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Product Description
Review
Penguin has produced this magnificent, unexpurgated edition of the greatest collection of folk tales in the world...The Arabian Nights is not a book to be read in a week. It is an ocean of stories to be dipped into over a lifetime. And this new Penguin edition is the one to have. Settle back, pour a glass of wine and sail away with Sinbad to the Island of Serendib (Christopher Hart The Sunday Times )
The tales satisfy imaginations famished for wonder. But even more importantly, they stand like fabulous cities against the encroachments of the dark (Standpoint )
These magnificent volumes are the most ambitious and thorough translation into English of the Arabian Nights since the age of Queen Victoria and the British Empire. (Guardian )
This is the most comprehensive collection of the stories to date; freshly gathered and translated from Arabic and French sources, this makes a glorious collectors' edition. (Easy Living )
...this new translation of the world's greatest collection of folk stories restores their colour and verve (The Sunday Times )
The tales satisfy imaginations famished for wonder. But even more importantly, they stand like fabulous cities against the encroachments of the dark (Standpoint )
These magnificent volumes are the most ambitious and thorough translation into English of the Arabian Nights since the age of Queen Victoria and the British Empire. (Guardian )
This is the most comprehensive collection of the stories to date; freshly gathered and translated from Arabic and French sources, this makes a glorious collectors' edition. (Easy Living )
...this new translation of the world's greatest collection of folk stories restores their colour and verve (The Sunday Times )
Product Description
Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with a different virgin, executing her the next morning. To end this brutal pattern and to save her own life, the vizier's daughter, Shahrazad, begins to tell the king stories of adventure, love, riches and wonder - tales of mystical lands peopled with princes and hunchbacks, the Angel of Death and magical spirits, tales of the voyages of Sindbad, of Ali Baba outwitting a band of forty thieves and of jinnis trapped in rings and in lamps. The sequence of stories will last 1,001 nights.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
102 of 103 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This translation of the 1001 Arabian Nights is excellent. It makes it so much more accessible than the Richard Burton ones from the 1800's. I'm sure there will be many purists out there who don't like the translation "for taking too many liberties with the original text" as penguin are being accused of time and again. However, for those who can't read it in it's original language it brings the stories right into your comfy armchair.
I have already found myself cross referencing the stories I've read in this volume with the mentions in the works of Alexandre Dumas. I've also found myself answering cross-word questions I couldn't have dreamed of before. But it not only works from a snobby literature "I've read the Arabian Nights" perspective but gives a brilliant insight into Medieval Arabia and is highly engaging. It also has many parts that leave you laughing aloud. It's brilliant to end on the story of Al Baba and the forty theives as well, as it is one of the most well known of the stories.
I know this review hasn't done such a large collection of Stories much justice but as I'm about start the second volume I haven't got the time to write a better one! I can't wait to get properly stuck into the second volume and the third is still waiting patiently on my shelf! A great collection to have, whether you want to read the stories right the way through or read the odd story whilst trying to decide what book to read next.
As a slight after note, and only after realising Amazon doesnt supply the info, I have decided it may be beneficial to let potential buyers know what stories are contained in this volume. There are main stories and then these are often split into smaller stories. I shall just supply the titles of the main stories as, if a story will be recognised, it will be from that:
Intro (the story of the King and his bride)
Night 1-3 - The Merchant and the jinni
" 3-9 - The Fisherman and the 'ifrit
" 9-19 - The Porter and the three ladies
" 19-24 - Harun al-Rashid and the fisherman's chest
" 24-34 - The Hunchback
" 34-38 - Nur al-Din 'Ali and Anis al-Jalis
" 38-45 - Ghanim ibn Ayyub, the slave of love
" 45-145 - King 'Umar ibn al-Nu'man and his family
146-147 - The peahen, the duck and the gazelle
147-148 - The pious shepherd
148 - The water fowl and the tortoise
148-150 - The wolf and the fox
150 - The weasel and the mouse - The crow and the cat
150-152 - The fox and the crow
152 - The Hedgehog and the doves - The theif with the monkey - The sparrow and the peacock
153-169 - 'Ali ibn Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar
170-249 - The story of King Shahriman and his son, Qamar al-Zaman
249-270 - 'Ala' al-Din Abu'l-Shamat
270-271 - Hatim of Tayy
271-272 - Ma'n ibn Za'ida
272-273 - The city of Labtit
273 - Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik and the young Bedouin
273-276 - Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi
276-279 - 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Qilaba and Iram, City of the columns
279-282 - Ishaq ibn al-Mausili
282-285 - The slaughterhouse cleaner and the lady
285-294 - Harun al-Rashid and 'the second caliph'
294 - 'Ali the Persia - The story of Ali Baba and the forty theives killed by a slave girl.
This list may not be of huge use to many people but for those who either want to, or need to, know what stories are in what volume, I hope this helps.
I have already found myself cross referencing the stories I've read in this volume with the mentions in the works of Alexandre Dumas. I've also found myself answering cross-word questions I couldn't have dreamed of before. But it not only works from a snobby literature "I've read the Arabian Nights" perspective but gives a brilliant insight into Medieval Arabia and is highly engaging. It also has many parts that leave you laughing aloud. It's brilliant to end on the story of Al Baba and the forty theives as well, as it is one of the most well known of the stories.
I know this review hasn't done such a large collection of Stories much justice but as I'm about start the second volume I haven't got the time to write a better one! I can't wait to get properly stuck into the second volume and the third is still waiting patiently on my shelf! A great collection to have, whether you want to read the stories right the way through or read the odd story whilst trying to decide what book to read next.
As a slight after note, and only after realising Amazon doesnt supply the info, I have decided it may be beneficial to let potential buyers know what stories are contained in this volume. There are main stories and then these are often split into smaller stories. I shall just supply the titles of the main stories as, if a story will be recognised, it will be from that:
Intro (the story of the King and his bride)
Night 1-3 - The Merchant and the jinni
" 3-9 - The Fisherman and the 'ifrit
" 9-19 - The Porter and the three ladies
" 19-24 - Harun al-Rashid and the fisherman's chest
" 24-34 - The Hunchback
" 34-38 - Nur al-Din 'Ali and Anis al-Jalis
" 38-45 - Ghanim ibn Ayyub, the slave of love
" 45-145 - King 'Umar ibn al-Nu'man and his family
146-147 - The peahen, the duck and the gazelle
147-148 - The pious shepherd
148 - The water fowl and the tortoise
148-150 - The wolf and the fox
150 - The weasel and the mouse - The crow and the cat
150-152 - The fox and the crow
152 - The Hedgehog and the doves - The theif with the monkey - The sparrow and the peacock
153-169 - 'Ali ibn Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar
170-249 - The story of King Shahriman and his son, Qamar al-Zaman
249-270 - 'Ala' al-Din Abu'l-Shamat
270-271 - Hatim of Tayy
271-272 - Ma'n ibn Za'ida
272-273 - The city of Labtit
273 - Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik and the young Bedouin
273-276 - Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi
276-279 - 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Qilaba and Iram, City of the columns
279-282 - Ishaq ibn al-Mausili
282-285 - The slaughterhouse cleaner and the lady
285-294 - Harun al-Rashid and 'the second caliph'
294 - 'Ali the Persia - The story of Ali Baba and the forty theives killed by a slave girl.
This list may not be of huge use to many people but for those who either want to, or need to, know what stories are in what volume, I hope this helps.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What an excellent collection of stories, from the one's that you _think_ you know to those that are completely new.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
This collection is brillaint. the translations are fantastic and the notes really helpful. The only criticism I have is how much it cost me, and I can't help feeling I could have saved my pocket a lot more by buying one of the free editions. But I always value the quality of Penguin's books, and that's what you're paying for, even if it is pricey.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Arabian Nights: volume 1
Well written, quality of paper ok. Each story is listed at the back of the book. I have several different copies of Arabian Nights and these Penguin copies are the ones I look to... Read more
Published 8 months ago by dawnpowellstoryteller
Christianized Translation
This is an edited version of Arabian Nights. In fact this is not a translation but a summary. All the prayers are omitted, some parts are shortened. Read more
Published 10 months ago by F. Basar
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