The Decameron

By: Giovanni Boccaccio

Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Gunnar Cauthery, Alison Pettitt, Daisy Badger, Carly Bawden, Lucy Briggs-Owen, full cast

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.

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

A delightful listen!

Who would have thought that a book written in 1350 could be so much fun? The cast (British) do a wonderful job here and the stories are very funny. It gives a great feeling for life in the Renaissance. I highly recommend this recording.

Loverly

The Decameron is a bit like Metamorphosis. A very large collection of short punchy stories. The stories here are just that. No philosophy or metaphors, no language experiments. Just great fun. The cast and performances are splendid.

Easy listen, fun stories, great readers.

Easy listen, fun stories, great readers... The best audiobook I have heard in a few years, and I go through 20-40 hours of audiobooks pr month. Try this one.

A Medieval Masterwork

The Decameron by Boccaccio is one of the great works of Medieval Italian literature. When I decided to read and study it, I had no idea that it would be so much fun. It consists of 100 short stories said to be invented by a group of young people needing respite from the Black Death. The themes tend to focus on sex and misbehaving clergy all told with wit and charm. The group of actors for this recording do a fabulous job of keeping the listener entertained through the 28 hours of the entire work. My only complaint is that nothing is indexed. I wanted to look up certain stories and could not easily find them.

Listening to the voices of the past

After listening to this, I wish I understand Italian love to listen to girls voices in the original language