Tales from the Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio - Paperback

by Giovanni Boccaccio (Author), Richard Aldington (Translator)

Tales from the Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio is a collection of short stories written by the Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio in the 14th century. The book is comprised of 100 tales, told by a group of ten young people who have fled to the countryside to escape the Black Death that is ravaging their city. Each day, one of the ten tells a story on a particular theme, ranging from love and lust to trickery and revenge.The tales are set in various locations and time periods, and feature a diverse cast of characters, including knights, merchants, nuns, and peasants. The stories are often humorous, bawdy, and satirical, and provide a vivid snapshot of life in medieval Italy.Boccaccio's Decameron was groundbreaking in its time, as it marked a departure from the moralistic and religious literature that was popular at the time. Instead, Boccaccio focused on human nature and the complexities of interpersonal relationships, paving the way for the development of the modern novel.This edition of Tales from the Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio includes an introduction by the translator, as well as footnotes to provide context and explanations of historical references.1930. The Decameron is a work of broad-sweeping comic views. It was written by Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian poet and scholar who raised vernacular literature to the status of the classics of antiquity and who prepared for the humanism of the Renaissance. The tales are set in 1348, the year of the Black Death. Florence is a dying, corrupt city, described plainly in all of its horrors. Seven ladies and three gentlemen meet in a church and decide to escape from the charnel house of reality by staying in the hills of Fiesole; there they pass the time telling stories for ten days. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.