There is this pretty Penguin little black classic collection, that you've probably heard about ; it appealled irresistibly to me. I endeavoured to read them all, one each month : it's a perfect way to discover of bit of different styles and authors I would have never thought to read. Number 1 is Mrs Rosie and the priest, by Giovanni Boccaccio.
This little book of 53 pages comprises four short stories issued from The Decameron.
The first, Andreuccio's da Perugia's Neapolitan adventures, is close to a farce, like those I've read from the French Middle Ages. It wasn't wonderful, but it was a nice read, telling the story of how a young man was tricked and finally learned from his mistake. Predictable but fun.
The second, Ricciardo da Chinzica loses his wife, was the one I preferred. An old man marries a young wife, has a hard time satisfying her sexually and invents all kinds of excuses to avoid his marital duties. It was really fun and made me laugh.
The third, Mrs Rosie and the priest, gave its title to the book. It was nice, but not great. How a priest wants to sleep with a farmer's wife and manages to trick her so he doesn't have to pay her price.
So far, I would have given the book 3 stars, but here we come to the fourth story, Patient Griselda. It should have been called "Stupid Griselda and the sadist". A rich lord marries a poor girl and tests her - for years ! - to prove that she's a good wife. Nowadays, he'd end up in a tribunal for harassment. But if he's a sadist, she's a masochist. I know she's poor and used to obey but come on, she could have pushed him down the stairs when there was no witness ! I still need to cool down after reading that final story because it made me mad ! Her husband (inwardly) praised her by calling her wise while he mistreated her and did awful things to her... Here goes : 2 stars and I won't read The Decameron anytime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment