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"The first and definitive diplomatic edition of Boccaccio's holograph MS... From a strictly textual viewpoint, all other editions of The Decameron are now superseded." -- Reference Books in the Humanities
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Book Description
The Decameron is structured in a frame narrative, or frame tale. Boccaccio begins with a description of the Black Death and a group of seven women and three men who flee from plague-ridden Florence to a villa in the (then) countryside of Fiesole for two weeks. To pass the time, each member of the party tells one story for each one of the nights spent at the villa. Although fourteen days pass, two days each week are set aside; one day for chores and one holy day during which no work is done. In this manner, 100 stories are told by the end of the two weeks
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A version of John Payne's 1886 translation,
By A R Eader (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Decameron (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature) (Paperback)
The Wordsworth Classics are easy to miss and even easier to undervalue. They usually reproduce texts that are out of copyright, which often also means texts that have been superseded by more recently edited texts with better introductions. This volume is different. The text is a revised version of John Payne's 1886 translation of the Decameron. It has exerted a certain fascination amongst Boccaccio scholars: Charles Singleton, the great American medievalist, published an updated version of Payne's translation in 1982 with the University of California Press. But reviews were not entirely positive and complained that for an 'updating' it did not really do enough updating. This Wordsworth edition, edited by Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin (Trinity College Dublin), presents a fresh updating of the text and provides an excellent introduction to the work, its major themes, further reading, an account of the work's 'afterlife', with an explanation of exactly how he went about the process of updating Payne's translation.
The result is highly readable and very enjoyable, and provides a delicately nuanced text that sounds both familiar and unfamiliar at once. Ó Cuilleanáin has expunged what might be described as the 'archaisms' but has managed to retain the spirit and wit in Payne's formality. I suppose the text will continue to be viewed with a certain novelty value and probably will not become a teaching text, for example, or cited in academic articles. This is a pity because as a translation it has much to recommend itself. As for the introduction, I'd set it as required reading for any undergraduate class on Boccaccio.
1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This is not the Penguin edition as stated,
By
This review is from: The Decameron (mobi) (Penguin Classics) (Kindle Edition)
The Decameron (mobi) (Penguin Classics)
This time I was on guard when I looked at a Mobile Reference edition. I examined the sample carefully and compared it with the Penguin Classics edition. This is NOT as stated. This is at least the third time I have found this firm mis-stating it wares.I am not buying it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Kindle customers beware!,
By Charles S. Houser - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Decameron (Kindle Edition)
Amazon has linked this book to the page for Penguin's edition of The Decameron translated by G.H. McWilliam. After careful shopping for the "right translation," I ended up purchasing McWilliams'. And the more I read it the happier I am with my choice. When I saw that the book was also available for my Kindle I impulsively downloaded it. WARNING: This is NOT the McWilliam's translation (it seems to be a very old, public domain text); nor does it include McWilliams' excellent and conprehensive introduction.
My advice to Kindle customers: When buying classic literature in translation for downloading, always order a free sample first so you be sure it's the translation you want. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining Audio Book,
By Jeffrey Van Wagoner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Decameron (Audio Cassette)
This review is for the unabridged Blackstone audio book narrated by Frederick Davidson. I have a rather long commute, so I pass the time listening to audio books and I have been working my way through several of the classics. I saw that the Decameron was available and that it had good reviews so I gave it a shot. It turned out to be a very enjoyable listening experience.
The reader has a very appropriate voice for this book. He does a good job changing his voice to match the different characters. The translation is somewhat archaic and was initially hard to follow until I got used to the terms. I actually got to enjoy some of the terms after awhile. For example, when addressing the women in the storytelling group, the men would call them `lovesome ladies'. The 100 stories in the Decameron were delightful. They were told in groups of ten, with a theme for each. Some were very bawdy, and I'm hoping adultery wasn't as common of a practice in the 14th century as indicated. I recognized many of the storylines in movies I have seen or books I have read. It's amazing how much creativity one man can generate. The stories occurred mostly in Italy, but covered much of Europe and the Muslim world as well. Boccaccio clearly used his satire to skewer the hypocritical churchmen of his time. It was very interesting to see what the world was like in those days. This is clearly a classic that deserves to be read. The audio book was also very good, but be aware that it may take the first hour or two to get used to the archaic language. After the adjustment, it turns out to be a gem. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
life is life,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Selections from "The Decameron" (Audio Cassette)
as i approached boccaccio`s decameron i was forced not to to stop reading it and though it`s language was rather hard giovvanni`s strange ability of putting words together made me comprehend every single part of it.ten young people chose to escape the devastating plague by going into a solitary house a little away from florence.in order to avoid burdom they all agreed that each one of them to tell a story each day .boccaccio used such stories to depict the absurdities and moral corruption of the many people living . all in all the gift of poety and literature that he has enabled his story to be very amusing , he could serve his aim through the book by using a light comic style which made it interesting to whoever reads it.
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