Ali Baba & The Forty Thieves
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Product Description
Review
This is a gorgeous introduction for young listeners to fine literature, a vastly different time and culture, and enchanting music. Narrator Toby Stephens is dazzling as he presents three of the best-known tales: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. He skillfully renders the stupendous description, cunning adversaries, and wide-ranging emotion as he spins Scheherazade's stories. At times, Stephens's accent has a modern sound that should appeal to a contemporary audience. Both male and female voices are distinct and appropriate to characters ages and situations. Rimsky-Korsakov's stirring music adds vastly to the rich emotion generated by the exotic tales. Listeners of all ages will be enthralled. --S.G.B., AudioFile
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Product Description
The beautiful Scheherazade's royal husband threatens to kill her, so each night she diverts him by weaving wonderful tales of fantastic adventure, leaving each story unfinished so that he spares her life to hear the ending the next night.
This is the background to the Arabian Nights. In this selection made by that master of folklore and fairy-tale Andrew Lang, the reader meets Aladdin with his wonderful lamp, the Enchanted Horse, the Princess Badoura, Sinbad the Sailor, and the great Caliph of Bagdad, Haroun-al-Raschid.
The stories are beautifully illustrated by H.J. Ford.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The most frustrating thing about this collection is that it contains only selected stories from the Arabian Nights, and while most of the time omissions are seamless enough (for example, all 7 of Sindbad's voyages are included) on a couple of jarring occasions events are referred to which are in stories not included, and worst of all there is no closure given to the framing device of Scheherazade's threat of execution. Despite these niggles, there are still some enjoyable fantasy tales here, and while the tales become a little repetitious with their repeated themes and motifs, there is enough here to keep the reader interested.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This review is of the Wordsworth Classics version of the tales, edited by Andrew Lang, with illustrations by H. J. Ford.
Andrew Lang's pedigree as editor is beyond reproach, and as he explains in his jaunty preface, the tales from the Arabian Nights have undergone various modifications over the centuries: "a great deal that is very dull and stupid was put in, and plenty of verses. Neither the verses nor the dull pieces are given in this volume." This will alert the reader to the fact that these are "selected" tales, and as such the stories are slightly disjointed at times. It seems unclear why references to previous tales, that aren't covered in this book, should be retained - causing confusion for the careful reader who will search in vain thinking "I don't remember reading that." If you're buying this version you must also take it for granted that Mr Lang's idea of what is "dull and stupid" corresponds with your own.
Lang does include Aladdin and all seven voyages of Sinbad the Sailor ... although there's no Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The stories contained in this selection are bursting with genii (good and evil), magical deeds and flying horses, noble Princes and Princesses, and many other classic Eastern folkloric elements. Many of the stories are interlinked, particularly at the beginning, where a character from one tale is required to relate the story of their life in the next; though this effect peters out.
The book rests within the framework of Scheherazade who volunteers to be the King's wife in order to end his daily ritual of murdering the woman he is going to marry. Her storytelling is the means by which she forestalls her death, and the opening of the book sets this very scene; somewhat unsatisfactory then is the fact that Scheherazade's own story is never concluded. There's also the danger that readers today may not be quite so rapt in the content, as the Sultan obviously was, which has a tendency to become repetitive.
H. J. Ford's illustrations are a highlight, they come detailed and often, and those in the voyages of Sinbad are some of my favourites ... where the giant roc attacks, or enormous ogres tower over Sinbad's tiny ships.
For younger readers, or those like myself curious for a taster of the original tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights, Lang's edition offers a readable and fun collection.
Andrew Lang's pedigree as editor is beyond reproach, and as he explains in his jaunty preface, the tales from the Arabian Nights have undergone various modifications over the centuries: "a great deal that is very dull and stupid was put in, and plenty of verses. Neither the verses nor the dull pieces are given in this volume." This will alert the reader to the fact that these are "selected" tales, and as such the stories are slightly disjointed at times. It seems unclear why references to previous tales, that aren't covered in this book, should be retained - causing confusion for the careful reader who will search in vain thinking "I don't remember reading that." If you're buying this version you must also take it for granted that Mr Lang's idea of what is "dull and stupid" corresponds with your own.
Lang does include Aladdin and all seven voyages of Sinbad the Sailor ... although there's no Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The stories contained in this selection are bursting with genii (good and evil), magical deeds and flying horses, noble Princes and Princesses, and many other classic Eastern folkloric elements. Many of the stories are interlinked, particularly at the beginning, where a character from one tale is required to relate the story of their life in the next; though this effect peters out.
The book rests within the framework of Scheherazade who volunteers to be the King's wife in order to end his daily ritual of murdering the woman he is going to marry. Her storytelling is the means by which she forestalls her death, and the opening of the book sets this very scene; somewhat unsatisfactory then is the fact that Scheherazade's own story is never concluded. There's also the danger that readers today may not be quite so rapt in the content, as the Sultan obviously was, which has a tendency to become repetitive.
H. J. Ford's illustrations are a highlight, they come detailed and often, and those in the voyages of Sinbad are some of my favourites ... where the giant roc attacks, or enormous ogres tower over Sinbad's tiny ships.
For younger readers, or those like myself curious for a taster of the original tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights, Lang's edition offers a readable and fun collection.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Tales from the Arabian Nights
Not quite what I expected, but I love the short stories and they all follow on.
Great for a quick read before bedtime.
Great for a quick read before bedtime.
Published 6 months ago by Coconut
Arabian Nights
The book arrived promptly and was well wrapped. However it was very obvious that it was second hand and well used with marks on the cover and on the inside pages. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Desmond W. Mitchell
Arabian Knights?
This book is edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H J Ford. It gives a traditional account of tales which we see in Christmas Pantomimes etc. Read more
Published 19 months ago by J. D. Waters
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