Ranked #10 in Italian, Ranked #25 in Medieval — see more rankings.
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by G. H. McWilliam less
Reviews and Recommendations
We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Decameron from the world's leading experts.
Marion Turner The Decameron specifically is a story about ten people who decide to escape the plague by going to a lovely country house with their servants. They tell stories there: ten stories a day for ten days, so there are 100 stories. The stories tend to be very, very funny. A lot of them are very rude. (Source)
Jenny Davidson The premise of the book is that a group of young noblemen and -women, people of great privilege who have been able to flee the plague-ridden city, are telling each other stories to while away their time together in the luxurious villa to which they’ve retreated. The description of the plague in the frame narrative is very vivid and quite horrifying; it sets a dark tone. (Source)
Rankings by Category
The Decameron is ranked in the following categories:
- #93 in Italian History
- #57 in Pandemic
- #27 in Renaissance