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"Haddawy's translation is easily the clearest, most fluent and readable I have met." A.S. Byatt, The Sunday Times "The resourceful Shahrazad... has never been more entertaining than in this fresh and vigorous version of this immortal book." Doris Lessing, Favourite Books of the Year, The Independent"
Product Description
Now as sumptuously packaged as they are critically acclaimed, these are new deluxe trade paperback editions of the beloved stories. Husain Haddawy's "highly recommended" ("The Times") translation of "The Arabian Nights" is based on a landmark reconstruction of the earliest extant manuscript version. Readers of this classic will also want Sindbad, "beautiful versions of dozens more gems from the Arab story-hoard" ("New Statesman"), including "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp".
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It is said, O wise and happy King, that once there was a prosperous merchant who had abundant wealth and investments and commitments in every country. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
It is said, O wise and happy King, that once there was a prosperous merchant who had abundant wealth and investments and commitments in every country. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a translation of the oldest manuscript of the Alf Layla wa-Layla, the Thousand and One Nights. It is a lively tale. The 'thousand and one' nights of the title are the nights during which, as the other reviewers have already written, Shaharazad entertains her murderous husband with a tale with cliff-hanger at the end of each to force him to put off her execution for another day. There never were a thousand and one actual nights in the story - that came partly from the title of the book whose translation from Persian into Arabic more than a thousand years ago formed the nucleus of the book we have now, the Hazar Afsan or 'Thousand Tales'.
In this volume are to be found the oldest tales of the Alf Layla wa-Layla. You need to buy the companion The Arabian Nights: Sindbad and other stories: Vol 2 published by Norton in paperback or hardback (it's also available as an Everyman hardback The Arabian Nights: Vol 2) to get the old favourites like Aladdin, Ali Baba and Sindbad the Sailor. These tales were added to the Arabian Nights by Galland around 1710-1720. He was the first translator of the Arabian Nights (into French) and added tales from other Arabic sources on his publisher's request. These have been part of the Arabian Nights ever since: even modern Arabic editions all include these tales now!
Be aware there are two editions of this book, the Norton and the Everyman edition. I like the Everyman hardback, which is not very expensive but nice to read. I haven't tried the Norton, but it's exactly the same text. I think there's a Norton hardback too.
[N.B. These aren't childrens' editions... the behaviour can be adult at times.]
If you want to read more about the Alf Layla wa-Layla, you could try Robert Irwin's The Arabian Nights: A Companion (his Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature is a great intro to classical Arabic literature). Both are quite serious; still more academically, Muhsin Mahdi's "Thousand and One Nights" discusses the history of the book (Mahdi was the editor of the Arabic manuscript this book is based on).
In this volume are to be found the oldest tales of the Alf Layla wa-Layla. You need to buy the companion The Arabian Nights: Sindbad and other stories: Vol 2 published by Norton in paperback or hardback (it's also available as an Everyman hardback The Arabian Nights: Vol 2) to get the old favourites like Aladdin, Ali Baba and Sindbad the Sailor. These tales were added to the Arabian Nights by Galland around 1710-1720. He was the first translator of the Arabian Nights (into French) and added tales from other Arabic sources on his publisher's request. These have been part of the Arabian Nights ever since: even modern Arabic editions all include these tales now!
Be aware there are two editions of this book, the Norton and the Everyman edition. I like the Everyman hardback, which is not very expensive but nice to read. I haven't tried the Norton, but it's exactly the same text. I think there's a Norton hardback too.
[N.B. These aren't childrens' editions... the behaviour can be adult at times.]
If you want to read more about the Alf Layla wa-Layla, you could try Robert Irwin's The Arabian Nights: A Companion (his Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature is a great intro to classical Arabic literature). Both are quite serious; still more academically, Muhsin Mahdi's "Thousand and One Nights" discusses the history of the book (Mahdi was the editor of the Arabic manuscript this book is based on).
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd only read and heard children's versions of some of the tales from the Arabian Nights before and it wasn't until I watched a TV programme about this version that I realised how ancient the stories are, and that they are for adults. The content varies from pious to raunchy - think of Chaucers Canterbury Tales translated into modern English. The stories are an easy read; good for reading last thing at night. The cover is attractive and the quality of the paper used for the pages is good but the way the pages were cut has left their edges rough. Be aware of this if planning to give to someone else as a present. All in all I have no hesitation in recommending this book as a very accessible way of reading these old tales.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I only knew children's stories from Arabian nights so I was for a big surprise that this book is not for children at all! I just could not stop reading it! Spicy, sexy, adventurous, funny! And very good translation!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant Stories
Love the edition of stories and Muhsin Mahdi version is the best out there but the quality of paper used is quite poor therefor only 3 stars
Published 5 months ago by S. Rehman
Completely gorgeous!
I was brought up with various translations of the tales, published in the 1930s at a guess. This book - and its sister; there are too many to fit in one book! Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2009 by C. A. Austin
Fantastic tales
After finding out that his first wife commited adultry, King Shahrayar holds the view that all women were to be untrusted, therefore his choice to marry a woman and have her killed... Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2008 by Shaz Nei
An amazing classic story
Shahrazad is forced to marry a king, who on the next night has a nasty habbit of killing his wives the next morning. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2002 by "mrmichaeljones"
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