Title: The Decameron
Author: Giovanni Boccaccio
Written: 1353 CE
Pages: 909 Pages
Structure: 10 “Days” each of 10 stories, with a “Prologue” at the start of the book
The Decameron is a wonderful book written in the 14th century by Giovanni Boccaccio.
It is set in Florence during the dark days of the Bubonic Plague.
Ten friends, seven women and three men, escape for ten days to a rural manor to reduce the risk of contracting disease.
While there, they each agree to tell one story for each of the ten days, making a total of one hundred delightful stories.
The themes of each of the stories cover love, fortune, friendship, kindness, brutality, and other facets of what it means to be human, vulnerable, passionate and mortal.
In the horror of a terrible plague, these young friends share a treasure trove of heartwarming , hilarious and outrageous stories, poking fun at the clergy, and other conceited people.
But under this exterior, it’s about friends enjoying each other’s company during trying times…
Now, I have no intention of explaining to you, here and now, that which the sacred laws of friendship require that a man should do for his friend, being content simply to have reminded you that the ties of friendship may be much more binding than those of blood or kinship. For our friends are of our own choosing, whereas our kinsfolk are those that Fortune has allotted to us. — Decameron Day 10 Story 8 (Filomena’s tale)
It’s huge (over 900 pages), but the short-story format makes it easy to read. I read the G.H.McWilliam translation in modern English which flowed beautifully.
Boccaccio borrowed from earlier masters such as Ovid and Dante, and was in-turn inspirational to Chaucer and Shakespeare.
I am glad I had the chance to read it, and thoroughly enjoyed it.