- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: Hesperus Press Ltd; first modern ed edition (15 July 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1843910063
- ISBN-13: 978-1843910060
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.4 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 853,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
The Guardian
They don’t write biographies like this any more, unfortunately: extremely short, poetic and funny, and quite wonderfully unconcerned with trivia.
The Times
It is a book that reveals the lives of two great Florentines, not one. James Eve
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have come to this book in a state of innocence, after having read so many books about Dante and Dante's life. This book is fresh, vivid, poetic, revealing -- in short, anything you can hope for in a book. I recommend it to everyone, especially the Dante enthusiast and the Divine Comedy anecdote-hunter.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
When a son of Florence writes about another son of Florence
20 April 2005
Format:Paperback
"The Life of Dante", by Giovanni Boccaccio, is aptly described in the introduction by J.G. Nichols, at the beginning of this edition, as the "first modern literary biography", which is true, to some extent. Yet, in a time when a string of biographies written on more or less famous people seems to have, as only purpose, the crude expositions of mildly interesting (if at all) juicy tidbits, and this usually in a poor prose, this book, written in the 14th century by the author of the "Decameron", is at the same time light-hearted, poetic and informative. It gives us not only an insight into Dante's life, work and personality, but also into that of Boccaccio (and his infamous aversion to marriage, at least to that of the 'philosophers') and into the Florence both knew.
But most important and touching I think is the honest love for Dante's works and admiration for the man that are on display in every page, even when Boccaccio addresses Dante's faults. And of course, the style of the Florentine, one of the great writers behind the foundation of the Italian literature, only adds to the interest of this biography. A very refreshing reading, and a must for those of you who are at least curious about one of the major masterpieces of European literature and the man behind it.
But most important and touching I think is the honest love for Dante's works and admiration for the man that are on display in every page, even when Boccaccio addresses Dante's faults. And of course, the style of the Florentine, one of the great writers behind the foundation of the Italian literature, only adds to the interest of this biography. A very refreshing reading, and a must for those of you who are at least curious about one of the major masterpieces of European literature and the man behind it.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
One literary master on another
22 Sep 2004
Format:Paperback
Invaluable to anyone interested in Italian literature, Dante or Boccaccio. Boccaccio, of course was a great admirer of Dante's, wrote a commentary on the Divine Comedy and was greatly influenced by him. Writing at a time when Dante was not given the respect he has since (surely inevitably) gained, Boccaccio wrote this biography of him, pointing out his great merits as a person, poet, and political figure. It's fascinating to see the results, with insights on every page into both Dante, Boccaccio, and also Florentine society of the time. There are wonderful stories about Dante to illustrate his peculiarities as a man - I particularly enjoyed the story of him vandalising a workman's tools for misquoting the Comedy. Highly recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Interesting for multiple reasons
25 May 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book probably couldn't be labeled as overly entertaining, but it is very interesting. For one thing, it's the very first biography of Dante. Even more importantly, it's written by Giovanni Boccaccio, one of the great luminaries of Italian literature. As far as I know, no other biography written by one literary genius about another exists.
I was pleased to find a lot of material and anecdotes in it that I had also found in modern biographies. I also enjoyed reading firsthand the adoration that Dante's people poured upon him so soon after "The Divine Comedy" was written.
There are a few things in the book that might surprise modern readers. The supposed unhappiness of Dante's marriage is talked about for quite some time, despite Boccaccio acknowledging that he has no evidence of marital troubles besides his (Boccaccio's) own personal misogyny. Also, medieval literary theory and Boccaccio's opinions on literature sidetrack the narrative a bit, but that is simply how biographies were written at the time.
The only thing I don't like and can't explain is why the publishers included a story from "The Decameron" at the end of the book. The tale isn't about Dante and does not add to the biography.
I was pleased to find a lot of material and anecdotes in it that I had also found in modern biographies. I also enjoyed reading firsthand the adoration that Dante's people poured upon him so soon after "The Divine Comedy" was written.
There are a few things in the book that might surprise modern readers. The supposed unhappiness of Dante's marriage is talked about for quite some time, despite Boccaccio acknowledging that he has no evidence of marital troubles besides his (Boccaccio's) own personal misogyny. Also, medieval literary theory and Boccaccio's opinions on literature sidetrack the narrative a bit, but that is simply how biographies were written at the time.
The only thing I don't like and can't explain is why the publishers included a story from "The Decameron" at the end of the book. The tale isn't about Dante and does not add to the biography.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
