escaping the horrors of the plague. While fictional, the account provides insight into life during this time describing social class disparity, risks of travel either on land or by sea, clerical credulity and prerogative, the callousness of legal procedures and funeral and marriage customs. It highlights the immutability of the human fascination with storytelling, fate, virtue and vice. Highly recommended.

Written during the plague era by young people fleeing cities and the Plague. Wrote to occupy their time,good life lessons in these stories.

The stories were fascinating and the entire book was well written (or possibly well translated). Some would perhaps think this book rather long but the stories themselves are fairly short making (most are only 3-4 pages long) making it easy to follow along with what's going on. Overall the stories are fun and all are entertaining.

The Decameron. This book is so unique. When I heard about it, I wanted to read and read it, I did! I know there are manys versions out there and I'd give anything to read the 1734? version. I know there is an old old version. Apparently this book was banned from the shelves by the pope way back when, due to its content and I truly believe everyone should read this book, to getan insight to what it really is about. I was amazed. Great Reading!!!

It has the original book/stories complete and in full. It is text only format, which is fine considering that the original stories were text only. Worth downloading if you want to read it, but you may want to instead purchase/download one of the "The Complete Works of..." type collections that are available these days, if one exists for Giovanni Boccaccio. Another great option would be an annotated version of this book, as it was written 100's of years ago, to help understand what they're talking about.

...another aspect of slightly pre-Renaissance expression. Check out the 2009 Italian mini-series film adaptations if you don't want to whip through this bulky, timeless series of stories told by a group living healthy enough just 2 miles outside plague-torn Florence; I atleast hope you would like to see and hear such a tenebrous, morbidly surrounded setting and cast of characters. Remember, as a completist, to buy Dante and Caucer, too, then -- as far as all are early anthologies, though different in subject matter...

I'm not a fan of classical texts, but I was assigned this for a class on Roman Antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. This was by far my favorite we read all semester and, though I have nothing to compare it to, I really enjoyed the translation.

It looks like this book no longer appears on the Amazon website. This book is a classic and deserves to be in everyone's library.

I bought a hard back copy expecting that what I saw in the photo would arrive. Instead, I was presented with an ugly bright pink plastic finished thing, with a great big black box that housed the title of the work. Very ugly. It also fails to mention that 60% of the The Decamerons title's have been removed. I knew some were going to be missing but had I known that it was going to be over half, I would've steered clear!

It is a good simple copy. The thin paper, as mentioned in another review means that this big volume is easy to handle- the real purpose of a paperback edition.

Fantastic book!

While I don't have any specialized academic knowledge about this period or author, I can say that this translation makes the amusing medieval tales of Boccaccio come alive in a vivid and accessible way. These stories can be enjoyed by anyone, not just people with in-depth understanding of the period and its literary traditions. I'm surprised and happy to say that I have read another classic text with pleasure rather than tedium!

Book is quite large, and it seems like it was printed on a home printer with very narrow borders, making it hard to read. It is very softcover, it almost melts in your hands.I was actually trying to return it, but amazon said don't bother, just keep it.I kept it, but I doubt I will ever read it - perhaps I will give it as a birthday present to someone I don't like.