Well, it took me over two months, but I finally read all of Boccaccio's Decameron. Some of the stories were really entertaining. Some of them were really uncomfortable - women were not treated particularly well in those days and it can be tough to read. I'm not sure I entirely enjoyed this book but at least now I can say that I've read it. Random person: "Hey Nancy, have you ever read The Decameron by Boccaccio?" Me: "Why yes, I have read The Decameron by Boccaccio." Goal achieved.

book 2, story 7.... wtf Boccaccio

I was faithful reading the entirety through Day Three and then I followed the abridged guidelines suggest by Signet Classic. Stories I read were great but at times felt repetitive.

I laughed out loud on a couple of occasions. Sometimes it was weird to see what appeared to be progressive ideas about sexuality from something so old.

This was a pretty racy book for high school reading. This book was one of the ones that got me interested in English and literature.

I gave this four stars instead of five, only because of the narrator Frederick Davidson, who has annoying speech patterns, and sounds bored with the material. It was hard to get through, and I usually avoid his books, but I really wanted to listen to this.

Lots of dirty stories. I guess things really haven't changed in 600 years.

Written shortly after Europe's Black Death in the 1300s, the book tells of a group of three young men and seven young women who quarantine themselves in a Villa outside of Florence Italy in order to escape the plague. Lacking Netflix and video games, they resort to singing, dancing, and telling tales to pass the time. I'm glad I read the book, but it was a bit of a grind. Many of the 100 tales were repetitive, simplistic and improbable. A recurring scene is when one character sneaks into a darkened bedroom impersonating someone else in order to have their way with the occupant who is none the wiser - i.e. highly improbable.

But if you look past the simplistic stories, you'll gain an insight into the people of this age and what they talked about, what they considered amusing, how they dressed, and how they lived their life. You'll gain insight into their views on marital infidelities, class consciousness, religion, food, wealth, general morality, etc.

And even though the characters in the story were in the middle of the Black Death, the subject only really came up in the beginning of the book as they decide to flee Florence. For the most part after this initial description of the terrible plage, the subject never came up. Instead, there were many descriptions of the group walking through flower gardens, lush meadows, vineyards, enjoying lavish meals, etc. I can't help but think of how during the Great Depression, the movies of the days were full of beautiful people singing, dancing and having a great time - People needed an escape from the horrors of the real world, if only for a bit. Some things never change.