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The Decameron

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The Decameron

By: Giovanni Boccaccio
Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Gunnar Cauthery, Alison Pettitt, Daisy Badger, Carly Bawden, Lucy Briggs-Owen, full cast
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About this listen

The Decameron is one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, tell a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative. This celebration of physical and sexual vitality is Boccaccio's answer to the sublime other-worldliness of Dante's Divine Comedy.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2008 Oxford University Press (Translation) (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks Classics Comedy Witty

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All stars
Most relevant  
First class. It is well produced and well read and maintained my interest to the end of the book.

Excellent production

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The story is perfect for our own pandemic. The stories are fun, lovely, dirty and poetic. They are so modern and dynamic. Great great book.

Fantastic book!

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Simon-Russell Beale and a fantastic young cast bring the Decameron to vivid, raunchy, funny life, with beautiful, newly-arranged songs and real spirit. Uplifting and joyful.

14th Century Fun

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Great insight into medieval values, sometimes marred by a bit of a Benny Hill reading, where the narrator overemphasized anything "naughty'. Also the names were all mispronounced which may jarr with Italian speakers For some reason, poor people were generally given North English accents.

Great insight into medieval values.

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Masterful reading by talented actors. An added pleasure to the book was the chanted rendition of the songs

Excellent rendition

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Kind of repetitive after a while, but still manages to entertain. A classic for a reason.

4/5

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Decades after being urged, at uni, to read The Decameron, I’ve noe finished listening to it and thinking I might doon reread it.
Prrhaps you, like me, will find echoes of Chaucer and of Skakespeare, of vice versa, in the book.

This is definitely a book for your Desert Island.

Excellent

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Lengthy but a classic and well worth the time. Well read and cheeky fun too!

A must for lovers of renaissance litterature

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An engaging and energetic telling of the tales, well put together and competently acted. First class!

Excellent performances!

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The male narrator(s) do not know any Italian so he (they?) keep mispronouncing Italian names, which is very annoying. It is so easy to learn the rules for pronouncing Italian words so I really wish they prepare a little. It only takes a few hours of learning or asking someone who knows a little Italian. Really sad when male narrator speaks. The female narrator(s) was pretty good though!

Depends on the narrator

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