Das Dekameron

by Giovanni Boccaccio, Karl Witte (Translator)

Decameron, collection of tales by Giovanni Boccaccio, probably composed between 1349 and 1353. The work is regarded as a masterpiece of classical Italian prose. While romantic in tone and form, it breaks from medieval sensibility in its insistence on the human ability to overcome, even exploit, fortune. The Decameron comprises a group of stories united by a frame story. As the frame narrative opens, 10 young people (seven women and three men) flee plague-stricken Florence to a delightful villa in nearby Fiesole. Each rules for a day and sets stipulations for the daily tales to be told by all participants, resulting in a collection of 100 pieces. Each day ends with a canzone (song), and some of these represent Boccaccio's finest poetry. Each daily collection of stories takes a different tone or theme. Day 1 consists of a witty discussion of human vices. On Day 2, fortune triumphs over its human playthings, but it is trounced by human will on Day 3. Day 4 is marked by tragic love stories. Day 5 brings happy endings to love that does not at first run smoothly. Wit and gaiety again reign on Day 6. Trickery, deceit, and often bawdy license run free on Days 7, 8, and 9. By Day 10, earlier themes are brought to a high pitch; the widely borrowed story "The Patient Griselda" closes the cycle of tales. It is generally acknowledged that Boccaccio borrowed many of the stories from folklore and myth, but the exquisite writing and sophisticated structure of the work make clear that its author was no mere anthologist. His prose influenced many Renaissance writers, and his tales themselves have been borrowed for centuries. While some critics attacked the work as vulgar and cynical, the author maintained an affirmation of moral values throughout even the most licentious passages. In its breadth of treatment of contemporary urban society-from humorous to tragic-as well as in its humanism and its swift and vivid narrative, it remained in the 21st century a remarkably fresh and penetrating document.

880 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1971

About the author

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 - 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.

Reviews

[Danu · Rating 5 out of 5]

El Decamerón es por excelencia un libro que no te abre historias, te abre ventanas de vidas y acontecimientos que marcan un hito dentro de la literatura y también del humanismo. La risa, la sátira, el erotismo que lo caracterizan te cautiva y te sumerge a una Florencia infestada donde lo único que queda es el contar historias. Maravilloso libro.

[Andrés Eichmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buen libro, pero muy pesado, solo la narrativa me costó trabajo.

Aunque las historias son muy buenas.

Si se siente como un libro de 1300 sin duda.