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The Decameron
The Decameron (c.1351) is an entertaining series of one hundred stories written in the wake of the Black Death. The stories are told in a country villa outside the city of Florence by ten young noble men and women who are seeking to escape the ravages of the plague. Boccaccio's skill as a dramatist is masterfully displayed in these vivid portraits of people from all stations in life, with plots that revel in a bewildering variety of human reactions.
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by G. H. McWilliam
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by G. H. McWilliam
909 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1349
About the author
Giovanni Boccaccio
1,539 books519 followersGiovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian author and poet, a friend and correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist in his own right and author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular. Boccaccio is particularly notable for his dialogue, of which it has been said that it surpasses in verisimilitude that of just about all of his contemporaries, since they were medieval writers and often followed formulaic models for character and plot.
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August 30, 2021
Il Decamerone = The Decameron, Giovanni Boccacccio
The Decameron is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375).
The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city.
Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353.
The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic.
In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هشتم ماه فوریه سال 2018میلادی
عنوان: دکامرون ؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: احمدخان دریابیگی؛ بوشهر، ؟، 1282؛
عنوان: دکامرون - حاوی یکصد حکایت فرح انگیز؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: حبیب شنوقی؛ تهران، گوتنبرگ، 1338، در دو جلد؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایتالیا - سد 14م
عنوان: دکامرون - حاوی یکصد حکایت فرح انگیز؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: محمد قاضی؛ تهران، مازیار، 1379، در 876ص؛ چاپ دوم 1393؛ شابک 9789645676108؛
دکامرون، مشهورترین اثر «جووانی بوکاچیو»، نویسنده ی سده ی چهاردهم میلادی کشور «ایتالیا»، و دارای یکصد داستان کوتاه است؛ «بوکاچیو» این کتاب را، به سبک «هزار و یک شب» نگاشته اند، و مواد خام قصه ها را، از افسانه های «یونانی»، «رومی»، و دیگر کشورهای مشرق زمین، و گاه، از زندگی روزمره ی مردمان، وام بگرفته است، ایشان این کتاب را، بلافاصله پس از شیوع «طاعون سال 1348میلادی»، در شهر «فلورانس» بنوشتند؛ چارچوب راویان اصلی «دکامرون» را، «هفت زن»، و «سه مرد»، تشکیل میدهند، که برای گریز از بلای «طاعون»، «فلورانس» را ترک کرده، به خانه های ییلاقی اطراف شهر، پناه می‌برند؛ و در آنجا، برای اینکه ذهن خود را، از آن رخداد دور کنند، به قصه گوئی برای یکدیگر می‌پردازند؛ و چون خـُلق و خوی داستان‌گویان گوناگون است، داستانها دارای گیرائی، و گوناگونی بسیار است؛
نویسنده به روح بشری، و اشخاص داستان آشنا هستند، و قهرمانهای آن زنده، و پر از شور زندگی، و جانوران داستانهای «دکامرون» نیز همانند قهرمانهای داستان پر از شور زندگانی هستند، این کتاب بعدها در ادبیات برخی کشورها، از جمله در «انگلستان» نیز، مورد اقتباس و تقلید قرار گرفت؛ بسیاری از نویسندگان، از جمله «ویلیام شکسپیر» نام آشنا، از قصه های آن، برای نگاشتن نمایشنامه های خود، سود بردند؛
نخستین برگردان فارسی «دکامرون»، در دوره ی «ناصر‌الدین شاه قاجار» بود، که «احمدخان دریابیگی» در فاصله ی سالهای 1280هجری خورشیدی، تا سال 1282هجری خورشیدی، نخست در روزنامه ی «مظفری بوشهر»، و سپس به صورت چاپ سنگی، و در قطع بزرگ آنرا به سال1282هجری خورشیدی، چاپ کردند؛
برگردان دوم را زنده یاد «حبیب شنوقی»، در دو جلد و در یک مجلد، در سال 1338هجری خورشیدی منتشر کردند، و سرانجام ترجمه ی سوم، که ترجمه ای دقیق و کامل است، توسط زنده یاد «محمد قاضی»؛ در سال 1379هجری خورشیدی، در انتشارات مازیار منتشر شد؛ البته گزینشی از داستانهای «دکامرون» را نیز، بانو «طاهره بدیعی» در 70ص، در سال 1381هجری خورشیدی منتشر کرده اند؛ عنوان کتاب یعنی «دکامرون»، از معادل یونانی دو واژه ی «دَه»، و «روز»، گرفته شده است؛ ساختار «دکامرون»، در سال 1351میلادی (و یا به روایتی به سال 1353میلادی) به پایان رسیده است؛ کتاب با شرحی از «وبا (مرگ سیاه)» آغاز، و به معرفی «هفت زن» و «سه مرد جوان» میرسد، که از «فلورانس» «وبا» زده، به دهاتی در حواشی «فیسل»، برای دو هفته، فرار میکنند؛ برای گذشت زمان، هر شب، همه ی اعضا، هر کدام، داستانی را بازگو میکند؛ اگرچه چهارده روز میگذرد، دو روز در هر هفته، برای کارهای دیگر است: یک روز برای وظایف، و یک روز مقدس، که هیچکس در آنروز هیچ کاری نمی‌کند؛ بدینسان در پایان ده روز، صد داستان بازگو میشوند
هر کدام از شخصیتها به نوبت به عنوان «شاه»، و یا «ملکه»، برای یکی از آن ده روز، برگزیده میشوند؛ وظیفه (شاه و یا ملکه)، گزینش موضوع داستان، برای آنروز است، و موضوعات همه ی روزها، به استثنای دو روز، معین میگردند: «قدرت دارایی»، «قدرت خواست آدمی»، «داستانها ی عاشقانه که غم انگیز به پایان میرسند»، «داستانهای عاشقانه که پایانی خوش دارند»، «پاسخهای هوشمندانه ای که جان یک سخنگو را حفظ میکنند»، «حقه هایی که زنان به مردان میزنند»، «حقه هایی که مردم بطور عام به هم میزنند»، و «داستانهایی از عفت و پاکدامنی»؛
تنها «دایو نیو» که هر روز داستان دهم را میگوید، برای تیزهوشی که دارد، حق آنرا دارد، که هر داستانی را که دلش بخواهد بازگو نماید؛ نویسنده های بسیاری، میاندیشند که: «دایو نیو»، نقطه نظرات خود «بوگاچیو» را بیان میکند؛ هر روز، علاوه بر روایت، شامل یک مقدمه و نتیجه مختصر نیز هستند، تا قالب داستانها، به غیر از داستانگویی، و از راه توضیح فعالیتهای روزانه نیز، ادامه یابد؛ این فاصله ی میان پرده ای، شامل آوازهای محلی (فولکور) «ایتالیایی» است؛ رابطه ی بین داستانهای یکروز، با روزهای دیگر، آنگونه که «بوگاچیو»، رخدادهای پیشین را بهم میتند، یک کلیت را تشکیل میدهند؛ موضوع پایه ای داستانها: «به ریشخند گرفتن شهوت و طمع کشیشها»، «تنش بین طبقه ی ثروتمند تاجرها و خانواده های اشرافی»، و «خطرات و ماجراجوییهای بازرگانان در سفرهای تجاری» هستند
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 17/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 07/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
The Decameron is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375).
The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city.
Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353.
The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic.
In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هشتم ماه فوریه سال 2018میلادی
عنوان: دکامرون ؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: احمدخان دریابیگی؛ بوشهر، ؟، 1282؛
عنوان: دکامرون - حاوی یکصد حکایت فرح انگیز؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: حبیب شنوقی؛ تهران، گوتنبرگ، 1338، در دو جلد؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایتالیا - سد 14م
عنوان: دکامرون - حاوی یکصد حکایت فرح انگیز؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: محمد قاضی؛ تهران، مازیار، 1379، در 876ص؛ چاپ دوم 1393؛ شابک 9789645676108؛
دکامرون، مشهورترین اثر «جووانی بوکاچیو»، نویسنده ی سده ی چهاردهم میلادی کشور «ایتالیا»، و دارای یکصد داستان کوتاه است؛ «بوکاچیو» این کتاب را، به سبک «هزار و یک شب» نگاشته اند، و مواد خام قصه ها را، از افسانه های «یونانی»، «رومی»، و دیگر کشورهای مشرق زمین، و گاه، از زندگی روزمره ی مردمان، وام بگرفته است، ایشان این کتاب را، بلافاصله پس از شیوع «طاعون سال 1348میلادی»، در شهر «فلورانس» بنوشتند؛ چارچوب راویان اصلی «دکامرون» را، «هفت زن»، و «سه مرد»، تشکیل میدهند، که برای گریز از بلای «طاعون»، «فلورانس» را ترک کرده، به خانه های ییلاقی اطراف شهر، پناه می‌برند؛ و در آنجا، برای اینکه ذهن خود را، از آن رخداد دور کنند، به قصه گوئی برای یکدیگر می‌پردازند؛ و چون خـُلق و خوی داستان‌گویان گوناگون است، داستانها دارای گیرائی، و گوناگونی بسیار است؛
نویسنده به روح بشری، و اشخاص داستان آشنا هستند، و قهرمانهای آن زنده، و پر از شور زندگی، و جانوران داستانهای «دکامرون» نیز همانند قهرمانهای داستان پر از شور زندگانی هستند، این کتاب بعدها در ادبیات برخی کشورها، از جمله در «انگلستان» نیز، مورد اقتباس و تقلید قرار گرفت؛ بسیاری از نویسندگان، از جمله «ویلیام شکسپیر» نام آشنا، از قصه های آن، برای نگاشتن نمایشنامه های خود، سود بردند؛
نخستین برگردان فارسی «دکامرون»، در دوره ی «ناصر‌الدین شاه قاجار» بود، که «احمدخان دریابیگی» در فاصله ی سالهای 1280هجری خورشیدی، تا سال 1282هجری خورشیدی، نخست در روزنامه ی «مظفری بوشهر»، و سپس به صورت چاپ سنگی، و در قطع بزرگ آنرا به سال1282هجری خورشیدی، چاپ کردند؛
برگردان دوم را زنده یاد «حبیب شنوقی»، در دو جلد و در یک مجلد، در سال 1338هجری خورشیدی منتشر کردند، و سرانجام ترجمه ی سوم، که ترجمه ای دقیق و کامل است، توسط زنده یاد «محمد قاضی»؛ در سال 1379هجری خورشیدی، در انتشارات مازیار منتشر شد؛ البته گزینشی از داستانهای «دکامرون» را نیز، بانو «طاهره بدیعی» در 70ص، در سال 1381هجری خورشیدی منتشر کرده اند؛ عنوان کتاب یعنی «دکامرون»، از معادل یونانی دو واژه ی «دَه»، و «روز»، گرفته شده است؛ ساختار «دکامرون»، در سال 1351میلادی (و یا به روایتی به سال 1353میلادی) به پایان رسیده است؛ کتاب با شرحی از «وبا (مرگ سیاه)» آغاز، و به معرفی «هفت زن» و «سه مرد جوان» میرسد، که از «فلورانس» «وبا» زده، به دهاتی در حواشی «فیسل»، برای دو هفته، فرار میکنند؛ برای گذشت زمان، هر شب، همه ی اعضا، هر کدام، داستانی را بازگو میکند؛ اگرچه چهارده روز میگذرد، دو روز در هر هفته، برای کارهای دیگر است: یک روز برای وظایف، و یک روز مقدس، که هیچکس در آنروز هیچ کاری نمی‌کند؛ بدینسان در پایان ده روز، صد داستان بازگو میشوند
هر کدام از شخصیتها به نوبت به عنوان «شاه»، و یا «ملکه»، برای یکی از آن ده روز، برگزیده میشوند؛ وظیفه (شاه و یا ملکه)، گزینش موضوع داستان، برای آنروز است، و موضوعات همه ی روزها، به استثنای دو روز، معین میگردند: «قدرت دارایی»، «قدرت خواست آدمی»، «داستانها ی عاشقانه که غم انگیز به پایان میرسند»، «داستانهای عاشقانه که پایانی خوش دارند»، «پاسخهای هوشمندانه ای که جان یک سخنگو را حفظ میکنند»، «حقه هایی که زنان به مردان میزنند»، «حقه هایی که مردم بطور عام به هم میزنند»، و «داستانهایی از عفت و پاکدامنی»؛
تنها «دایو نیو» که هر روز داستان دهم را میگوید، برای تیزهوشی که دارد، حق آنرا دارد، که هر داستانی را که دلش بخواهد بازگو نماید؛ نویسنده های بسیاری، میاندیشند که: «دایو نیو»، نقطه نظرات خود «بوگاچیو» را بیان میکند؛ هر روز، علاوه بر روایت، شامل یک مقدمه و نتیجه مختصر نیز هستند، تا قالب داستانها، به غیر از داستانگویی، و از راه توضیح فعالیتهای روزانه نیز، ادامه یابد؛ این فاصله ی میان پرده ای، شامل آوازهای محلی (فولکور) «ایتالیایی» است؛ رابطه ی بین داستانهای یکروز، با روزهای دیگر، آنگونه که «بوگاچیو»، رخدادهای پیشین را بهم میتند، یک کلیت را تشکیل میدهند؛ موضوع پایه ای داستانها: «به ریشخند گرفتن شهوت و طمع کشیشها»، «تنش بین طبقه ی ثروتمند تاجرها و خانواده های اشرافی»، و «خطرات و ماجراجوییهای بازرگانان در سفرهای تجاری» هستند
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 17/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 07/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
January 19, 2021
مازلتُ أتذكر اليوم الذي توافرت فيه الديكاميرون أمامي للاستعارة في طبعة ثمينة وبالانجليزية
وأنا جد سعيدة أنني تكاسلت عن قراءتها
لأنه لا ترجمة مثل ترجمة علماني
ولا أظنني كنت لأقرأ هذا العمل مرتين
::::::::::::::
تذكرني القصص أو الحكايات كي أكون أدق بغرائب ألف
ليلة وليلة
وليالي جلوسي جوار أمي أستمع إليها عبر الأثير
بآداء لطيف وأحيانا مفتعل لممثلي الإذاعة
فقد شعرت أنني عدت بالزمن والحكايات تتابع
بحلوها وسخيفها
ولكن العامل المشترك هنا هو جاذبية تلك النوعية من الكتب
فهي تعيدك بطريقة ما إلى طفولتك
وتعطيك جرعة خيال لا بأس بها
وفيها من حس الدعابة والمرح ما يسلي ويمضي الوقت
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الكتاب تجربة لذيذة لا تنسى
وقد عرفت عنها لأول مرة في مراهقتي من كتب الصديق الوفي
أديبنا أنيس منصور
ومجددا
صالح علماني
شكرا دوما على جمالك
August 31, 2024
Cine n-a citit Decameronul n-ar face deloc rău să-l răsfoiască acum. E momentul cel mai potrivit. Boccaccio a redactat cartea după epidemia de ciumă din 1347-1348, opera a circulat în manuscris, într-un cerc restrîns, dar prima ei ediție s-a tipărit abia în 1470. Decameronul a intrat numaidecît în „Index librorum prohibitorum”, lista cărților interzise, un semn de înaltă prețuire din partea Sfîntului Scaun. În introducere, autorul prezintă ravagiile molimei în Florența și reacțiile cîtorva personaje.
10 tineri (7 fete și 3 băieți, un raport rezonabil) se retrag într-o cetate și, pentru a-și trece timpul cu folos, își spun povești / povestiri. Multe sînt de un haz nebun. Am citit cartea lui Boccaccio de atîtea ori încît mi-ar fi ușor să v-o povestesc în întregime cu amănunte și ilustrații. N-o voi face chiar azi, ca să nu vă răpesc cu totul plăcerea lecturii. Iată doar două exemple, poate reușesc să vă conving...
Aleg mai întîi povestea a doua din ziua a doua. Are și aventură, și întorsături de soartă, și dialog, și..., are de toate. Ascultați:
Înainte de a porni la un drum lung, un anume Rinaldo din Asti spune, prevăzător, o rugăciune sfîntului Iulian. Umblă cît umblă, călătorește cît călătorește și, la un moment dat, intră în bucluc. Este jefuit de trei tîlhari. Rămîne desculț, numai în cămașă, în pustietate. O pornește amărît spre Castel Guiglielmo, dar află porțile orașului închise, cu punțile ridicate. E noapte, frig, cerul este sticlos, înghețat. Se plînge în gînd sfîntului Iulian. Lacrimile lui au efect.
„Ci sfîntul Iulian, sub paza lui ținîndu-l, fără zăbavă îi rîndui altminteri culcușul”. O văduvă „frumoasă la trup ca nimeni alta” îl aude și-i deschide o portiță secretă în cetate. Rinaldo intră în casa femeii și este primit cu multă bunăvoință și pricepere. Văduva cea frumosă îl poftește în baie, să se curețe și să se încălzească. Îi dă veșminte proaspete și-l cheamă la masă. Iar pentru că Rinaldo e chipeș, îl cheamă și în pat. În zori, cînd dă să plece, eroul poveștii îi vede pe cei trei tîlhari prinși și legați. Depune mărturie și primește înapoi banii, hainele și calul. Spre seară se întoarce acasă. Nu înainte de a șopti o rugăciune de mulțumire sfîntului Iulian.
A doua:
În ultima povestire din ziua a șasea a Decameronului, un călugăr hîtru, pe nume Cipolla (id est Ceapă!), negustor de moaște, pretinde că a văzut și a pipăit el însuși, pe cînd a mers la Ierusalim, următoarele relicve cît se poate de abstracte:
Enumerarea lui Boccaccio - fantezistă, firește - face toate paralele. Eu văd în ea primul poem suprarealist din istoria literaturii.
Dar cum se cuvine băgat dracul în iad știți? Nuuuuuuuuu? Ia vedeți instrucțiunile eremitului Rustico, menționate în ultima povestire din ziua a treia. Mai mult nu vă zic.
10 tineri (7 fete și 3 băieți, un raport rezonabil) se retrag într-o cetate și, pentru a-și trece timpul cu folos, își spun povești / povestiri. Multe sînt de un haz nebun. Am citit cartea lui Boccaccio de atîtea ori încît mi-ar fi ușor să v-o povestesc în întregime cu amănunte și ilustrații. N-o voi face chiar azi, ca să nu vă răpesc cu totul plăcerea lecturii. Iată doar două exemple, poate reușesc să vă conving...
Aleg mai întîi povestea a doua din ziua a doua. Are și aventură, și întorsături de soartă, și dialog, și..., are de toate. Ascultați:
Înainte de a porni la un drum lung, un anume Rinaldo din Asti spune, prevăzător, o rugăciune sfîntului Iulian. Umblă cît umblă, călătorește cît călătorește și, la un moment dat, intră în bucluc. Este jefuit de trei tîlhari. Rămîne desculț, numai în cămașă, în pustietate. O pornește amărît spre Castel Guiglielmo, dar află porțile orașului închise, cu punțile ridicate. E noapte, frig, cerul este sticlos, înghețat. Se plînge în gînd sfîntului Iulian. Lacrimile lui au efect.
„Ci sfîntul Iulian, sub paza lui ținîndu-l, fără zăbavă îi rîndui altminteri culcușul”. O văduvă „frumoasă la trup ca nimeni alta” îl aude și-i deschide o portiță secretă în cetate. Rinaldo intră în casa femeii și este primit cu multă bunăvoință și pricepere. Văduva cea frumosă îl poftește în baie, să se curețe și să se încălzească. Îi dă veșminte proaspete și-l cheamă la masă. Iar pentru că Rinaldo e chipeș, îl cheamă și în pat. În zori, cînd dă să plece, eroul poveștii îi vede pe cei trei tîlhari prinși și legați. Depune mărturie și primește înapoi banii, hainele și calul. Spre seară se întoarce acasă. Nu înainte de a șopti o rugăciune de mulțumire sfîntului Iulian.
A doua:
În ultima povestire din ziua a șasea a Decameronului, un călugăr hîtru, pe nume Cipolla (id est Ceapă!), negustor de moaște, pretinde că a văzut și a pipăit el însuși, pe cînd a mers la Ierusalim, următoarele relicve cît se poate de abstracte:
a) degetul Sfîntului Duh, nevătămat și întreg,
b) o unghie de heruvim,
c) un petic din veșmîntul sfintei Credințe catolice,
d) cîteva raze din steaua urmată cîndva cu încredere de magii de la Răsărit,
e) falca morții sfîntului Lazăr,
f) un sfînt canin din sfînta dantură a Sfintei Cruci,
g) o fărîmă din sunetul clopotelor adăpostite în templul lui Solomon,
h) o pană din aripile arhanghelului Gabriel, căzută în timpul Bunei Vestiri...
Enumerarea lui Boccaccio - fantezistă, firește - face toate paralele. Eu văd în ea primul poem suprarealist din istoria literaturii.
Dar cum se cuvine băgat dracul în iad știți? Nuuuuuuuuu? Ia vedeți instrucțiunile eremitului Rustico, menționate în ultima povestire din ziua a treia. Mai mult nu vă zic.
Want to read
March 15, 2020I guess this might be a good time to finally finish reading this? (I started this book twice in the past, in 2010 and 2014 but never managed to finish.)
January 11, 2018
After a couple of years, two attempts and two different editions, I have finally finished this book. The first great literary accomplishment of 2016.
All I can say is that the history of humanity lies on every page of this book. Virtues and defects that have illuminated and darkened human existence were eloquently expressed by Boccaccio's brilliant pen that concocted, with mastery and otherworldly wit, one hundred tales told by seven young ladies and three young men who, to contextualize this fine collection, fled the magnificent city of Florence (a place I adore and with which I have a bond that goes beyond the origin of my name and ancestry), trying to escape from the Black Death. These stories are mostly about the connections between intelligence and fortune and how the sort of picaresque characters manage to achieve success. Often involving eroticism (Boccaccio must have been the E.L. James of his time but, you know, with writing skills), these tales accentuate the distance from medieval ideals, focusing on the actual human being.
Anyway, I started reading this collection in 2013 and failed miserably.
Statistics
06/25/2013 marked as: currently-reading
09/22/2013 page 590 64.0%
01/02/2014 marked as: will-i-ever-finish-it
12/10/2015 marked as: started reading from page 1, clandestinely
12/20/2015 marked as: currently-reading, officially
02/13/2016 marked as: finished
But, as you see, this year I made it. It ended up being a rather special read for me, since I happen to have a photo of a loyal companion sitting by my side, a devoted witness of my struggle with his beautiful amber eyes on me, which I can only visualize now.
A lovely memory is now attached to this wonderful book.
May 9, 16
* Also on my blog.
** Photo credit: Charlie and book / me.
All I can say is that the history of humanity lies on every page of this book. Virtues and defects that have illuminated and darkened human existence were eloquently expressed by Boccaccio's brilliant pen that concocted, with mastery and otherworldly wit, one hundred tales told by seven young ladies and three young men who, to contextualize this fine collection, fled the magnificent city of Florence (a place I adore and with which I have a bond that goes beyond the origin of my name and ancestry), trying to escape from the Black Death. These stories are mostly about the connections between intelligence and fortune and how the sort of picaresque characters manage to achieve success. Often involving eroticism (Boccaccio must have been the E.L. James of his time but, you know, with writing skills), these tales accentuate the distance from medieval ideals, focusing on the actual human being.
Anyway, I started reading this collection in 2013 and failed miserably.
Statistics
06/25/2013 marked as: currently-reading
09/22/2013 page 590 64.0%
01/02/2014 marked as: will-i-ever-finish-it
12/10/2015 marked as: started reading from page 1, clandestinely
12/20/2015 marked as: currently-reading, officially
02/13/2016 marked as: finished
But, as you see, this year I made it. It ended up being a rather special read for me, since I happen to have a photo of a loyal companion sitting by my side, a devoted witness of my struggle with his beautiful amber eyes on me, which I can only visualize now.
A lovely memory is now attached to this wonderful book.
May 9, 16
* Also on my blog.
** Photo credit: Charlie and book / me.
February 7, 2022
Colourful, elegant, hilarious euphemisms for sexual exploits and double-entendres applied by Boccaccio to produce texts agreeable with cultural norms of his time are the best things my eyes have been blessed with.
This story had a happy ending, too. 🤤
But the 10th story of the 3rd day, when Rustico teaches Alibech how to put the devil in Hell?
Now let me climb the bed I have fallen off while rereading this masterpiece.
To those of you who have never opened The Decameron, I have only one thing to say:
Then after many kisses they went to bed together and took delight and pleasure one of another almost all that night, hearing the nightingale sing many a time.
This story had a happy ending, too. 🤤
There he held a lavish and honourable wedding-feast and afterwards went after nightingales with her, in peace and solace and at length, both by night and by day, to his heart's content.
But the 10th story of the 3rd day, when Rustico teaches Alibech how to put the devil in Hell?
'What you have there is the pit of Hell,' said Rustico, 'and I have to say that I believe God sent you here for the salvation of my soul.
For even if this devil torments me so mercilessly, if you will take pity on me and let me stuff him back into Hell, you'll give me great consolation and you'll really please God and serve Him, if that's what you've come to these parts to do, like you told me.'
The girl answered him in all good faith: 'Oh, my father, seeing that I have this pit of Hell, let it be done whenever you like.'
'Bless you, my daughter!' said Rustico then. 'Let us go then and stuff him back in there right away, so he'll leave me in peace afterwards.'
And with these words, he led the young girl over to one of their little beds, and showed her how one sets about imprisoning that cursed enemy of the Lord.
The young girl, who had never had any devil in her pit of Hell before that moment, felt some pain the first time, and so she said to Rustico, 'There's no doubt, father, that this devil must be a wicked thing altogether, and a real enemy of God, for even the pit of Hell, let alone anything else, is sore when he's stuffed back in there.'
Now let me climb the bed I have fallen off while rereading this masterpiece.
To those of you who have never opened The Decameron, I have only one thing to say:
December 22, 2015
In the 14th century in Europe, during the devastating times of the Black Death, a group of young Florentines - seven women and three men - decide to flee to seek shelter and escape from the plague in a villa outside of the city of Florence. This is the basic frame used by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio to tell us one hundred tales of life, love and fortune with The Decameron.
After leaving the city, in order to pass the time, an idea of telling stories is brought up and each one of the young group - Pampinea, Fiammetta, Filomena, Emilia, Lauretta, Neifile, Elissa, Panfilo, Filostrato and Dioneo - must tell one story per day. Starting on the second day, Filomena, who was appointed as the queen of the day - they all took turns into being the queen or king - decided that the stories to be told in each day should all pertain to a theme previously chosen by the one in charge. The only exception to that rule is Dioneo, who asked to have the privilege to be the last one to tell his tale each day and to be freed of the requirement of complying to the day's theme. It's been argued that Dioneo served as a way for Boccaccio to express his own views through his stories.
I had a lot of pleasant days in the company of the young Florentines, such as the eighth day, where Lauretta chose as a theme stories of tricks women play on men or that men play on women which, of course, is packed with hilarious stories and clever stratagems; or the last day, when Panfilo asked that tales about deeds of generosity be told. I wonder if Boccaccio intended to leave a hopeful message to his readers after many cases of betrayals and misfortunes.
But two days were more enjoyable than others:
THIRD DAY
As the queen of the day, Neifile ruled that stories where a person has painfully acquired something or has lost it and then regained it should be told for everyone's amusement. In that day, Panfilo narrates a very funny tale (the fourth one) of Dom Felice who, desiring to spend some 'quality time' with Friar Puccio's wife, tells her husband that he should do a penance to gain blessedness. Let's just say that Dom Felice should do a lot of penance after that tale...
Other two stories from that early day remained as some of my favorites:
FIRST TALE
Filostrato tells the story of Masetto da Lamporecchio, a young and handsome man who, deciding to pass as being mute, finds work in a convent of women as a gardener after hearing the old one is no longer there. While working, he is noticed by two of the nuns who, curious to find out what's the sensation of being with a man, decide to lie with him. As word spreads out, Masetto finds himself working very long extra hours.
Boccaccio once again writes an humorous tale packed with religious satire and catholic church criticism. Even the abbess, from whom you'd expect better discernment and leadership towards what's rightful, can't help but to share of Masetto's services.
TENTH TALE
Dioneo tells the tale of a beautiful and young girl named Alibech who, not being religious but hearing many Christians talking about faith and serving God, wished to find out what it was all about. After hearing their response and wandering into the desert in an attempt to become closer to God, she finally meets a monk named Rustico that, tempted by her looks, decided to teach her how to "put the devil back into hell".
This tale was so "graphic" that in John Payne's translation of The Decameron he decided to include Boccaccio's original words instead of translating them, stating that it was "...impossible to render the technicalities of that mysterious art into tolerable English..."
FOURTH DAY
On the fourth day, Filostrato, who was appointed re del giorno, demanded his friends to tell stories of lovers whose relationship ended in disaster. Fiammetta narrates the first tale of the day, telling the story of Tancredi who, after slaying his daughter Ghismonda's lover, sends her his heart in a golden cup. She, then, decides to fill the cup with poison, drinks it and dies.
Among other tragic stories, my favorite is the one that follows:
FIFTH TALE
Filomena tells the sad story of Lisabetta who has her lover Lorenzo murdered by her brothers. In a dream, he tells her where they buried his body and she decides to take his head and to set it in a pot of basil, whereon she daily weeps a great while.
Boccaccio's language and wit in writing here is similar to Cervantes in Don Quixote, as he was able to write about violence, sex or even scatological humor, for example, successfully turning those themes into very light reads, making the episodes funny and enjoyable without shocking his readers. Not that he seemed to be in any way afraid of being offensive and raising some eyebrows: his tales about clergyman being deceitful - or "hypocrites", to borrow one of the adjectives he employed in one of the narratives - or nuns having sex seem to be a direct criticism and a mockery to their status as holy people.
One of the aspects that really amused me was the role of women in his work. Boccaccio directly spoke to the "gracious ladies" with the words below in the first day, defining them as the main audience to his book.
On the fourth day, once again, he addressed the ladies by writing about having been criticized for liking the ladies too much and thinking solely of pleasuring them with his tales:
Setting the discussion aside of why he would include that odd defense (it seems he was being defensive without having been actually attacked?) on Decamerone, I was amazed by the extensive portraits Boccaccio painted of women: they were cunning, sad, some were cheaters, others were passionate, subjugated and the roles go on. For living in a time where men loved - and idolized, and described women as being the most beautiful things to have ever walked on the earth - women so much, constantly elevating them to goddesses status, it seems that Boccaccio masterfully wrote an array of human-like characters with great range of emotions.
Film adaptation: there's been many adaptations, but I've only watched one: 1971's Il Decameron by Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. Who would be better than the ever so controversial filmmaker to add extra layers of mockery, satire and erotica to Boccaccio's already teasing tales? The director nicely connected nine of the stories through the fifth tale of the sixth day where Pasolini played the painter Giotto. This film is in no way necessary to complement the book, but it was a great one hour and a half of pure fun!
Rating: Boccaccio's work proved to be a fine companion as I often read his stories on my commute to work and found myself giggling all the time. I can see myself re-reading some tales from time to time, like you would with a daily reflections book. For that, 4 stars.
After leaving the city, in order to pass the time, an idea of telling stories is brought up and each one of the young group - Pampinea, Fiammetta, Filomena, Emilia, Lauretta, Neifile, Elissa, Panfilo, Filostrato and Dioneo - must tell one story per day. Starting on the second day, Filomena, who was appointed as the queen of the day - they all took turns into being the queen or king - decided that the stories to be told in each day should all pertain to a theme previously chosen by the one in charge. The only exception to that rule is Dioneo, who asked to have the privilege to be the last one to tell his tale each day and to be freed of the requirement of complying to the day's theme. It's been argued that Dioneo served as a way for Boccaccio to express his own views through his stories.
I had a lot of pleasant days in the company of the young Florentines, such as the eighth day, where Lauretta chose as a theme stories of tricks women play on men or that men play on women which, of course, is packed with hilarious stories and clever stratagems; or the last day, when Panfilo asked that tales about deeds of generosity be told. I wonder if Boccaccio intended to leave a hopeful message to his readers after many cases of betrayals and misfortunes.
But two days were more enjoyable than others:
THIRD DAY
As the queen of the day, Neifile ruled that stories where a person has painfully acquired something or has lost it and then regained it should be told for everyone's amusement. In that day, Panfilo narrates a very funny tale (the fourth one) of Dom Felice who, desiring to spend some 'quality time' with Friar Puccio's wife, tells her husband that he should do a penance to gain blessedness. Let's just say that Dom Felice should do a lot of penance after that tale...
Other two stories from that early day remained as some of my favorites:
FIRST TALE
Filostrato tells the story of Masetto da Lamporecchio, a young and handsome man who, deciding to pass as being mute, finds work in a convent of women as a gardener after hearing the old one is no longer there. While working, he is noticed by two of the nuns who, curious to find out what's the sensation of being with a man, decide to lie with him. As word spreads out, Masetto finds himself working very long extra hours.
"'Alack!' rejoined the other, 'what is this thou sayest? Knowest thou not that we have promised our virginity to God?'
'Oh, as for that,' answered the first, 'how many things are promised Him all day long, whereof not one is fulfilled unto Him! An we have promised it Him, let Him find Himself another or others to perform it to Him.'"
Boccaccio once again writes an humorous tale packed with religious satire and catholic church criticism. Even the abbess, from whom you'd expect better discernment and leadership towards what's rightful, can't help but to share of Masetto's services.
TENTH TALE
Dioneo tells the tale of a beautiful and young girl named Alibech who, not being religious but hearing many Christians talking about faith and serving God, wished to find out what it was all about. After hearing their response and wandering into the desert in an attempt to become closer to God, she finally meets a monk named Rustico that, tempted by her looks, decided to teach her how to "put the devil back into hell".
"Whereupon Rustico, seeing her so fair, felt an accession of desire, and therewith came an insurgence of the flesh, which Alibech marking with surprise, said: 'Rustico, what is this, which I see thee have, that so protrudes, and which I have not?'
'Oh! my daughter,' said Rustico, ''tis the Devil of whom I have told thee: and, seest thou? he is now tormenting me most grievously, insomuch that I am scarce able to hold out.'"
This tale was so "graphic" that in John Payne's translation of The Decameron he decided to include Boccaccio's original words instead of translating them, stating that it was "...impossible to render the technicalities of that mysterious art into tolerable English..."
FOURTH DAY
On the fourth day, Filostrato, who was appointed re del giorno, demanded his friends to tell stories of lovers whose relationship ended in disaster. Fiammetta narrates the first tale of the day, telling the story of Tancredi who, after slaying his daughter Ghismonda's lover, sends her his heart in a golden cup. She, then, decides to fill the cup with poison, drinks it and dies.
Among other tragic stories, my favorite is the one that follows:
FIFTH TALE
Filomena tells the sad story of Lisabetta who has her lover Lorenzo murdered by her brothers. In a dream, he tells her where they buried his body and she decides to take his head and to set it in a pot of basil, whereon she daily weeps a great while.
"...nor did she ever water these with other water than that of her tears or rose or orange-flower water."-----------------
Boccaccio's language and wit in writing here is similar to Cervantes in Don Quixote, as he was able to write about violence, sex or even scatological humor, for example, successfully turning those themes into very light reads, making the episodes funny and enjoyable without shocking his readers. Not that he seemed to be in any way afraid of being offensive and raising some eyebrows: his tales about clergyman being deceitful - or "hypocrites", to borrow one of the adjectives he employed in one of the narratives - or nuns having sex seem to be a direct criticism and a mockery to their status as holy people.
One of the aspects that really amused me was the role of women in his work. Boccaccio directly spoke to the "gracious ladies" with the words below in the first day, defining them as the main audience to his book.
"As often, most gracious ladies, as, taking thought in myself, I mind me how very pitiful you are all by nature, so often do I recognize that this present work will, to your thinking, have a grievous and a weariful beginning, inasmuch as the dolorous remembrance of the late pestiferous mortality, which it beareth on its forefront, is universally irksome to all who saw or otherwise knew it."
On the fourth day, once again, he addressed the ladies by writing about having been criticized for liking the ladies too much and thinking solely of pleasuring them with his tales:
"There are then, discreet ladies, some who, reading these stories, have said that you please me overmuch and that it is not a seemly thing that I should take so much delight in pleasuring and solacing you; and some have said yet worse of commending you as I do."
Setting the discussion aside of why he would include that odd defense (it seems he was being defensive without having been actually attacked?) on Decamerone, I was amazed by the extensive portraits Boccaccio painted of women: they were cunning, sad, some were cheaters, others were passionate, subjugated and the roles go on. For living in a time where men loved - and idolized, and described women as being the most beautiful things to have ever walked on the earth - women so much, constantly elevating them to goddesses status, it seems that Boccaccio masterfully wrote an array of human-like characters with great range of emotions.
Film adaptation: there's been many adaptations, but I've only watched one: 1971's Il Decameron by Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. Who would be better than the ever so controversial filmmaker to add extra layers of mockery, satire and erotica to Boccaccio's already teasing tales? The director nicely connected nine of the stories through the fifth tale of the sixth day where Pasolini played the painter Giotto. This film is in no way necessary to complement the book, but it was a great one hour and a half of pure fun!
Rating: Boccaccio's work proved to be a fine companion as I often read his stories on my commute to work and found myself giggling all the time. I can see myself re-reading some tales from time to time, like you would with a daily reflections book. For that, 4 stars.
January 30, 2019
Amazing.
I'm utterly flabbergasted by how good this is. Forty years before The Canterbury Tales took England by storm, a little tiny place called Italy was having a full-blown RENAISSANCE. So why the hell have I been avoiding all these fantastic pieces of art, anyway? Because they're in Italian? For SHAME.
Fortunately, this translation is fantastic... and you know what? It really holds up. It has everything a public who wants to be entertained could ever desire. A hundred short stories framed by nobles hiding out while the Black Plague ravages Europe, eating, frolicking, and telling stories every night for ten nights.
Do you think a quarantine is a recipe for depression and disaster? Muahahahahaha NO. Let's just put it this way... there's more sex, laughter, trickery, sex, adultery, sex, theft, cons, sex, and hilarious situations in these stories than you'd find in the entire works of Shakespeare. And let's put this in perspective... Chaucer and Shakespeare stole a TON of s**t from Boccaccio. All of it funny and light and clever and wickedly perverse.
I always knew that literature, in general, is an incestuous lot, but between these many classic tales of spouses pulling fast ones on each other or selfless tales of true love or steadfastness or tales of corruption, greed, and confidence games, I'm tempted to just throw in the hat and say this guy has it ALL.
I know it ain't true. I've read enough Italians from more than a millennia prior to put paid to that idea. But STILL. This is entertaining as hell. And I thought Chaucer was a RIOT, too.
It just goes to show... never judge a book by its cover. You might be losing out on some GREAT comedy.
I'm utterly flabbergasted by how good this is. Forty years before The Canterbury Tales took England by storm, a little tiny place called Italy was having a full-blown RENAISSANCE. So why the hell have I been avoiding all these fantastic pieces of art, anyway? Because they're in Italian? For SHAME.
Fortunately, this translation is fantastic... and you know what? It really holds up. It has everything a public who wants to be entertained could ever desire. A hundred short stories framed by nobles hiding out while the Black Plague ravages Europe, eating, frolicking, and telling stories every night for ten nights.
Do you think a quarantine is a recipe for depression and disaster? Muahahahahaha NO. Let's just put it this way... there's more sex, laughter, trickery, sex, adultery, sex, theft, cons, sex, and hilarious situations in these stories than you'd find in the entire works of Shakespeare. And let's put this in perspective... Chaucer and Shakespeare stole a TON of s**t from Boccaccio. All of it funny and light and clever and wickedly perverse.
I always knew that literature, in general, is an incestuous lot, but between these many classic tales of spouses pulling fast ones on each other or selfless tales of true love or steadfastness or tales of corruption, greed, and confidence games, I'm tempted to just throw in the hat and say this guy has it ALL.
I know it ain't true. I've read enough Italians from more than a millennia prior to put paid to that idea. But STILL. This is entertaining as hell. And I thought Chaucer was a RIOT, too.
It just goes to show... never judge a book by its cover. You might be losing out on some GREAT comedy.
Read
April 12, 2020The Decameron is a set of one hundred stories told to each other by a group of ten people, seven women and three men, over ten days. All these stories exist within one story which is about this group of people who come together in Florence during an outbreak of the plague and how they react to it - which is by going off into the surrounding countryside and recreating a kind of temporary Eden outside the ravages of the times. Beyond that there are the author's intentions and his defence of his work, which are a further frame to the whole work. Boccaccio sees stories as a form of education - in this case to teach his reader, which he largely assumed to be women since references to potential male readers are rare, about love. Love is a vague word in English, you can love to have tea with your chips, you might love your dog, or the colour yellow on a bedroom door. None of those feature in the Decameron, love here is of the sexual or occasionally of the romantic kind.
The new society of the ten people is based on affinity and trust. They live in common, although apparently using the estates of other people, and they benefit from the labour of servants so this is socially exclusive, unlike The Canterbury Tales in which people come from a mix of social backgrounds. The new society is time bound and intended from the first, like reading itself, to be a temporary respite from events. They have a monarch to rule each day, but each of the ten in turn gets one day to rule
One of the advantages of taking part in a group read - like our one of the Decameron - is benefiting from the contributions that all the other readers make. ReemK10 pointed out that that there is a wealth of meaning in the character names and in the complex of numbers (three men and seven women, the importance of ten and so on) but as a reader all of that largely passed me over. The only character who really stood out for me was Dioneo, and not because he was Dionysian but because he got to tell the last story of everyday. This at last was a reference point - everything else was in flux for me. I felt at one moment that Panfilo was an author stand in, but that moment passed and life returned to normal.
In other words the Decameron has intricate foundations but they don't interfere with the appearance of the building. For the reader there are simply one hundred stories, divided into ten days set in a framing narrative with some linking text.
The stories give an impression of the world view of leisured middle to upper class urban people (socially below the nobility but of high enough status and wealth to be able to look down on people who are overly concerned with business) of mid-fourteenth century north Italy. The geographical scope ranges over the entire Mediterranean, with a couple of stories set in France and England (England is as exotic here as Saladin, a fantasy destination where dreams can become true) there are no stories set in China or other far eastern locations despite The Travels of Marco Polo. The Merchant of Prato gives an idea of just how natural and everyday that geographical scope was to those involved in commerce in Italy at that time. The stories are set throughout history, some in antiquity, others in the recent past, many are roughly contemporary to Boccaccio's time. Boccaccio may not have invented any of the stories. Many are recognisable retellings, and some will in turn be retold by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, others like the horrible Griselda story seem to have been widely known at the time and pop up in a variety of sources as a role model for a good woman (see for instance Le Menagier de Paris.
In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer reuses and adapts a few stories from Decameron and takes Boccaccio's idea of a framing narrative however he makes an important change. Chaucer's storytellers cover a fairly broad social spectrum , Boccaccio's reflect one view point that of Florentine urban Patrician families. They own landed estates, but don't have aristocratic titles , they admire aristocratic values and although their family wealth probably comes from trade and commerce, too pronounced an interest in business is felt to be improper.
Being chaste, or more to the point being seen to be chaste, is an important attribute for the women of this class and governs how they are perceived in society. Therefore the ability to conduct extramarital relationships with discretion is lionised. Oddly although their own reputation is important, persuading a servant to have sexual relations with an over eager suitor or to receive a beating in place of the heroine in exchange for a gift such a suit of clothes is seen as laudable, even by a bishop. Morality is a social attribute, what is appropriate depends on the social position of the person, rather than an absolute set of values that is immutable throughout the whole of society
Having said that women of a low social class can be exemplary - pre-eminently Griselda, and can have some concern for their virtue, equally the poor (broadly speaking) can be dismissed as simple minded and herd like, ripe to be fooled by any passing quick witted Friar who is prepared to claim that a parrot's feather, in fact, came from an angel's wing. It is difficult, and without doubt very unwise, to do what I am doing and attempt to generalise about one hundred stories told by ten narrators as there always seem to be exceptions and nuances of opinion from one story to the next. Perhaps if read with paper to hand and a pencil behind the ear, setting out in columns the attitudes revealed in each story, patterns might emerge consistent to particular narrators, or maybe that each day had a particular tone.
But all of this is perhaps besides the point, this is a compendium of stories. Few if any would have been original to Boccaccio, many have deep roots and have been endlessly retold. What he has done is collect, adapt and present them within the frame work of this group of seven young women and three men moving between various estates, not many miles outside Florence, over a period of a few days while the plague runs it's course within the city.
The stories are lively, often funny, and vivid. They feature lecherous men (particularly priests and friars), cunning plans and generally the victory of the witty. Love and Fortune are capitalised and at times appear to be forces in their own right in the universe alongside God and one law of nature seems to be that one woman can keep a man happy but it takes many men to please one woman. This, given the social importance for a woman of appearing chaste, provides drama and humour in many of the tales. Some of the stories have a savage twist , not always condemned by narrator or his in book audience, a few see a man getting the woman he wants despite her lack of interest, some marriages are between partners of unequal ages, which doesn't seem to have been particularly unusual for the times, and this can be a narrative driver for the pursuit of extra-marital pleasures. The idea of marriage as a romantic union between two people is a rather unusual one if one takes a broad view of it. Marriage in Boccaccio in common with most of human history is a business like affair, for love to develop in it (or despite it) takes particular skill and the triumph of the witty over the wilful .
So overall what can be concluded about the Decameron? Perhaps nothing other than that people have to read it for themselves and that it may not be the medieval Europe that you expected to find.
The new society of the ten people is based on affinity and trust. They live in common, although apparently using the estates of other people, and they benefit from the labour of servants so this is socially exclusive, unlike The Canterbury Tales in which people come from a mix of social backgrounds. The new society is time bound and intended from the first, like reading itself, to be a temporary respite from events. They have a monarch to rule each day, but each of the ten in turn gets one day to rule
One of the advantages of taking part in a group read - like our one of the Decameron - is benefiting from the contributions that all the other readers make. ReemK10 pointed out that that there is a wealth of meaning in the character names and in the complex of numbers (three men and seven women, the importance of ten and so on) but as a reader all of that largely passed me over. The only character who really stood out for me was Dioneo, and not because he was Dionysian but because he got to tell the last story of everyday. This at last was a reference point - everything else was in flux for me. I felt at one moment that Panfilo was an author stand in, but that moment passed and life returned to normal.
In other words the Decameron has intricate foundations but they don't interfere with the appearance of the building. For the reader there are simply one hundred stories, divided into ten days set in a framing narrative with some linking text.
The stories give an impression of the world view of leisured middle to upper class urban people (socially below the nobility but of high enough status and wealth to be able to look down on people who are overly concerned with business) of mid-fourteenth century north Italy. The geographical scope ranges over the entire Mediterranean, with a couple of stories set in France and England (England is as exotic here as Saladin, a fantasy destination where dreams can become true) there are no stories set in China or other far eastern locations despite The Travels of Marco Polo. The Merchant of Prato gives an idea of just how natural and everyday that geographical scope was to those involved in commerce in Italy at that time. The stories are set throughout history, some in antiquity, others in the recent past, many are roughly contemporary to Boccaccio's time. Boccaccio may not have invented any of the stories. Many are recognisable retellings, and some will in turn be retold by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, others like the horrible Griselda story seem to have been widely known at the time and pop up in a variety of sources as a role model for a good woman (see for instance Le Menagier de Paris.
In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer reuses and adapts a few stories from Decameron and takes Boccaccio's idea of a framing narrative however he makes an important change. Chaucer's storytellers cover a fairly broad social spectrum , Boccaccio's reflect one view point that of Florentine urban Patrician families. They own landed estates, but don't have aristocratic titles , they admire aristocratic values and although their family wealth probably comes from trade and commerce, too pronounced an interest in business is felt to be improper.
Being chaste, or more to the point being seen to be chaste, is an important attribute for the women of this class and governs how they are perceived in society. Therefore the ability to conduct extramarital relationships with discretion is lionised. Oddly although their own reputation is important, persuading a servant to have sexual relations with an over eager suitor or to receive a beating in place of the heroine in exchange for a gift such a suit of clothes is seen as laudable, even by a bishop. Morality is a social attribute, what is appropriate depends on the social position of the person, rather than an absolute set of values that is immutable throughout the whole of society
Having said that women of a low social class can be exemplary - pre-eminently Griselda, and can have some concern for their virtue, equally the poor (broadly speaking) can be dismissed as simple minded and herd like, ripe to be fooled by any passing quick witted Friar who is prepared to claim that a parrot's feather, in fact, came from an angel's wing. It is difficult, and without doubt very unwise, to do what I am doing and attempt to generalise about one hundred stories told by ten narrators as there always seem to be exceptions and nuances of opinion from one story to the next. Perhaps if read with paper to hand and a pencil behind the ear, setting out in columns the attitudes revealed in each story, patterns might emerge consistent to particular narrators, or maybe that each day had a particular tone.
But all of this is perhaps besides the point, this is a compendium of stories. Few if any would have been original to Boccaccio, many have deep roots and have been endlessly retold. What he has done is collect, adapt and present them within the frame work of this group of seven young women and three men moving between various estates, not many miles outside Florence, over a period of a few days while the plague runs it's course within the city.
The stories are lively, often funny, and vivid. They feature lecherous men (particularly priests and friars), cunning plans and generally the victory of the witty. Love and Fortune are capitalised and at times appear to be forces in their own right in the universe alongside God and one law of nature seems to be that one woman can keep a man happy but it takes many men to please one woman. This, given the social importance for a woman of appearing chaste, provides drama and humour in many of the tales. Some of the stories have a savage twist , not always condemned by narrator or his in book audience, a few see a man getting the woman he wants despite her lack of interest, some marriages are between partners of unequal ages, which doesn't seem to have been particularly unusual for the times, and this can be a narrative driver for the pursuit of extra-marital pleasures. The idea of marriage as a romantic union between two people is a rather unusual one if one takes a broad view of it. Marriage in Boccaccio in common with most of human history is a business like affair, for love to develop in it (or despite it) takes particular skill and the triumph of the witty over the wilful .
So overall what can be concluded about the Decameron? Perhaps nothing other than that people have to read it for themselves and that it may not be the medieval Europe that you expected to find.
April 14, 2016
“Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
Like The Canterbury Tales, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights, etc., "The Decameron" is an early masterpiece of literature. It is one of those books I avoided because I thought it would be stilted and boring. Hells NASTY Bells was I wrong. Boccaccio is funny, flippant, irreverent, libidinous, provocative, inspiring, insulting, crazy and always -- always entertaining.
100 stories told during the the summer of 1348 as the Black Death is ravaging Florence (and Europe). Ten aristocratic youths take to the country to escape the death, stink and bodies of the City and to hang out and amuse themselves on stories of love and adventure and sex and trickery. Bad priests, evil princes, saints, sinners, and various twists and turns paints a detailed picture of Italy from over 660 years ago that seems just as modern and funky as today. Things have certainly changed, but lords and ladies it is incredible just how many things have stayed the same.
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
Like The Canterbury Tales, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights, etc., "The Decameron" is an early masterpiece of literature. It is one of those books I avoided because I thought it would be stilted and boring. Hells NASTY Bells was I wrong. Boccaccio is funny, flippant, irreverent, libidinous, provocative, inspiring, insulting, crazy and always -- always entertaining.
100 stories told during the the summer of 1348 as the Black Death is ravaging Florence (and Europe). Ten aristocratic youths take to the country to escape the death, stink and bodies of the City and to hang out and amuse themselves on stories of love and adventure and sex and trickery. Bad priests, evil princes, saints, sinners, and various twists and turns paints a detailed picture of Italy from over 660 years ago that seems just as modern and funky as today. Things have certainly changed, but lords and ladies it is incredible just how many things have stayed the same.
October 3, 2021
El “Decameron” de Giovanni Boccaccio es uno de esos libros que pueden incluirse dentro de una tríada junto a “Los cuentos de Canterbury” de Geoffrey Chaucey, y el “Canzoniere” de Francesco Petrarca, verdaderos símbolos de la literatura medieval.
En realidad, el Decameron es un libro que se ubica entre la edad medieval y el Renacimiento y es el fiel reflejo del pensamiento europeo del siglo XIV.
Boccaccio, digno sucesor de Dante Alighieri y discípulo de Petrarca logró reconocimiento y fama eterna a partir de la publicación de este libro que también generó ciertas polémicas por el subido tono de muchos de sus cuentos.
Un punto importante a tener en cuenta es que el libro se ubica históricamente durante la época en que la peste negra o "bubónica" (por la naturaleza de cómo se manifestaba en los enfermos) devastó parte de Asia, Africa y Europa entre 1348 y 1351.
Algunos historiadores llegaron a estimar que su avance de la peste negra cegó la vida de veinticinco millones de personas. Bocaccio escribe el “Decameron” entre 1351 y 1353.
El libro en sí narra brevemente la historia de siete doncellas (Pampinea, Filomena, Neifile, Fiammetta, Elisa, Lauretta y Emilia) y tres mancebos (Dioneo, Filóstrato y Pánfilo) quienes, escapando de la peste se establecen en un castillo en un campo de las afueras de Florencia y a partir de allí deciden que contar cuentos durante diez días para despejarse y entretenerse hasta que la peste vaya desapareciendo.
Cada uno a su turno es proclamado "rey" y este indica el tema o tópico a utilizarse en la narración de los cuentos.
Lo más fuerte del libro es precisamente el proemio de Boccaccio puesto que describe con lujo de detalles y en forma muy cruda los efectos de la peste negra en Italia y cuáles son los efectos de esta en los habitantes. El grado descriptivo es realmente escalofriante e increíblemente, parece mentira que semejante inicio cambie radicalmente a partir de los alegres cuentos de estos jóvenes florentinos.
La estructura del libro es clara. Posee el proemio escrito por el autor seguido de diez jornadas de cuentos (una por día) de diez cuentos cada una, lo que da un total de cien relatos que el autor describe como ”cien cuentos, fábulas, parábolas e historias o como quieran llamarlas y es correcta esta aclaración puesto que el lector pasa de simples cuentos anecdóticos a mini novelas que involucran historias más complejas.
La temática utilizada en las diez jornadas del Decameron es la siguiente:
Jornada primera: Cada cual habla de lo que más le agrada.
Jornada segunda: Se habla de aquellas personas que, abrumadas por diversos infortunios, consiguen llegar a dichoso término.
Jornada tercera: dedicada a quienes con gracia e inteligencia lograron alguna cosa largamente deseada, o recobraron lo que habían perdido.
Jornada cuarta: historias de amor con final desgraciado.
Jornada quinta: historias de amor con final feliz.
Jornada sexta: sobre aquellos que se defendieron con alguna respuesta aguda, evitaron daños y afrentas e hicieron callar a los necios.
Jornada séptima: burlas que por amor o por miedo, hacen las mujeres a sus maridos, con o sin el conocimiento de ellos.
Jornada octava: burlas que con frecuencia se hacen hombres y mujeres entre sí.
Jornada novena: tema libre.
Jornada décima: grandes hazañas.
Dentro de las distintas temáticas propuestas por los distintos "reyes" de turno, sólo Dioneo es el que está libre de sujetarse a un tópico en especial, por lo que sus historias siempre son las más atractivas.
El libro produjo mucho revuelo en su época (consideremos que fue leído por primera vez en 1353) por el alto tono de contenido sexual de muchos relatos, que giran en su gran mayoría en el adulterio, las infidelidades y la corrupción carnal de personas dentro del ámbito eclesiástico (monjas, frailes y ábates) y en otros aspectos hay que resaltar ciertos aspectos extremadamente machistas o misóginos que serían totalmente repelidos hoy en día en el que el la sociedad y especialmente las mujeres de hoy no admite bajo ningún concepto y con justa razón algunas de las discriminaciones expuestas en ciertas historias.
El libro fue prohibido durante la Inquisición y todos aquellos lectores que lo tuvieran eran severamente castigados o ejecutados.
Una de las historias, que yo defino como la más fuerte y tal vez chocante de la historia en la que una niña de 14 años es prácticamente violada repetidas veces bajo el engaño de "mandar a guardar al diablo en el infierno" por parte de un hombre que no tiene ningún escrúpulo en abusar de ella.
Creo que el lector sabrá interpretar la desacertada frase entre comillas.
Muchas veces, los finales de los cuentos intentan transmitirle al lector el hecho de gozar esos placeres descriptos en el argumento del mismo, pero es como que precisamente se ofrece seguir el camino del adulterio o la infidelidad, algo que demuestra cierta displicencia de Bocaccio principalmente en la mujer a la que considera bajo el control total del hombre en todos sus aspectos, más allá de considerarla un ser frágil, débil, etc., etc.
Creo que esa es la única característica que no comparto para nada del libro. Tal vez pueda aceptarse que es el tipo de pensamiento del hombre medieval y que uno como lector en el siglo XXI sabrá claramente reconocer, pero en algunos cuentos resulta un tanto chocante e innecesario.
De todos modos, el tenor de muchísimos otros cuentos es realmente divertido, distendido y en algunos casos, el de las parábolas edificantes para los personajes ofician a modo de redención luego de las penurias sufridas.
En el epílogo Boccaccio reconoce que fue atacado por los aspectos que ya comenté, pero en cierta manera se desliga del tema recordándole al lector que puede hacer uso de su libre albedrío y de no leer el Decameron en caso de que éste hiera sus susceptibilidades.
Más allá de lo expuesto, creo que el Decameron es uno de los libros fundacionales de la literatura, porque posicionó a Boccaccio en el altar de los más grandes escritores que dio Italia y la literatura mundial, trono que comparte con grandes como Dante Alighieri, Cervantes o Shakespeare, sólo por nombrar algunos de los más insignes.
En realidad, el Decameron es un libro que se ubica entre la edad medieval y el Renacimiento y es el fiel reflejo del pensamiento europeo del siglo XIV.
Boccaccio, digno sucesor de Dante Alighieri y discípulo de Petrarca logró reconocimiento y fama eterna a partir de la publicación de este libro que también generó ciertas polémicas por el subido tono de muchos de sus cuentos.
Un punto importante a tener en cuenta es que el libro se ubica históricamente durante la época en que la peste negra o "bubónica" (por la naturaleza de cómo se manifestaba en los enfermos) devastó parte de Asia, Africa y Europa entre 1348 y 1351.
Algunos historiadores llegaron a estimar que su avance de la peste negra cegó la vida de veinticinco millones de personas. Bocaccio escribe el “Decameron” entre 1351 y 1353.
El libro en sí narra brevemente la historia de siete doncellas (Pampinea, Filomena, Neifile, Fiammetta, Elisa, Lauretta y Emilia) y tres mancebos (Dioneo, Filóstrato y Pánfilo) quienes, escapando de la peste se establecen en un castillo en un campo de las afueras de Florencia y a partir de allí deciden que contar cuentos durante diez días para despejarse y entretenerse hasta que la peste vaya desapareciendo.
Cada uno a su turno es proclamado "rey" y este indica el tema o tópico a utilizarse en la narración de los cuentos.
Lo más fuerte del libro es precisamente el proemio de Boccaccio puesto que describe con lujo de detalles y en forma muy cruda los efectos de la peste negra en Italia y cuáles son los efectos de esta en los habitantes. El grado descriptivo es realmente escalofriante e increíblemente, parece mentira que semejante inicio cambie radicalmente a partir de los alegres cuentos de estos jóvenes florentinos.
La estructura del libro es clara. Posee el proemio escrito por el autor seguido de diez jornadas de cuentos (una por día) de diez cuentos cada una, lo que da un total de cien relatos que el autor describe como ”cien cuentos, fábulas, parábolas e historias o como quieran llamarlas y es correcta esta aclaración puesto que el lector pasa de simples cuentos anecdóticos a mini novelas que involucran historias más complejas.
La temática utilizada en las diez jornadas del Decameron es la siguiente:
Jornada primera: Cada cual habla de lo que más le agrada.
Jornada segunda: Se habla de aquellas personas que, abrumadas por diversos infortunios, consiguen llegar a dichoso término.
Jornada tercera: dedicada a quienes con gracia e inteligencia lograron alguna cosa largamente deseada, o recobraron lo que habían perdido.
Jornada cuarta: historias de amor con final desgraciado.
Jornada quinta: historias de amor con final feliz.
Jornada sexta: sobre aquellos que se defendieron con alguna respuesta aguda, evitaron daños y afrentas e hicieron callar a los necios.
Jornada séptima: burlas que por amor o por miedo, hacen las mujeres a sus maridos, con o sin el conocimiento de ellos.
Jornada octava: burlas que con frecuencia se hacen hombres y mujeres entre sí.
Jornada novena: tema libre.
Jornada décima: grandes hazañas.
Dentro de las distintas temáticas propuestas por los distintos "reyes" de turno, sólo Dioneo es el que está libre de sujetarse a un tópico en especial, por lo que sus historias siempre son las más atractivas.
El libro produjo mucho revuelo en su época (consideremos que fue leído por primera vez en 1353) por el alto tono de contenido sexual de muchos relatos, que giran en su gran mayoría en el adulterio, las infidelidades y la corrupción carnal de personas dentro del ámbito eclesiástico (monjas, frailes y ábates) y en otros aspectos hay que resaltar ciertos aspectos extremadamente machistas o misóginos que serían totalmente repelidos hoy en día en el que el la sociedad y especialmente las mujeres de hoy no admite bajo ningún concepto y con justa razón algunas de las discriminaciones expuestas en ciertas historias.
El libro fue prohibido durante la Inquisición y todos aquellos lectores que lo tuvieran eran severamente castigados o ejecutados.
Una de las historias, que yo defino como la más fuerte y tal vez chocante de la historia en la que una niña de 14 años es prácticamente violada repetidas veces bajo el engaño de "mandar a guardar al diablo en el infierno" por parte de un hombre que no tiene ningún escrúpulo en abusar de ella.
Creo que el lector sabrá interpretar la desacertada frase entre comillas.
Muchas veces, los finales de los cuentos intentan transmitirle al lector el hecho de gozar esos placeres descriptos en el argumento del mismo, pero es como que precisamente se ofrece seguir el camino del adulterio o la infidelidad, algo que demuestra cierta displicencia de Bocaccio principalmente en la mujer a la que considera bajo el control total del hombre en todos sus aspectos, más allá de considerarla un ser frágil, débil, etc., etc.
Creo que esa es la única característica que no comparto para nada del libro. Tal vez pueda aceptarse que es el tipo de pensamiento del hombre medieval y que uno como lector en el siglo XXI sabrá claramente reconocer, pero en algunos cuentos resulta un tanto chocante e innecesario.
De todos modos, el tenor de muchísimos otros cuentos es realmente divertido, distendido y en algunos casos, el de las parábolas edificantes para los personajes ofician a modo de redención luego de las penurias sufridas.
En el epílogo Boccaccio reconoce que fue atacado por los aspectos que ya comenté, pero en cierta manera se desliga del tema recordándole al lector que puede hacer uso de su libre albedrío y de no leer el Decameron en caso de que éste hiera sus susceptibilidades.
Más allá de lo expuesto, creo que el Decameron es uno de los libros fundacionales de la literatura, porque posicionó a Boccaccio en el altar de los más grandes escritores que dio Italia y la literatura mundial, trono que comparte con grandes como Dante Alighieri, Cervantes o Shakespeare, sólo por nombrar algunos de los más insignes.
November 20, 2021
Decameron is a collection of hundred stories told in ten days by seven young women and three young men who have stationed themselves in an estate in the outskirts of Florence. In the wake of the Black Death, these young men and women have decided to flee together from the city of Florence to a countryside estate to avoid the contagion. Having come to the estate, they discuss how best to enjoy their time and company during the limited stay. And storytelling was decided on as a part of their entertainment. Excepting two days, the stories are told according to a theme set by the leader of the day whom they called the King/Queen, and the stories run on love, lust, greed, deception, betrayal, and human wit and follies. This then is the backdrop of Boccaccio's masterpiece.
The majority of stories were centered on love and lust, and Boccaccio brings in clergy and women as his main characters to form these stories. I wasn't initially happy with his choice of characters. It seemed to me like he was bailing out the men. But this was written in the fourteenth century; one mustn't judge it looking through modern lenses. Women at Boccaccio's time lived secluded lives, always living under the authority and protection of their male relatives. Their needs and feelings were disregarded. If one looks a little deeper into these stories, one can see that Boccaccio's satire is not aimed at women. Rather, it is aimed at the society and the conventions that place women in such a state. However, his meaning regarding the clergy was much more baffling. I couldn't draw a proper conclusion whether his satire was on or against them. During the Black Death, peoples' faith in the Church was somewhat diminished, and this general fallout might have prompted Boccaccio to view the clergy in not so a reverent light. Or else, it is possible that Boccaccio was led on by a need to show that even God's servants are subjected to human follies and succumb to the temptations of human flesh.
I was at first surprised at how bawdy and coarse the stories were and was thinking to myself that this was a funny masterpiece. Then I remembered that authors of most of the classics set in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period haven't much concerned themselves with refinement. So, I was able to reconcile with Boccaccio's style. But bawdy they may be, ribaldry they may be, they were no less entertaining. Boccaccio's humour and satire get the better of the coarseness. However, these are hundred stories. No genius can write them equally interesting, and no reader will find them so. It was the same with me. I enjoyed some more than the others. Many of them were interesting, some boring, and a few nonsensical. But overall, it was an entertaining work. I enjoyed it more than The Canterbury Tales, with which it is often compared.
One word must be said about the translation. It is the first time that I wasn't content with the Oxford University Press edition. It was easier to read, I admit, but being made easier to read means that the language was too modern for the time it was written. This is a personal peculiarity, but I do like to have the translation resembling the time period in which a classic is written no matter how hard it may be to read.
The majority of stories were centered on love and lust, and Boccaccio brings in clergy and women as his main characters to form these stories. I wasn't initially happy with his choice of characters. It seemed to me like he was bailing out the men. But this was written in the fourteenth century; one mustn't judge it looking through modern lenses. Women at Boccaccio's time lived secluded lives, always living under the authority and protection of their male relatives. Their needs and feelings were disregarded. If one looks a little deeper into these stories, one can see that Boccaccio's satire is not aimed at women. Rather, it is aimed at the society and the conventions that place women in such a state. However, his meaning regarding the clergy was much more baffling. I couldn't draw a proper conclusion whether his satire was on or against them. During the Black Death, peoples' faith in the Church was somewhat diminished, and this general fallout might have prompted Boccaccio to view the clergy in not so a reverent light. Or else, it is possible that Boccaccio was led on by a need to show that even God's servants are subjected to human follies and succumb to the temptations of human flesh.
I was at first surprised at how bawdy and coarse the stories were and was thinking to myself that this was a funny masterpiece. Then I remembered that authors of most of the classics set in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period haven't much concerned themselves with refinement. So, I was able to reconcile with Boccaccio's style. But bawdy they may be, ribaldry they may be, they were no less entertaining. Boccaccio's humour and satire get the better of the coarseness. However, these are hundred stories. No genius can write them equally interesting, and no reader will find them so. It was the same with me. I enjoyed some more than the others. Many of them were interesting, some boring, and a few nonsensical. But overall, it was an entertaining work. I enjoyed it more than The Canterbury Tales, with which it is often compared.
One word must be said about the translation. It is the first time that I wasn't content with the Oxford University Press edition. It was easier to read, I admit, but being made easier to read means that the language was too modern for the time it was written. This is a personal peculiarity, but I do like to have the translation resembling the time period in which a classic is written no matter how hard it may be to read.
December 21, 2019
My plan for 2020 is to explore the history of the novel by returning to its origins, beginning with Rabelais and Cervantes. And so I decided to close this year with The Decameron as a sort of introduction to the project, in order to be able to better recognise the stylistic innovations introduced by those later writings. I don't think I would have read it otherwise.
In all honesty, The Decameron offers very little to a modern reader. It is very much of its time, filled with witty references to local people and places, which would have been easily understood and considered very clever at the time, but which are more or less lost on us today, even with the benefit of footnotes. Its themes are not universal. It is concerned, on the whole, with trifling subjects, witty turns of phrase, and bawdy adventures. While the stories can be entertaining, they lack the sort of substance we have come to expect today. But is difficult to criticise the book on this basis given its place in history. It was certainly outstanding in its own historical context, as is apparent in its influence on literature for many hundreds of years.
One thing I found notable about the book is its high cynicism; its lack of reverence for political and religious figures, as well as a lack of credence for religious ideas in general. There is rarely a moral element to these stories, which focus instead on material and corporeal concerns. This is contrary to what I had expected, given the position and authority of the Church at the time.
This is as good a time as any to note that the rating system doesn't really hold for books like The Decameron, and others I intend to read next year. The Decameron doesn't deserve anything less than five stars given its historical importance. But I feel that automatically giving the maximum rating to the "classics" is not all that helpful an indication as to whether a book is still relevant and worth reading today. So I will try find a balance in my rating between historical context and my own reaction as seems appropriate.
In all honesty, The Decameron offers very little to a modern reader. It is very much of its time, filled with witty references to local people and places, which would have been easily understood and considered very clever at the time, but which are more or less lost on us today, even with the benefit of footnotes. Its themes are not universal. It is concerned, on the whole, with trifling subjects, witty turns of phrase, and bawdy adventures. While the stories can be entertaining, they lack the sort of substance we have come to expect today. But is difficult to criticise the book on this basis given its place in history. It was certainly outstanding in its own historical context, as is apparent in its influence on literature for many hundreds of years.
One thing I found notable about the book is its high cynicism; its lack of reverence for political and religious figures, as well as a lack of credence for religious ideas in general. There is rarely a moral element to these stories, which focus instead on material and corporeal concerns. This is contrary to what I had expected, given the position and authority of the Church at the time.
This is as good a time as any to note that the rating system doesn't really hold for books like The Decameron, and others I intend to read next year. The Decameron doesn't deserve anything less than five stars given its historical importance. But I feel that automatically giving the maximum rating to the "classics" is not all that helpful an indication as to whether a book is still relevant and worth reading today. So I will try find a balance in my rating between historical context and my own reaction as seems appropriate.
April 1, 2019
… nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it…
I did not think that a collection of tales from the late Middle Ages would be so raunchy and ribald. While artisans were busy erecting gothic cathedrals—symbols of humanity’s insignificance before an omnipotent deity—Boccaccio was busy writing this most human of books. Indeed, the Decameron can be seen as the humanistic reply to Dante’s Divine Comedy: a celebration of our very worldliness. In Boccaccio’s world, the keystone virtue is not holiness nor piety, but cunning; and those who lack it are sure to be the victims of those who possess it.
Seen from the present day, Boccaccio’s masterpiece seems progressive in many respects. For one, he treats of nobles and peasants indifferently; and in the final (and incredibly sadistic) story he even asserts that these distinctions are of no importance compared with personal merit. More shocking is Boccaccio’s frank portrayal of female sexuality, something that would be taboo for much of European history. At times Boccaccio even seems like a proto-feminist: Women are central to the book, as Boccaccio frames the collection of stories as a diversion for women who have been forced into idleness by their social position. To be sure, there are many regressive and even alarming views about women mixed in with his more “advanced” ideas; even so, he does a better job than, say, Dickens often does.
Another surprising feature of these stories is Boccaccio’s open anticlericalism. The way he speaks of monks and nuns would be scandalous even now. There are many moments in the book in which he seems to be advocating a kind of hippy-ish tolerance for the pleasures of the flesh, condemning all opponents to sensual delight as hypocrites and fools. He even portrays homosexuality as an amusing foible rather than a deadly sin. Considering all this, it is difficult to imagine the reaction if it had been published considerably later. It seems that tolerance does not progress in a neat line.
Boccaccio’s chief virtue as a storyteller is his ability to manipulate plot. In this he is the exact reflection of Shakespeare (one of Boccaccio’s borrowers), who had every gift except plot. Boccaccio’s characters are never round nor indeed memorable; they can for the most part be interchanged at random. But each of these 100 tales, with very few exceptions, is thoroughly charming for having all the elements of a good story: a setup (inevitably involving a man and a woman), a problem (normally somebody trying to sleep with someone else), a clever trick to solve it (and a dunce to suffer as a consequence), a dramatic climax (the heroes are almost foiled), and a satisfying conclusion. All together, these 100 stories are a treasure trove which every responsible storyteller must pilfer mercilessly. If you are going on a camping trip, you could do much worse than to bring a copy of the Decameron along for the evenings.
February 8, 2016
Permit me to offer another roar of support for reading (The) Decameron. A divine mathematical structure (ten parts of ten chapters with ten characters told over ten days) props up this rollicking ride of classic storytelling. A modern translation (this ed from J.G. Nichols) renders the original in all its libidinous, virtuous mischief, making each page a rapturous pleasure to turn. This book needs no further endorsement from me. Make arrangements to read (The) Decameron before your fatal heart attack.
January 11, 2020
Preface to the Second Edition
Translator's Introduction
Select Bibliography
--The Decameron
Notes
Maps
Index to Stories
Index to Translator's Introduction and Notes
Translator's Introduction
Select Bibliography
--The Decameron
Notes
Maps
Index to Stories
Index to Translator's Introduction and Notes
August 31, 2024
Decameron is a set of one hundred novels in which Boccaccio tells the story of seven women and three men who, fleeing the plague in 1348, retire to the countryside near Florence. For ten days, everyone tells a story. And, between one journey and another, the story of the ten adventurers unfolds. First is the structure basis of the Decameron; from then on, novels began to teach (a total of one hundred) unrelated to the story of its ten narrators, the main characters.
These novels – sentimental, satirical, tragic, or passionate – portray life in the 15th century in a style that has become a model in Italian prose.
Boccaccio is considered the creator of Italian prose. However, the circumstances of his birth are not known. Earlier biographies thought him Parisian (his mother was probably French), but Italian Romantics believed he was born in Tuscany (like his father).
These novels – sentimental, satirical, tragic, or passionate – portray life in the 15th century in a style that has become a model in Italian prose.
Boccaccio is considered the creator of Italian prose. However, the circumstances of his birth are not known. Earlier biographies thought him Parisian (his mother was probably French), but Italian Romantics believed he was born in Tuscany (like his father).
August 14, 2008
My encounter with this book has been a delightful surprise. Expecting a dry and difficult medieval text, I was shocked to find myself unable to put it down. This is a completely rich text that is complex, yet easy and fun to read. Boccaccio has such a fun sense of humor! I found myself laughing aloud. For me, the dirty stories stole the show, but the other stories by no means fall short. His characters and stories are so richly human and he is able to laugh at them, embrace their flaws, forgive them their hypocrisies. It's too bad we all can't view the world with Boccaccio's humor and sense of reason.
As a side note, his description of societal breakdown prompted by the plague is really interesting. I had the simple, but impressive realization that I was reading the actual first hand observations of someone who had lived through THE Plague. It's crazy- and so cool!
Admittedly, I know there is a lot of critical study around this text that I am missing and things that I have failed to recognize, but Boccaccio's brilliance lies in the fact that he is able to create a work that is valid and entertaining. It's the perfect combination of study and pleasure. I would re-read this in a heartbeat. I recommend it, especially if you doubt that you will like it. (You will.)
As a side note, his description of societal breakdown prompted by the plague is really interesting. I had the simple, but impressive realization that I was reading the actual first hand observations of someone who had lived through THE Plague. It's crazy- and so cool!
Admittedly, I know there is a lot of critical study around this text that I am missing and things that I have failed to recognize, but Boccaccio's brilliance lies in the fact that he is able to create a work that is valid and entertaining. It's the perfect combination of study and pleasure. I would re-read this in a heartbeat. I recommend it, especially if you doubt that you will like it. (You will.)
July 6, 2011
The Decameron is obviously a hugely influential piece of literature (actually, it's just plain huge), so it's no wonder I'd get around to it eventually. I'm not a huge fan of Chaucer, really, but I did recognise a couple of the source texts he used in this, and I imagine that the choice of frame narrative for the Canterbury Tales might've been suggested to Chaucer by The Decameron. Certainly The Decameron was an influence, anyway.
The Decameron also inspired a song by one of my favourite singers, Heather Dale, 'Up Into The Pear Tree', about Pyrrhus and Lydia and their trick on Lydia's husband. It's a lovely song, playful and quite in keeping with the tone of The Decameron.
Despite its length, The Decameron is very easy to read. It's a collection of a hundred short stories -- or perhaps a hundred and one, if you count the frame story -- split into ten 'days' with the conceit that a group of ten young men and women meet outside Florence during the plague years, and to entertain themselves, they elect a king or queen from their number each day, who dictates a theme for the stories that they tell. The stories are quite similar at times, when they revolve around a specific theme, but overall there's a lot of different stories, often funny, and often to do with sex. You get the impression that no women in medieval Italy (with the exception of Griselda and Zinevra) were ever faithful to their husbands!
Being a medieval work, it's unsurprisingly not terribly good about subjects like rape or feminine strength. Sometimes it praises women to the skies and at other times blames them for what isn't their fault, or what certainly isn't a fault in all women. Still, it didn't make me uncomfortable most of the time, and there are plenty of clever and strong women in the tales as well.
The Penguin translation, by G.H. McWilliam, is extremely good, in the sense of always being very readable and entertaining, rather than dry, and this edition comes with a wealth of notes on context and on each specific story. There are maps and an index, too. Even if you're not reading this for study, it's worth getting -- perhaps especially so, because it explains things clearly no matter what your level of expertise on the subject.
The Decameron also inspired a song by one of my favourite singers, Heather Dale, 'Up Into The Pear Tree', about Pyrrhus and Lydia and their trick on Lydia's husband. It's a lovely song, playful and quite in keeping with the tone of The Decameron.
Despite its length, The Decameron is very easy to read. It's a collection of a hundred short stories -- or perhaps a hundred and one, if you count the frame story -- split into ten 'days' with the conceit that a group of ten young men and women meet outside Florence during the plague years, and to entertain themselves, they elect a king or queen from their number each day, who dictates a theme for the stories that they tell. The stories are quite similar at times, when they revolve around a specific theme, but overall there's a lot of different stories, often funny, and often to do with sex. You get the impression that no women in medieval Italy (with the exception of Griselda and Zinevra) were ever faithful to their husbands!
Being a medieval work, it's unsurprisingly not terribly good about subjects like rape or feminine strength. Sometimes it praises women to the skies and at other times blames them for what isn't their fault, or what certainly isn't a fault in all women. Still, it didn't make me uncomfortable most of the time, and there are plenty of clever and strong women in the tales as well.
The Penguin translation, by G.H. McWilliam, is extremely good, in the sense of always being very readable and entertaining, rather than dry, and this edition comes with a wealth of notes on context and on each specific story. There are maps and an index, too. Even if you're not reading this for study, it's worth getting -- perhaps especially so, because it explains things clearly no matter what your level of expertise on the subject.
November 28, 2020
Oh. Well. A faint shadow of discontent had crossed my face as I had finished reading the last page of this famous and highly praised book. I held the book in my hands and for some time had lingered in a state of dissatisfaction. Oh. Well. That can happen too. Why not?
It was my first read and the fact that both my mother and sister had read it long back (I don’t think it’s really suitable for 5th grade as my mother said she had read it around that age, but more for high-school period as my sister read it) had made me have me a feeling of kinship for it – the book I mean – as if I had been “selected” (although it was my choice, basically, or so I want to believe it) for the glamorous adventure of the Middle Ages, chosen for a high destiny that transcended the fact that I am nonetheless living in the 21st century, or so it looks according to an official calendar (I am sorry I don’t remember now which is that calendar).
The truth is that I have given an attentive ear, not just eager eyes, to every page I have turned now and then. But still. Oh. Well. I am left vaguely dissatisfied with its slightly visible indifference – the book I mean, its lack of feeling for the important issues, though apparently it does cover some strong themes, its slowness in attacking on deeper level some important things, although it is chiefly about the human relationships. Oh. Well. Maybe I ought not go ahead dispiritedly talking about it.
It’s true that something peculiar lingers a bit with me now, however it’s quite clear that Boccaccio, who himself confessed that all these stories are written to drive away a lady’s melancholy (yes, it’s true, it helped me too, and I found it mostly as a human comedy, finding myself laughing too much) alludes to a sentiment he expresses strongly in the text: his compassion for women deprived of free speech and social liberty, confined to their homes and, at times, lovesick. That state of things is put in contrast with the life of men free to enjoy hunting, fishing, riding, falconry, and of course, free to delight into whatever sexual intercourses.
It began like that and continued, with varying shades of intensity, on such a note right up to the denouement. I found the opening words and the afterword very satisfactory and intense in the details given for the reader. There was clarity and resolution in these words: “To have compassion for those who suffer is a human quality which everyone should possess.” Also, the dialogues and comments exchanged between the participants at this merry company are insightful and thoughtful, giving some sensual pleasure of both body and thought, through some interesting arguments and points of view.
The tales in themselves are pretty clear and straightforward in their hidden message - whatever she/he wanted she/he went after with the full pressure of her/his charm. In some cases, both men and women are belittled, and there are shown a very little mental side to their affairs. In other cases, women simply make men conscious to the highest degree of their physical loveliness. Overall, deficiencies were knit up with a passionate energy that transcended and justified them, but there was enough light shed on how women and men seem to enjoy the living.
On one side, the worthy young ladies seem to agree that: “women do not know how to reason in a group when they are without the guidance of some man who knows how to control them. We are fickle, quarrelsome, suspicious, timid, and fearful. Men are truly the leaders of women, and without their guidance, our actions rarely end successfully. “
Oh. Well. That is a big part of truth. For example, let’s take this declaration when she whispers something like this: “I don’t know what’s the matter with me. Last night I thought I was in love with a man and tonight I think I am in love with you”. This seems a beautiful and romantic thing to say. At least for this moment. Needless to say after a short time you are compelled to view the same quality in a different light. People fall in and out of love pretty easily, but always very passionately, with a burning desire that takes whatever control over them.
On the other side, If assailed too strongly, women immediately resolve the affairs to a physical basis, and under the magic of their physical splendor. 99% of the tales talk about beautiful, gorgeous, full of wit and charming women. I think Middle Ages was under an auspicious context from this point of view. But then, both men and women are entertained chiefly by the gratification of their desires and by the direct exercise of their own charm. In a similar proportion, 99% of the men presented are young, handsome, wealthy, nobleman, etc, to make long story short they are eligible young men, popular and with social aspirations.
Put face to face, or in another direct fashion, the men and women getting in touch bring to themselves ecstatic happiness and intolerable agony of spirit. They caused themselves untold inconveniences and not a little trouble. The thing of love – the most discussed topic – is deep in people. They are too strong and alive for it to die lightly. It gives a sense of solidity but also a splitting headache. In some tales, I confess I was filled with a sudden excitement. I could even say that was my own self outpouring. But I don’t want to profane the moment.
Just to conclude, I think I like the way the characters of the tales loved. Like they could never love anybody else but one. Like they could fall madly in love. I wish we could be like that again. Why, these things are no longer in the world! They had existed and they exist no longer. Long ago, there was something in me, but now that thing is gone. I cannot cry. I cannot care. That thing will come back no more. Oh. Well.
It was my first read and the fact that both my mother and sister had read it long back (I don’t think it’s really suitable for 5th grade as my mother said she had read it around that age, but more for high-school period as my sister read it) had made me have me a feeling of kinship for it – the book I mean – as if I had been “selected” (although it was my choice, basically, or so I want to believe it) for the glamorous adventure of the Middle Ages, chosen for a high destiny that transcended the fact that I am nonetheless living in the 21st century, or so it looks according to an official calendar (I am sorry I don’t remember now which is that calendar).
The truth is that I have given an attentive ear, not just eager eyes, to every page I have turned now and then. But still. Oh. Well. I am left vaguely dissatisfied with its slightly visible indifference – the book I mean, its lack of feeling for the important issues, though apparently it does cover some strong themes, its slowness in attacking on deeper level some important things, although it is chiefly about the human relationships. Oh. Well. Maybe I ought not go ahead dispiritedly talking about it.
It’s true that something peculiar lingers a bit with me now, however it’s quite clear that Boccaccio, who himself confessed that all these stories are written to drive away a lady’s melancholy (yes, it’s true, it helped me too, and I found it mostly as a human comedy, finding myself laughing too much) alludes to a sentiment he expresses strongly in the text: his compassion for women deprived of free speech and social liberty, confined to their homes and, at times, lovesick. That state of things is put in contrast with the life of men free to enjoy hunting, fishing, riding, falconry, and of course, free to delight into whatever sexual intercourses.
It began like that and continued, with varying shades of intensity, on such a note right up to the denouement. I found the opening words and the afterword very satisfactory and intense in the details given for the reader. There was clarity and resolution in these words: “To have compassion for those who suffer is a human quality which everyone should possess.” Also, the dialogues and comments exchanged between the participants at this merry company are insightful and thoughtful, giving some sensual pleasure of both body and thought, through some interesting arguments and points of view.
The tales in themselves are pretty clear and straightforward in their hidden message - whatever she/he wanted she/he went after with the full pressure of her/his charm. In some cases, both men and women are belittled, and there are shown a very little mental side to their affairs. In other cases, women simply make men conscious to the highest degree of their physical loveliness. Overall, deficiencies were knit up with a passionate energy that transcended and justified them, but there was enough light shed on how women and men seem to enjoy the living.
On one side, the worthy young ladies seem to agree that: “women do not know how to reason in a group when they are without the guidance of some man who knows how to control them. We are fickle, quarrelsome, suspicious, timid, and fearful. Men are truly the leaders of women, and without their guidance, our actions rarely end successfully. “
Oh. Well. That is a big part of truth. For example, let’s take this declaration when she whispers something like this: “I don’t know what’s the matter with me. Last night I thought I was in love with a man and tonight I think I am in love with you”. This seems a beautiful and romantic thing to say. At least for this moment. Needless to say after a short time you are compelled to view the same quality in a different light. People fall in and out of love pretty easily, but always very passionately, with a burning desire that takes whatever control over them.
On the other side, If assailed too strongly, women immediately resolve the affairs to a physical basis, and under the magic of their physical splendor. 99% of the tales talk about beautiful, gorgeous, full of wit and charming women. I think Middle Ages was under an auspicious context from this point of view. But then, both men and women are entertained chiefly by the gratification of their desires and by the direct exercise of their own charm. In a similar proportion, 99% of the men presented are young, handsome, wealthy, nobleman, etc, to make long story short they are eligible young men, popular and with social aspirations.
Put face to face, or in another direct fashion, the men and women getting in touch bring to themselves ecstatic happiness and intolerable agony of spirit. They caused themselves untold inconveniences and not a little trouble. The thing of love – the most discussed topic – is deep in people. They are too strong and alive for it to die lightly. It gives a sense of solidity but also a splitting headache. In some tales, I confess I was filled with a sudden excitement. I could even say that was my own self outpouring. But I don’t want to profane the moment.
Just to conclude, I think I like the way the characters of the tales loved. Like they could never love anybody else but one. Like they could fall madly in love. I wish we could be like that again. Why, these things are no longer in the world! They had existed and they exist no longer. Long ago, there was something in me, but now that thing is gone. I cannot cry. I cannot care. That thing will come back no more. Oh. Well.
February 8, 2016
In Florence, in 1350, Giovanni Boccaccio writes the Decameron, a collection of 100 stories told ostensibly by a group of noblemen and women hiding in the countryside from the Black Plague, the effects of which are described at the beginning of the Decameron in one of the world’s most horrifying pieces of journalism. The stories themselves are generally bawdy and funny, and in fact this was made into a porno in 1970, and here are some butts to prove it:
butts
It was influenced in part by the brilliant collection of Middle Eastern tales, the Arabian Nights. It was a big hit in its time; it was probably read by Chaucer, who probably borrowed parts of it for his great epic The Canterbury Tales.
I've read a bunch of non-fiction books recently that at least touch on Italy in the 14th century, and I keep thinking, "Yeah, I understand this from Boccaccio." Corruption in the church, the role of women, the lives of the nobles and the common people... I get a better sense of these things from the Decameron than from the history books. So if Boccaccio's goal was to describe what life was like in his time, from every imaginable point of view, he has nailed it.
Some are bawdy and funny, yes, but there are also a number stories about violence and rape. Like II.7, for example, in which a woman is kidnapped and raped by eight different men in succession, and they're often played as sorta funny and I haven't been sure how to deal with that, but it's true that Boccaccio's exposing the darker things that were happening in his time - along with all the other things. It's an unflinching tour, but it's misted by this irreverent tone that throws you off balance.
The intro to this edition claimed that Boccaccio was in some ways a sort of feminist, because his female characters are as strong and willful as his male ones, and this is one of the first times we have female characters portrayed as enjoying sex. I see the point, but it's also true that they're handed around like paperbacks pretty often.
I've been reminded recently how grotesquely hateful the last story in this collection is, and I feel like it's a public service to warn potential future readers about it: it leaves a very bad taste in your mouth. Horrifically misogynist. Skip it - or at least read it out of order, somewhere around the middle, so it's not your last impression.
Apparently Boccaccio himself wasn't crazy about the Decameron, but I think it's pretty dope.
Translation
Not that I have anything to compare it to, but I found Michael Musa's translation easy to read and entertaining, modern without being over-modern. Thumbs up to that.
This is a lot of stories, shit
I consulted two different lists of the "best" stories in The Decameron, reading any story that appeared on either list, around 2/3 of them in all. The first was translator Mike Musa's, from the introduction to my edition; the second was Jack Murnighan's, from a book called Beowulf on the Beach, which is fine but Murnighan can be a bit of a twit. Here are the lists:
Introduction
I
Musa: 1 - 3
Murnighan: 1, 5
II
Musa: 4 - 7, 10
Murnighan: 1 - 6, 7, 10
III
Musa: 1, 2, 9, 10
Murnighan: 1 - 4, 6, 10
IV
Musa: Prologue, 1, 2, 5, 9
Murnighan: 1, 5
V
Musa: 1, 4, 8 - 10
Murnighan: 4, 9, 10
VI
Musa: 1,4,5,7,10
Murnighan: 5, 6, 9
VII:
Musa: 2,9,10
Murnighan: 2, 5, 9, 10
VIII:
Musa: 3, 5-10
Murnighan: 1, 2, 6 - 9
IX:
Musa: 2,3,5,6,10
Murnighan: 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10
(Murnighan actually says 9 is "ultra-misogynistic and not to my taste," but after a comment like that you sortof have to read it, right? Turns out it's ultra-misogynistic and not to my taste.)
X:
Musa: 3,4,8-10
Murnighan: 4, 7, 9, 10
butts
It was influenced in part by the brilliant collection of Middle Eastern tales, the Arabian Nights. It was a big hit in its time; it was probably read by Chaucer, who probably borrowed parts of it for his great epic The Canterbury Tales.
I've read a bunch of non-fiction books recently that at least touch on Italy in the 14th century, and I keep thinking, "Yeah, I understand this from Boccaccio." Corruption in the church, the role of women, the lives of the nobles and the common people... I get a better sense of these things from the Decameron than from the history books. So if Boccaccio's goal was to describe what life was like in his time, from every imaginable point of view, he has nailed it.
Some are bawdy and funny, yes, but there are also a number stories about violence and rape. Like II.7, for example, in which a woman is kidnapped and raped by eight different men in succession, and they're often played as sorta funny and I haven't been sure how to deal with that, but it's true that Boccaccio's exposing the darker things that were happening in his time - along with all the other things. It's an unflinching tour, but it's misted by this irreverent tone that throws you off balance.
The intro to this edition claimed that Boccaccio was in some ways a sort of feminist, because his female characters are as strong and willful as his male ones, and this is one of the first times we have female characters portrayed as enjoying sex. I see the point, but it's also true that they're handed around like paperbacks pretty often.
I've been reminded recently how grotesquely hateful the last story in this collection is, and I feel like it's a public service to warn potential future readers about it: it leaves a very bad taste in your mouth. Horrifically misogynist. Skip it - or at least read it out of order, somewhere around the middle, so it's not your last impression.
Apparently Boccaccio himself wasn't crazy about the Decameron, but I think it's pretty dope.
Translation
Not that I have anything to compare it to, but I found Michael Musa's translation easy to read and entertaining, modern without being over-modern. Thumbs up to that.
This is a lot of stories, shit
I consulted two different lists of the "best" stories in The Decameron, reading any story that appeared on either list, around 2/3 of them in all. The first was translator Mike Musa's, from the introduction to my edition; the second was Jack Murnighan's, from a book called Beowulf on the Beach, which is fine but Murnighan can be a bit of a twit. Here are the lists:
Introduction
I
Musa: 1 - 3
Murnighan: 1, 5
II
Musa: 4 - 7, 10
Murnighan: 1 - 6, 7, 10
III
Musa: 1, 2, 9, 10
Murnighan: 1 - 4, 6, 10
IV
Musa: Prologue, 1, 2, 5, 9
Murnighan: 1, 5
V
Musa: 1, 4, 8 - 10
Murnighan: 4, 9, 10
VI
Musa: 1,4,5,7,10
Murnighan: 5, 6, 9
VII:
Musa: 2,9,10
Murnighan: 2, 5, 9, 10
VIII:
Musa: 3, 5-10
Murnighan: 1, 2, 6 - 9
IX:
Musa: 2,3,5,6,10
Murnighan: 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10
(Murnighan actually says 9 is "ultra-misogynistic and not to my taste," but after a comment like that you sortof have to read it, right? Turns out it's ultra-misogynistic and not to my taste.)
X:
Musa: 3,4,8-10
Murnighan: 4, 7, 9, 10
June 4, 2022
Boccaccio, 1348'de başlayıp, 1351'de bitirdiği Decameron'da salgın günlerinde Floransa’da yaşanılanları anlatır ve salgından kaçan yedisi kadın toplumun üst sınıfına ait 10 kişinin 10 gün boyunca anlatığı 100 öykü ile kitabını tamamlar. Kitapta her öyküye bir çizim eşlik ediyor.
Kitap yazıldığı çağın oldukça ilerisinde bir kitap, din baskısı, ruhban sınıfının rezillikleri, cinsiyet ayrımı sert bazen mizahi dille anlatılır. Yalan, aşk, açgözlülük, sevda, kibir, dostluk, kıskançlık, kurnazlık, cinsel dürtüler gibi insan davranış ve duyguları hikayelerin ana temalarını oluşturuyor. Hikayeler çok basit, bu nedenle çok hızlı okunuyor, çünkü cümleler ve içerikleri çok sade.
Kitabın önemi çevirmenin önsözde belirttiği gibi İtalyanca düz yazı geleneğini başlatması ve kendinden sonraki yıllarda etkili olmasıdır. Bir klasik olduğu için ve son okuduğum “Peynir ve Kurtlar” adlı kitapta adı sıkça geçtiğinden okuma gereksinimi duydum, ancak okumasaydım bir kaybım olmazdı. Yazarın Dante’nin çağdaşı olduğunu da hatırlatmakta yarar var.
Beni kitapta etkileyen belki de tek yer yazarın veba salgınını çok iyi anlattığı giriş bölümü oldu. Bu bölümde şu cümleler çok çarpıcı; “veba salgını, erkekler ve kadınlara öyle bir korku salmıştı ki, erkek kardeş erkek kardeşten, amca yeğenden, kız kardeş erkek kardeşten, dahası koca karısından kaçar olmuştu. En önemlisi, belki inanmayacaksınız, analar babalar çocukları sanki kendilerinin değilmiş gibi davranıyor, onları görmeye gitmiyor, yardım ellerini uzatmıyorlardı”.
Kitabın kapak düzenlenmesi kitabın içeriğine uymuyor, nihayetinde ne bir porno kitabı ne de Sade tarzında yazılmış erotik bir kitap değil.
Kitap yazıldığı çağın oldukça ilerisinde bir kitap, din baskısı, ruhban sınıfının rezillikleri, cinsiyet ayrımı sert bazen mizahi dille anlatılır. Yalan, aşk, açgözlülük, sevda, kibir, dostluk, kıskançlık, kurnazlık, cinsel dürtüler gibi insan davranış ve duyguları hikayelerin ana temalarını oluşturuyor. Hikayeler çok basit, bu nedenle çok hızlı okunuyor, çünkü cümleler ve içerikleri çok sade.
Kitabın önemi çevirmenin önsözde belirttiği gibi İtalyanca düz yazı geleneğini başlatması ve kendinden sonraki yıllarda etkili olmasıdır. Bir klasik olduğu için ve son okuduğum “Peynir ve Kurtlar” adlı kitapta adı sıkça geçtiğinden okuma gereksinimi duydum, ancak okumasaydım bir kaybım olmazdı. Yazarın Dante’nin çağdaşı olduğunu da hatırlatmakta yarar var.
Beni kitapta etkileyen belki de tek yer yazarın veba salgınını çok iyi anlattığı giriş bölümü oldu. Bu bölümde şu cümleler çok çarpıcı; “veba salgını, erkekler ve kadınlara öyle bir korku salmıştı ki, erkek kardeş erkek kardeşten, amca yeğenden, kız kardeş erkek kardeşten, dahası koca karısından kaçar olmuştu. En önemlisi, belki inanmayacaksınız, analar babalar çocukları sanki kendilerinin değilmiş gibi davranıyor, onları görmeye gitmiyor, yardım ellerini uzatmıyorlardı”.
Kitabın kapak düzenlenmesi kitabın içeriğine uymuyor, nihayetinde ne bir porno kitabı ne de Sade tarzında yazılmış erotik bir kitap değil.
July 7, 2022
It took me almost a year to get through this collection of stories, doing them one at a time with spaces in between. A significant historical work, I could admire Boccaccio's writing, but many of the stories were difficult to engage with and I did not establish any feeling of connection to the storytellers who were fleeing the plague.
Glad to have read it, glad to have it behind me. It did not engage me nor entertain me as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales did, although that was what I was expecting when I began.
Glad to have read it, glad to have it behind me. It did not engage me nor entertain me as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales did, although that was what I was expecting when I began.
March 29, 2023
Ho studiato l’opera per un esame universitario, sicuramente non è una lettura facile. Il Decameron è considerato il primo grande libro della narrativa occidentale moderna.
Proprio per complessità e cura rientra nell'ambito dello stile tragico, infatti c’è questa unione continua di forme e di stili alti, sublimi e forme diverse. Boccaccio riesce a mettere insieme elementi del tragico e del comico e pone le fondamenta della novella moderna.
Il proemio è famosissimo “Comincia il libro chiamato Decameron, cognominato prencipe Galeotto, nel quale si contengono cento novelle, in diece dì dette da sette donne e da tre giovani uomini.” Stessa cosa per quanto riguarda la conclusione: “Qui finisce la decima e ultima giornata del libro chiamato Decameron, cognominato prencipe galeotto.” Se notiamo bene, il libro si chiude con una trascrizione finale che riprende esattamente la rubrica iniziale e che sottolinea l’organizzazione del libro chiuso ad anello.
Uno dei grandi modelli letterari di Boccaccio è stato il Sommo Poeta, Dante Alighieri e ciò si nota moltissimo all’interno delle pagine del Decameron: basti pensare alle 100 novelle scritte in 10 giorni e narrate da 10 persone (la famosissima onesta brigata). Il 100 non è un numero occasionale, ma è legato ad all'idea letteraria dei 100 canti della Comedìa. Inoltre anche l’inizio delle due opere è simile: mentre Dante inizia la sua Comedìa nella selva oscura, Boccaccio introduce quello che chiama “orribile cominciamento” cioè la peste nera che ha colpito l’intero mondo nel 1348.
Un libro particolare, geniale e significativo allo stesso tempo. Le novelle nonostante fossero veramente molto lunghe, risultano leggibili e coinvolgenti.
Proprio per complessità e cura rientra nell'ambito dello stile tragico, infatti c’è questa unione continua di forme e di stili alti, sublimi e forme diverse. Boccaccio riesce a mettere insieme elementi del tragico e del comico e pone le fondamenta della novella moderna.
Il proemio è famosissimo “Comincia il libro chiamato Decameron, cognominato prencipe Galeotto, nel quale si contengono cento novelle, in diece dì dette da sette donne e da tre giovani uomini.” Stessa cosa per quanto riguarda la conclusione: “Qui finisce la decima e ultima giornata del libro chiamato Decameron, cognominato prencipe galeotto.” Se notiamo bene, il libro si chiude con una trascrizione finale che riprende esattamente la rubrica iniziale e che sottolinea l’organizzazione del libro chiuso ad anello.
Uno dei grandi modelli letterari di Boccaccio è stato il Sommo Poeta, Dante Alighieri e ciò si nota moltissimo all’interno delle pagine del Decameron: basti pensare alle 100 novelle scritte in 10 giorni e narrate da 10 persone (la famosissima onesta brigata). Il 100 non è un numero occasionale, ma è legato ad all'idea letteraria dei 100 canti della Comedìa. Inoltre anche l’inizio delle due opere è simile: mentre Dante inizia la sua Comedìa nella selva oscura, Boccaccio introduce quello che chiama “orribile cominciamento” cioè la peste nera che ha colpito l’intero mondo nel 1348.
Un libro particolare, geniale e significativo allo stesso tempo. Le novelle nonostante fossero veramente molto lunghe, risultano leggibili e coinvolgenti.
February 15, 2019
حلوای تن‌تنانی، تا نخوری ندانی
دکامرون یکی از نمونه‌های برجسته‌ی ادبیاتِ تغزّلی و داستان های عاشقانه است. بوکاچیو در این کتاب که در حقیقت یک مجموعه داستان کوتاهِ منسجم به شمار میاد، داستان هایی درباره‌ی خیانت‌های زوجین و عشاق و راه های وصال و فراق و عشق‌بازی کردن‌های اونها رو نوشته. بوکاچیو یکی از دوستان دانته بوده.
پیر پائولو پازولینی، بر اساس این کتاب فیلمی به همین نام ساخته که از لحاظ جذابیت اصلاً به پای این کتاب نمی رسه اما در اون فیلم چند داستان رو نشون میده که در نسخه ی فارسی این کتاب سانسور شده‌ن.
قسمت‌هایی غیر داستانی از متن کتاب رو برای آشنایی با شخصیت نویسنده اینجا میارم:
از این ها گذشته، نمی دانم چه بگویم به کسانی که این همه بر گرسنگی من دل می سوزانند و به من اندرز می دهند که در پی تحصیل نان باشم. البته اگر نیازْ مرا به آن جا بکشاند که بروم و از ایشان چیزی بخواهم نمی دانم چه جوابی به من خواهند داد، و بسیار کنجکاوم که پاسخ آنان را بدانم، لیکن حدس می زنم که به من خاهند گفت: «برو خواسته ات را در قصه هایت بجوی!» و مسلّماً شاعران در داستان های سروده ی خویش بیش از آن یافته اند که بسیاری از ثروتمندان در گنجینه های خود، و حتا بسیاری از شاعران به دنبال سروده های خویش عمری دراز و شکوفان داشته اند، و حال آنکه گروهی بی شما از آزمندان زر اندوز که در کسب سود تابع هیچ عقل و منطقی نبوده و بیماری جمع آوری بیش از نیازِ خویش داشته اند به پیری نارسیده مرده اند.
فقر و تنگدستی هیچ گاه نتوانسته است لطمه ای به شرافت و اصالت ذاتی آدمی بزند، و تنها کاری که می کند این است که نمی گذارد آدم ثروتمند باشد.
ای دوستان جوان و زیبا روی من{زنانی که با او دوست بوده‌اند}، برخی از خرده‌بینان می گویند که من در اینکه می کوشم خوشایند طبع شما واقع شوم و از شما بسیار خوشم می آید به راه خطا می روم. ولی من با کمال صراحت اقرار می کنم که آری، از شما بسیار خوشم می آید و سخت در تلاشم تا مگر شما نیز از من خوشتان بیاید. و حال از این ناکسان می پرسم که کجای این امر تعجب دارد... من همواره محو تماشای شیوه ی دلپذیر رفتار شما، زیبایی حسد انگیز شما، حسن سلیقه ای که در پوشش و آرایش خود بکار می برید و اصالت و نجابتی که خاصّ شما است بوده ام و هستم... من تا پایان عمرم هرگز شرمنده نخواهم بود از اینکه مطبوع‌طبع لعبتان سیم‌تنی قرار بگیرم که دانته و کاوالکانتی در آن‌دم که سنّ و سالی از ایشان گذشته بود و چینو داپیستوئیا در آن زمان که پیرِپیر شده بود تجلیلشان می کردند و در ستایش حُسن و جمالشان دادِ سخن می دادند. آری، خوشایند طبع بانوان بودن، والاترین آرزوی آن بزرگ مردان بود!
زنان در طول عمرم الهام بخش هزاران شعر به من بوده اند، و حال آنکه خدایان شعر و ادب حتا یک بار طبع مرا برنیانگیخته و یک شعر هم به من الهام نبخشیده‌اند.
بررسی تطبیقی
جووانی بوکاچیو متولد سال 1313 میلادی، و حافظ شیرازی متولد سال 1315میلادی بودن
همچنین دانته متولد سال 1265 میلادی، و مولانای متولد سال 1207 میلادی بودن:
در زمانی که در فرهنگِ ما اُدَبا ترویج عرفان می‌کردن و از معشوقِ نادیدنی می‌نوشتن، در ایتالیا، نویسنده‌گان و شعرا با نوشتن کتابهایی مثل کمدی الهی و دکامرون با ترویج عشق‌های آسمانی و خرافات مقابله می‌کرده‌ن.
چون انگیزه‌ی خودِ من از مطالعه‌ی این کتاب، آشنایی با داستانهای کوتاهِ کهن بود، سبک داستان نویسیِ بوکاچیو رو مهندسی معکوس کردم و برای خواننده‌ی علاقه‌مند به داستان‌نویسی اینجا میارم
بوکاچیو ابتدا به توصیف قهرمانِ داستان می پردازه.
سپس به توصیف شرایط حاکم بر محیطی که قهرمان در اون زندگی می‌کنه می پردازه.
سپس قهرمانِ دیگر یا قربانیِ داستان رو توصیف می کنه.
سپس این دو نفر رو وارد تعلیقی عشقی/شهوانی می کنه.
سپس پای فرهنگ و سنّت یا سرپرست‌های قهرمانان{والد/همسر} رو به داستان باز می کنه و تعلیقی اخلاقی بوجود میاره.
و در انتها از داستان نتیجه‌ی اخلاقی یا عاطفی می‌گیره.
این کتاب مجموعاً از 100 داستان تشکیل شده و به‌قلم محمد قاضی ترجمه و توسط انتشارات مازیار (با حذف 13 داستان) چاپ و منتشر شده.
دکامرون یکی از نمونه‌های برجسته‌ی ادبیاتِ تغزّلی و داستان های عاشقانه است. بوکاچیو در این کتاب که در حقیقت یک مجموعه داستان کوتاهِ منسجم به شمار میاد، داستان هایی درباره‌ی خیانت‌های زوجین و عشاق و راه های وصال و فراق و عشق‌بازی کردن‌های اونها رو نوشته. بوکاچیو یکی از دوستان دانته بوده.
پیر پائولو پازولینی، بر اساس این کتاب فیلمی به همین نام ساخته که از لحاظ جذابیت اصلاً به پای این کتاب نمی رسه اما در اون فیلم چند داستان رو نشون میده که در نسخه ی فارسی این کتاب سانسور شده‌ن.
قسمت‌هایی غیر داستانی از متن کتاب رو برای آشنایی با شخصیت نویسنده اینجا میارم:
از این ها گذشته، نمی دانم چه بگویم به کسانی که این همه بر گرسنگی من دل می سوزانند و به من اندرز می دهند که در پی تحصیل نان باشم. البته اگر نیازْ مرا به آن جا بکشاند که بروم و از ایشان چیزی بخواهم نمی دانم چه جوابی به من خواهند داد، و بسیار کنجکاوم که پاسخ آنان را بدانم، لیکن حدس می زنم که به من خاهند گفت: «برو خواسته ات را در قصه هایت بجوی!» و مسلّماً شاعران در داستان های سروده ی خویش بیش از آن یافته اند که بسیاری از ثروتمندان در گنجینه های خود، و حتا بسیاری از شاعران به دنبال سروده های خویش عمری دراز و شکوفان داشته اند، و حال آنکه گروهی بی شما از آزمندان زر اندوز که در کسب سود تابع هیچ عقل و منطقی نبوده و بیماری جمع آوری بیش از نیازِ خویش داشته اند به پیری نارسیده مرده اند.
فقر و تنگدستی هیچ گاه نتوانسته است لطمه ای به شرافت و اصالت ذاتی آدمی بزند، و تنها کاری که می کند این است که نمی گذارد آدم ثروتمند باشد.
ای دوستان جوان و زیبا روی من{زنانی که با او دوست بوده‌اند}، برخی از خرده‌بینان می گویند که من در اینکه می کوشم خوشایند طبع شما واقع شوم و از شما بسیار خوشم می آید به راه خطا می روم. ولی من با کمال صراحت اقرار می کنم که آری، از شما بسیار خوشم می آید و سخت در تلاشم تا مگر شما نیز از من خوشتان بیاید. و حال از این ناکسان می پرسم که کجای این امر تعجب دارد... من همواره محو تماشای شیوه ی دلپذیر رفتار شما، زیبایی حسد انگیز شما، حسن سلیقه ای که در پوشش و آرایش خود بکار می برید و اصالت و نجابتی که خاصّ شما است بوده ام و هستم... من تا پایان عمرم هرگز شرمنده نخواهم بود از اینکه مطبوع‌طبع لعبتان سیم‌تنی قرار بگیرم که دانته و کاوالکانتی در آن‌دم که سنّ و سالی از ایشان گذشته بود و چینو داپیستوئیا در آن زمان که پیرِپیر شده بود تجلیلشان می کردند و در ستایش حُسن و جمالشان دادِ سخن می دادند. آری، خوشایند طبع بانوان بودن، والاترین آرزوی آن بزرگ مردان بود!
زنان در طول عمرم الهام بخش هزاران شعر به من بوده اند، و حال آنکه خدایان شعر و ادب حتا یک بار طبع مرا برنیانگیخته و یک شعر هم به من الهام نبخشیده‌اند.
بررسی تطبیقی
جووانی بوکاچیو متولد سال 1313 میلادی، و حافظ شیرازی متولد سال 1315میلادی بودن
همچنین دانته متولد سال 1265 میلادی، و مولانای متولد سال 1207 میلادی بودن:
در زمانی که در فرهنگِ ما اُدَبا ترویج عرفان می‌کردن و از معشوقِ نادیدنی می‌نوشتن، در ایتالیا، نویسنده‌گان و شعرا با نوشتن کتابهایی مثل کمدی الهی و دکامرون با ترویج عشق‌های آسمانی و خرافات مقابله می‌کرده‌ن.
چون انگیزه‌ی خودِ من از مطالعه‌ی این کتاب، آشنایی با داستانهای کوتاهِ کهن بود، سبک داستان نویسیِ بوکاچیو رو مهندسی معکوس کردم و برای خواننده‌ی علاقه‌مند به داستان‌نویسی اینجا میارم
بوکاچیو ابتدا به توصیف قهرمانِ داستان می پردازه.
سپس به توصیف شرایط حاکم بر محیطی که قهرمان در اون زندگی می‌کنه می پردازه.
سپس قهرمانِ دیگر یا قربانیِ داستان رو توصیف می کنه.
سپس این دو نفر رو وارد تعلیقی عشقی/شهوانی می کنه.
سپس پای فرهنگ و سنّت یا سرپرست‌های قهرمانان{والد/همسر} رو به داستان باز می کنه و تعلیقی اخلاقی بوجود میاره.
و در انتها از داستان نتیجه‌ی اخلاقی یا عاطفی می‌گیره.
این کتاب مجموعاً از 100 داستان تشکیل شده و به‌قلم محمد قاضی ترجمه و توسط انتشارات مازیار (با حذف 13 داستان) چاپ و منتشر شده.
June 15, 2024
The Decameron is presented as a set of morally uplifting fables for the benefit of young ladies – but really, the whole joy of Boccaccio is that he prioritises pleasure over morals, simplicity over obscurity, and life over an afterlife. He wants above all to be fun; the rest is just gesturing towards convention.
What jumps out at you in his worldview is the thoroughgoing anticlericalism, the secular sensibility, the lack of superstition, and the love of physical pleasures: sex, good food, friendship and jokes. Unlike earlier medieval collections – the French fabliaux, say, or the Thousand and One Nights – there is almost no magic here, and only minor traces of folklore or fairytale.
This goes double for religion. In Dante (whom Boccaccio revered as a writer), God and Christ are awe-inspiringly present, described with reverence, acting concretely in the world. In Boccaccio, they're just swearwords. In the Decameron, religion is the ultimate hypocrisy, and hypocrisy – how it works and how it's uncovered – is the predominant engine that drives Boccaccio's storytelling.
His writing became quite overtly misogynistic later in his career, but here things are much more fascinatingly mixed. There is a lot of conventional stuff about how women are ‘fickle, quarrelsome, suspicious, weak, and fearful’, but most of it is put into the mouths of other people and undercut in comic ways. We also see here, laid out in detail, the pre-eighteenth-century idea that women were the higher-libido sex, and although it's sometimes just a comic device, there's often something very freeing and contemporary about the way this is taken for granted.
‘Because of my husband's absence, I find myself unable to resist the promptings of the flesh,’ one woman explains, with a sense of evident logic. ‘As long as it remains hidden, I don't think there's any harm in it.’ Another, upbraided by her husband for adultery, rounds on him in turn: ‘You should have been smart enough to see that fresh, lively young women like me need more than food and clothing, even if modesty prevents them from saying so.’ One gets the strong impression that Boccaccio is on their side in these debates. They culminate in a remarkable courtroom scene in which Madonna Filippa, on trial for adultery and facing the death sentence, stares down the judge and delivers a storming broadside against sexist legislation:
She walks free, and the law is taken off the books too.
I quote above from the Wayne A. Rebhorn translation, published by Norton, which I'm afraid to say never entirely won me over. His approach is an uneasy blend of foreignisms (people are called ‘Messer’ instead of ‘sir’ and refer cheerfully to canonical hours like tierce and nones) with contemporary American colloquialisms (‘I went around at night with my buddies on the lookout for women…I remember a night when there was one of them, a skinny gal…’). It can be a jarring combination. Compare the following passage (from the introduction to the sixth day):
…with the McWilliam translation from 1995:
I think the second is simply better; even allowing for different choices in terms of how ‘old-fashioned’ you want it to sound, it just reads as more naturally English. I was also slightly bemused by Rebhorn's endnotes, which have a strange fixation on how many of the characters can be traced in the historical record. If, in passing, we have a reference to ‘a certain Messer Guasparrino Doria’, you can be sure there will be a note explaining who the Doria family was and regretting that ‘there is no record of any of its members having the name of Guasparrino’. It's hard to think of anything of less interest in these stories than how historically ‘true’ they are.
Overall, the sense of Rebhorn that emerges through the translation is a gentle one – calm, competent, workmanlike, fussy, a little pedantic, somewhat bland. Arguably, these are good qualities for a translator, but personally I found myself craving a little more wit, a little more brio. Boccaccio has that in spades, and there's often a sense that, tonally speaking, the translator is not quite keeping up.
Linguistically, of course, Boccaccio is a hero because he made such a point of writing – as he says – ‘in the Florentine vernacular, in prose, and in the homeliest and lowest style possible’ (in istilo umilissimo e rimesso). This made it possible for Chaucer to imagine something similar in his vernacular; it also, among other things, helped to cement Boccaccio's own (Tuscan) dialect as standard ‘Italian’.
A lot of the pleasure I get from Chaucer is in the language, perhaps the moreso because he is writing poetry: the same could be said for Dante, who I read in translation, but still thought of as someone whose value comes very much from his phrasing, his combinations of words and ideas. With Boccaccio it's not like that. He is all about the life-affirming joy of sharing pleasure. ‘They were able,’ he says of the lovers at the end of one tale, ‘to go on enjoying that love of theirs time and time again. And may God grant that we enjoy ours as well.’ That's what he wants from us in a nutshell, and resistance is futile.
What jumps out at you in his worldview is the thoroughgoing anticlericalism, the secular sensibility, the lack of superstition, and the love of physical pleasures: sex, good food, friendship and jokes. Unlike earlier medieval collections – the French fabliaux, say, or the Thousand and One Nights – there is almost no magic here, and only minor traces of folklore or fairytale.
This goes double for religion. In Dante (whom Boccaccio revered as a writer), God and Christ are awe-inspiringly present, described with reverence, acting concretely in the world. In Boccaccio, they're just swearwords. In the Decameron, religion is the ultimate hypocrisy, and hypocrisy – how it works and how it's uncovered – is the predominant engine that drives Boccaccio's storytelling.
His writing became quite overtly misogynistic later in his career, but here things are much more fascinatingly mixed. There is a lot of conventional stuff about how women are ‘fickle, quarrelsome, suspicious, weak, and fearful’, but most of it is put into the mouths of other people and undercut in comic ways. We also see here, laid out in detail, the pre-eighteenth-century idea that women were the higher-libido sex, and although it's sometimes just a comic device, there's often something very freeing and contemporary about the way this is taken for granted.
‘Because of my husband's absence, I find myself unable to resist the promptings of the flesh,’ one woman explains, with a sense of evident logic. ‘As long as it remains hidden, I don't think there's any harm in it.’ Another, upbraided by her husband for adultery, rounds on him in turn: ‘You should have been smart enough to see that fresh, lively young women like me need more than food and clothing, even if modesty prevents them from saying so.’ One gets the strong impression that Boccaccio is on their side in these debates. They culminate in a remarkable courtroom scene in which Madonna Filippa, on trial for adultery and facing the death sentence, stares down the judge and delivers a storming broadside against sexist legislation:
“But as I'm sure you know, laws should be impartial and should only be enacted with the consent of those affected by them. In the present case, these conditions have not been met, because this law applies only to us poor women who are much better than men at giving satisfaction to a whole host of lovers. Moreover, when it was passed, not only were there no women present to give their consent to it, but since then, not once have they ever been consulted about it. And that's why, for all these reasons, it could with justice be called a bad law.” [6.7]
She walks free, and the law is taken off the books too.
I quote above from the Wayne A. Rebhorn translation, published by Norton, which I'm afraid to say never entirely won me over. His approach is an uneasy blend of foreignisms (people are called ‘Messer’ instead of ‘sir’ and refer cheerfully to canonical hours like tierce and nones) with contemporary American colloquialisms (‘I went around at night with my buddies on the lookout for women…I remember a night when there was one of them, a skinny gal…’). It can be a jarring combination. Compare the following passage (from the introduction to the sixth day):
“My lady, this guy wants to teach me all about Sicofante’s wife, and just as if I weren’t acquainted with her at all, he would have me believe that the first night Sicofante went to bed with her, Messer Mace entered Black Mountain by force and with much bloodshed. But let me tell you, that’s not true; he entered it peacefully and to the general contentment of those inside.”
…with the McWilliam translation from 1995:
‘Madam, this fellow thinks he knows Sicofante’s wife better than I do. I’ve known her for years, and yet he has the audacity to try and convince me that on the first night Sicofante slept with her, John Thomas had to force entry into Castle Dusk, shedding blood in the process; but I say it is not true, on the contrary he made his way in with the greatest of ease, to the general pleasure of the garrison.’
I think the second is simply better; even allowing for different choices in terms of how ‘old-fashioned’ you want it to sound, it just reads as more naturally English. I was also slightly bemused by Rebhorn's endnotes, which have a strange fixation on how many of the characters can be traced in the historical record. If, in passing, we have a reference to ‘a certain Messer Guasparrino Doria’, you can be sure there will be a note explaining who the Doria family was and regretting that ‘there is no record of any of its members having the name of Guasparrino’. It's hard to think of anything of less interest in these stories than how historically ‘true’ they are.
Overall, the sense of Rebhorn that emerges through the translation is a gentle one – calm, competent, workmanlike, fussy, a little pedantic, somewhat bland. Arguably, these are good qualities for a translator, but personally I found myself craving a little more wit, a little more brio. Boccaccio has that in spades, and there's often a sense that, tonally speaking, the translator is not quite keeping up.
Linguistically, of course, Boccaccio is a hero because he made such a point of writing – as he says – ‘in the Florentine vernacular, in prose, and in the homeliest and lowest style possible’ (in istilo umilissimo e rimesso). This made it possible for Chaucer to imagine something similar in his vernacular; it also, among other things, helped to cement Boccaccio's own (Tuscan) dialect as standard ‘Italian’.
A lot of the pleasure I get from Chaucer is in the language, perhaps the moreso because he is writing poetry: the same could be said for Dante, who I read in translation, but still thought of as someone whose value comes very much from his phrasing, his combinations of words and ideas. With Boccaccio it's not like that. He is all about the life-affirming joy of sharing pleasure. ‘They were able,’ he says of the lovers at the end of one tale, ‘to go on enjoying that love of theirs time and time again. And may God grant that we enjoy ours as well.’ That's what he wants from us in a nutshell, and resistance is futile.
July 11, 2016
عشر شخصيات،سبع منهم نساء والباقي من الرجال،اهتدى بهم فكرهم للموت الهادئ البعيد عن صخب المدنية وأخطارها المتمثلة في وباء مميت،توافقت ميولهم وأذواقهم وجمعتهم الظروف،اختاروا العزلة وعاشوا ��ي منتجع بعيد،وبدأوا في تسلية وقتهم لتكون أجمل تسلية،فخلال 10 أيام اتفقوا على تخصيص موضوع معين لكل يوم يقص منهم كل واحد قصة قصي��ة، ليكون المجمل 100 قصة قصيرة سُجلت بحروف من نور في تاريخ الأدب العالمي واحتلت مكانة بارزة تستحقها،وأتت الأقاصيص جامعة للحب وحس الدعابة والظرف اللامتناهي،وكل يوم كان له عنوان رئيس وموضوع مخصص تدور في فلكه القصص من بنات أفكار الشخصيات،ولأن الكاتب كما يبدو كاره وناقم لتدخلات رجال الدين وازدواجيتهم فسلط عليهم سهام النقد كلما توافرت له الفرصة،ولكن الممتع حقا هو براعة بوكاتشو في تقمص الشخصيات وتعبيره المميز عن مشاعر الأنثى بالذات،وكيف أن الحب غالب في النهاية.
العمل ممتع وبديع ومتناسق،خفيف الأثر على الروح جميلها.
March 29, 2022
من كلاسيكيات الادب الايطالي..الف ليلة وليلة بالطلياني 😂 قصص متنوعة من حيث الطول والموضوع والجودة حيث يلتقى ثلاث شبان وسبعة فتيات هربا من الوباء المنتشر وينطلقون الى الريف ومن ثم يقضون ايامهم في السمر وسرد الحكايات عشرة ايام بعشر حكايات لكل يوم في موضوعات مختلفة كالحب والعشق ونيل المراد والمكر والخداع والصبر والخيانة والنهايات السعيدة و الحزينة وغيرها
September 11, 2022
YouTube kanalımda, Boccaccio'nun kim olduğunu ve Decameron kitabını neden okumanız gerektiğini anlattım:
https://youtu.be/3Eoh_Tf1pyE
Bir gün Decameron, yoğun geçen bir günün ardından evine dönmüştür. Tek isteği kitaplığına yerleşip huzurlu bir uyku çekebilmektir. Zira Decameron yazıldığı zamanlar İtalya'nın veba salgını zamanları olduğu gibi şimdi de koronavirüs salgını zamanlarıdır ve Decameron için artık evde kalma zamanı gelmiştir.
Tam Oğuz'un kitaplığının bulunduğu odaya girecekken kulağına çeşitli sesler gelir. Kapıyı aralayıp bakar ve sayfalarına inanamaz:
https://i.ibb.co/0BF33hZ/1.jpg
Bulunduğu yörenin en hafifmeşrep kitaplarından biri olan Elif Şafak'ın Havva'nın 3 kızı, Dante'nin Cehennem-Araf-Cennet kitaplarıyla oynaşıyordur. Yoksa Dante, teslisin gücüne inanıyorum derken Havva'nın 3 Kızı'ndan mı bahsetmiştir? Decameron içinden, "Vay düzenbaz!" der.
Tanrı'nın iktidarını ve esas aşkın Tanrısal bir aşk olması gerektiğini savunan Dante'ye karşılık, insanın cinsel dürtülere sahip olduğunu ve bunların yadsınmaması gerektiğini öne süren Decameron, Dante'yi nasıl oyuna getireceğinin yollarını arar. Neyse ki şanslı bir yerde doğmuştur Decameron, 2 raf solunda Latin Amerikalı Isabel Allende, 2 raf sağında İngiliz Jane Austen ve Virginia Woolf, onun da altında Rus yazar Ayn Rand vardır. Allende ile arası iyi olan Decameron, bunu bir fırsat bilerek onunla konuşmaya gider:
https://i.ibb.co/C5QQk9L/2.jpg
Karar alınmıştır. Decameron, Dante'nin bu düzenbazlığının çaresini Allende ile bulacaktır. Allende aracılığıyla Dante'ye bir haber yollatır. Allende, Dante'nin kulağına eğilip şunları der: "Bu akşam kızlarla toplanıp senin rafında olacağız, sakın evinden bir yere ayrılma" der:
https://i.ibb.co/DKxBk0G/3.jpg
Bu haberi duyan Dante, heyecanla akşamı beklemeye başlar, çeşitli hazırlıklar yapar. Kapağını siler, sayfalarını temizler, ciltli kutusunu havalandırır. Fakat Allende biraz zilli bir kadındır, erkeklerle arası iyidir. Decameron ile yaptığı görüşmede, dünyanın bütün adamlarını Dante'nin evine toplama kararı alınmıştır. Niteliksiz Adam, Yaman Adam, Aylak Adam, Ruh Adam, Lüzümsuz Adam, Adını Unutan Adam derken dünyanın dört bir yanından adamlarla ortak bir görüşme gerçekleştirir:
https://i.ibb.co/hFnMbRG/4.jpg
Artık her şey hazırdır. Allende, bütün adamları Dante'nin evinin önüne sessizce getirir ve oradan ayrılır. Dante tam kapıyı açtığı sırada bütün adamlar içeri doluşur. Pek çok kadının gelmesini bekleyen Dante, içeriye onlarca adamın girdiğini görür. Tabii Dante şok:
https://i.ibb.co/KWFxgKF/5.jpg
Peki Decameron bu sırada ne yapıyordur? Dante'nin Havva'nın 3 Kızı ile yaptığı çakma teslis ayininin intikamını Allende, Woolf, Austen ve Rand gibileriyle alıp pek çok sayfalı kaliteli bir kitap zevki tadıyordur:
https://i.ibb.co/5RW8JrY/6.jpg
Demek ki bu dünyada din üzerinden insanları korkutmaya ve iktidarını kanıtlamaya çalışanları oyuna getirmenin en iyi yolu, onların yaptığının aynısıyla intikam almakmış. Dante'nin Tanrısal olanın kalıcılığını isteyip O'nun yolundan gitmesine karşılık içindeki Beatrice aşkını bir türlü dizginleyememesi, Boccaccio'nun insanlardaki engellenmemesi gereken cinsel dürtülerinin halk katmanlarındaki yansımalarını konu aldığı 100 adet öykü doğurmasına sebep olmuş, adını da Decameron koymuşlar. Dante'ye de bugünün 1 Nisan olduğunu söyleyip ona küçük bir şaka yaptığını söylemişler, herkes mutlu olup gülüşmüş ve kitaplıklarındaki eski yerlerini almış:
https://i.ibb.co/NYznnFd/7.jpg
https://youtu.be/3Eoh_Tf1pyE
Bir gün Decameron, yoğun geçen bir günün ardından evine dönmüştür. Tek isteği kitaplığına yerleşip huzurlu bir uyku çekebilmektir. Zira Decameron yazıldığı zamanlar İtalya'nın veba salgını zamanları olduğu gibi şimdi de koronavirüs salgını zamanlarıdır ve Decameron için artık evde kalma zamanı gelmiştir.
Tam Oğuz'un kitaplığının bulunduğu odaya girecekken kulağına çeşitli sesler gelir. Kapıyı aralayıp bakar ve sayfalarına inanamaz:
https://i.ibb.co/0BF33hZ/1.jpg
Bulunduğu yörenin en hafifmeşrep kitaplarından biri olan Elif Şafak'ın Havva'nın 3 kızı, Dante'nin Cehennem-Araf-Cennet kitaplarıyla oynaşıyordur. Yoksa Dante, teslisin gücüne inanıyorum derken Havva'nın 3 Kızı'ndan mı bahsetmiştir? Decameron içinden, "Vay düzenbaz!" der.
Tanrı'nın iktidarını ve esas aşkın Tanrısal bir aşk olması gerektiğini savunan Dante'ye karşılık, insanın cinsel dürtülere sahip olduğunu ve bunların yadsınmaması gerektiğini öne süren Decameron, Dante'yi nasıl oyuna getireceğinin yollarını arar. Neyse ki şanslı bir yerde doğmuştur Decameron, 2 raf solunda Latin Amerikalı Isabel Allende, 2 raf sağında İngiliz Jane Austen ve Virginia Woolf, onun da altında Rus yazar Ayn Rand vardır. Allende ile arası iyi olan Decameron, bunu bir fırsat bilerek onunla konuşmaya gider:
https://i.ibb.co/C5QQk9L/2.jpg
Karar alınmıştır. Decameron, Dante'nin bu düzenbazlığının çaresini Allende ile bulacaktır. Allende aracılığıyla Dante'ye bir haber yollatır. Allende, Dante'nin kulağına eğilip şunları der: "Bu akşam kızlarla toplanıp senin rafında olacağız, sakın evinden bir yere ayrılma" der:
https://i.ibb.co/DKxBk0G/3.jpg
Bu haberi duyan Dante, heyecanla akşamı beklemeye başlar, çeşitli hazırlıklar yapar. Kapağını siler, sayfalarını temizler, ciltli kutusunu havalandırır. Fakat Allende biraz zilli bir kadındır, erkeklerle arası iyidir. Decameron ile yaptığı görüşmede, dünyanın bütün adamlarını Dante'nin evine toplama kararı alınmıştır. Niteliksiz Adam, Yaman Adam, Aylak Adam, Ruh Adam, Lüzümsuz Adam, Adını Unutan Adam derken dünyanın dört bir yanından adamlarla ortak bir görüşme gerçekleştirir:
https://i.ibb.co/hFnMbRG/4.jpg
Artık her şey hazırdır. Allende, bütün adamları Dante'nin evinin önüne sessizce getirir ve oradan ayrılır. Dante tam kapıyı açtığı sırada bütün adamlar içeri doluşur. Pek çok kadının gelmesini bekleyen Dante, içeriye onlarca adamın girdiğini görür. Tabii Dante şok:
https://i.ibb.co/KWFxgKF/5.jpg
Peki Decameron bu sırada ne yapıyordur? Dante'nin Havva'nın 3 Kızı ile yaptığı çakma teslis ayininin intikamını Allende, Woolf, Austen ve Rand gibileriyle alıp pek çok sayfalı kaliteli bir kitap zevki tadıyordur:
https://i.ibb.co/5RW8JrY/6.jpg
Demek ki bu dünyada din üzerinden insanları korkutmaya ve iktidarını kanıtlamaya çalışanları oyuna getirmenin en iyi yolu, onların yaptığının aynısıyla intikam almakmış. Dante'nin Tanrısal olanın kalıcılığını isteyip O'nun yolundan gitmesine karşılık içindeki Beatrice aşkını bir türlü dizginleyememesi, Boccaccio'nun insanlardaki engellenmemesi gereken cinsel dürtülerinin halk katmanlarındaki yansımalarını konu aldığı 100 adet öykü doğurmasına sebep olmuş, adını da Decameron koymuşlar. Dante'ye de bugünün 1 Nisan olduğunu söyleyip ona küçük bir şaka yaptığını söylemişler, herkes mutlu olup gülüşmüş ve kitaplıklarındaki eski yerlerini almış:
https://i.ibb.co/NYznnFd/7.jpg
March 4, 2012
This great book is set in a country estate outside Florence during a plague. The meaning of the setting was not lost upon me: with death beckoning from all corners, one is wise to enjoy life and pass the hours sharing experience among those about whom one cares. These comic and tragic tales are told in rotation among a group of wealthy people killing time within a garden, a little island of civilization, a little Eden -- paradise. The vast majority of these 100 tales involve amusing stories about unworthy men who are not attentive to the needs of their women. In this book the women are ardently pursued by other men who satisfy these women far better and the men roundly receive diverse forms punishment for their folly. Boccaccio could well have provided micro-plots for half the literature of his day, and thereafter, by virtue of his highly inventive story lines. There is a great deal of satire of clergy in diverse positions of power in the church, including insatiable nuns and perverse abbotts looking to overcome the unnatural restraints of their vows of celibacy. Everyone is fair game in this collection of bawdy and irreverent tales, especially the arrogant, proud, unfaithful and powerful. There's little under the surface here except the messages which emerge from the thwarting of immorality but they are amusing and the reading, although voluminous, is good fun. If you like great literature in the long form, then you'll be highly amused by "The Decameron."
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