Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
The tales told by Shahrazad over a thousand and one nights to delay her execution by the vengeful King Shahriyar have become among the most popular in both Eastern and Western literature.
From the epic adventures of 'Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp' to the farcical 'Young Woman and her Five Lovers' and the social criticism of 'The Tale of the Hunchback', the stories depict a fabulous world of all-powerful sorcerers, jinns imprisoned in bottles and enchanting princesses. But despite their imaginative extravagance, the Tales are anchored to everyday life by their realism, providing a full and intimate record of medieval Islam.
About the Author
N.J Dawood has translated a number of texts for Penguin Classics, including The Koran.
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First Sentence
ONCE upon a time, in the city of Basrah, there lived a prosperous tailor who was fond of sport and merriment. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
ONCE upon a time, in the city of Basrah, there lived a prosperous tailor who was fond of sport and merriment. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brilliant book. The tales themselves are funny, magical, colourful, earthy, violent and very very colourful. They reveal a lot about the imagination and obsessions of medieval middle eastern society, and human society generally - poverty, work, the wheel of fortune, crime and punishment,truth and lies, god and the devil. Above all they are masterpieces in the art of great story-telling, with all sorts of little twists and turns of plot, narratives within narratives, comic devices, pastiche characters.The translation is superb in its clarity, consistency and stylistic appropriateness. Don't delay - go and educate yourself in one of the foundations of all storytelling and literature.
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I decided to read this as I am going to Egypt and it was recommended to me. Of course I'd heard the more famous stories such as Aladdin and Sinbad when I was younger, but little did I know what was in store for me as I read a broader selection of these tales! This is a great edition, and you can easily imagine many of the cruder tales being regaled around a campfire long ago. Many of the stories really appealed to the little girl in me, with wonderful stories of magic and genies (or jinns!) and romance. I would definitely recommend this, as it's a selection and you can read these before deciding whether you want to pursue them and go for the full hog. As I've also read The Canterbury Tales and Boccaccio's Decameron, it was easy to see parallels and you can certainly see where much of the later great writers drew their inspiration from. Please read this book, it really is one of those that can be enjoyed by anyone of any age!
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Not all translations of 1001 Nights are alike; this translation by NJ Dawood is fresh, funny, and true to the medieval Islamic culture. What's more, the stories are as enchanting to children (8 and up) as they are to adults. Jinns, sorcerers, caliphs, and crafty mothers are in this translation as they are in others, but here they are firmly tied to everyday life -- they might be your neighbors, if your neighbors lived in an enchanted ring or lamp. Realistic and bawdy, serious and fantastic, this is the version I like best.
This audiocassette publication, read by Souad Faress and Raad Rawi, is one of the best books on tape I own. The rythms of the Middle East compliment the stories in a way no library reader has ever done before. Even though the base translation is abridged, the six hours of stories will keep you entranced. My son and I did a 200-mile each way trip with this book as our entertainment, and were sorry when the last tape finally ended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thousand & One nights
Book arrived promptly. Was a decent read, and you could imagine people regaling fellow travellers in the desert with these bawdy tales. Read more
Published 10 months ago by I. Warburton
tales from the thousand and one nights (arabian nights)
i have always heard about this book but never took any notice until i saw a tv programme on the book about 3 weeks ago. Read more
Published 12 months ago by John Mackenzie
A classic done alive by an amazing translation
I had several options/versions of 1001 Arabian nights but I chose this specific one because of the translator Mr. Dawood. Read more
Published 13 months ago by A. Khan
Classic in literary history
When I got the pick of my mother's books when she needed to get rid of them as she was emigrating, the reason I picked Tales from the Thousand and One Nights was twofold. Read more
Published 13 months ago by W.M.M. van der Salm-Pallada
1001 NIGHTS
This translation is easy to read - the stories are enjoyable if a bit repetitive. Good to know where the stories of Sinbad and Alladin come from.
Published 15 months ago by card
arabian nights
the book was in goood condition no delay to delivery and also it is an excilent book
Published on 12 April 2009 by Aa Ahmed
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