Ten Days' Talk (Illustrated Edition)

Author: [Italian] Giovanni Boccaccio
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-28
Features: The Decameron draws its stories from a wide range of sources, including historical events, medieval legends, Eastern folk tales (especially those from Arabia, India, and China, such as One Thousand and One Nights, The Book of the Seven Sages, The Travels of Marco Polo, etc.), anecdotes, and gossip. It blends the characteristics of classical literature and folk literature. The one hundred stories in The Decameron portray a large number of characters, including kings, nobles, knights, monks, as well as beggars, laborers, commoners, people from all walks of life, and workers from various trades. Characters from different social classes and occupations all have distinct personalities. Boccaccio can be said to be the first to use realistic techniques in European literary history to depict such a broad and vivid picture of life.