The Decameron By Giovanni Boccaccio

First published here.

This book definitely has a different flavor compared to other stories from long ago; and I’m glad I decided to read this instead of The Canterbury Tales, since I found Chaucer used some sources for his work from here. Also, I believe I would be back-tracking my enjoyment level by trying to read Chaucer’s work now, since it sounds like it’s the Christian and heavily more religious version of this sordid and expansive bunch of short stories. It’s written in an easily consumable way and in an understandable fashion; many are sexually driven and the stories do mirror each other in format, but after reading a couple hundred pages, they all tend to have to do with people getting into trouble and discovering someone to “have pleasure with” and get out of trouble again. Despite my rudimentary explanation they are pretty decent stories, and similar in humor to Don Quixote.

I definitely didn’t read them without breaks between, though. The translators did a stellar job of updating the speech. I recommend this before reading The Canterbury Tales, and then I’d enjoy a counter-review for this one, to whomever’s game.