Book Description
King Shahryar kills a new wife every night, because he is afraid she will stop loving him. But his new bride Shahrazad has a clever plan to save herself. Her nightly stories--of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba, and many other heroes and villains--are so engrossing that King Shahryar has to
postpone her execution again and again... This illustrated edition brings together all the Arabian Nights tales in an original retelling by award-winning author Geraldine McCaughrean.
(paperback reissue of ISBN 0-19-274500-X)
Customer Reviews:
Ultimate Fairy Tales.......2007-08-20
"Arabian Nights" is one of those works that everyone has heard of, but not many have actually read. Hence I decided to actually read it, instead of guessing the stories of Ali Baba or Abu Kasim. I am glad that I did.
"Arabian Nights" are well deserving their reputation as one of the best collections of fairy tales anywhere. Interwoven and connected by the young Queen wanting to stay alive, and managing to do so by telling her husband stories, the collection is amazing in language, style and sheer imagination.
Most stories take place in Baghdad, and instead of a war torn, news-exploited place, Baghdad became a place of magic and place of palaces and culture so deeply entrenched, that the entire world knows of them. I recommend this book to everyone who wants to go somewhere exotic and beautiful, even if it is just in thoughts. Great reading!
Appeals to all ages.......2007-07-23
My seventh grader is reading this book to my second grader. They are both loving it.
Adventure & more!.......2007-04-01
Arabian Nights - The classic Tales of Adventure, thrilling suspense, romance and more. These Indian, Arabian and Persian mix tales are ever enchanting tales and an interesting read. The school syllabus picks up the best of the best Arabian nights stories into the text lessons since many years, esp. Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, Sindbad the Sailor and Alibaba and the Forty Thieves. All my fav stories but the most adventurous is Sindbad the Sailor. Why, I remember Pip the Sailor and of coz, Popeye but than, the classics are the ever best of the best on my book shelf. Even Ali Baba takes you on a dreamy path to being rich and Aladdin reminds of the Genie who obeys orders.
The tales are just poetic and take kids to a world of imagination. However, I guess if religion is pushed aside by avoiding repeat 'allah', I guess this book will be a great pick by all. However, kids are sure to love reading these lovely stories. A nice pick.
You Won't Find Fairytales Any Better.......2006-11-17
Words cannot describe the fantastic quality of this collection of Arabic literature. But don't get the book just to read the tale of Ala al-Din (Aladdin) and his Wonderful Lamp, because the other tales included surpass this merely moderate one by far - although it's interesting to find out that a black midget is Aladdin's primary nemesis (upon who Disney's Jafar is based, apparently).
The stories touch on such a wide variety of unusual topics: a man's visit to the kingdom of mermaids, a dead beggar getting tripped over again and again, a guy claiming to have several volcanoes in a portable bag, a Sultan's escape from a buffalo-faced woman in the presence of a group of pink ladies, and the marriage of a prince to a turtle. Insane stuff.
My favorite story is The Everlasting Shoes by far. It's quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever read. It's about an old miser who's so cheap he never buys new shoes. He just patches up the pair he has whenever they get holes. The addition of so many patches naturally make his shoes bigger and bigger. Eventually the shoes become ridiculously huge and heavy and smelly, and they make a lot of noise as the miser walks. The scene of the shoes being thrown into the river and getting caught in the millwork is well worth the price of the entire book.
There's a story in here that looks VERY much like a mid-east version of Cinderella. Quite interesting.
I am unable to tell how many liberties the author has taken in translating the tales, but they're definitely fun to read. There are tons of ancient day metaphors and funny insults like, "You flea on a cockroach's kneecap!" and "Son of a plank! Did you steal your brains from a table?" I really liked reading the misfortunes of the protagonist in the Keys of Destiny stories, and the nagging wives that appear sporadically are pretty darn funny.
The things I didn't like about this book were very few. Only its frequent mentioning of Allah and the puzzling weakness of its 998th and 999th stories about a flying toy horse.
I would recommend the Arabian Knights to anybody over the age of fifteen; probably because I was so surprised at the large amount of enjoyable humor.
WOW.......2004-06-21
Absolutely the best work of fiction EVER. Indeed, I too wish, that there were 1001 stories or even 1.000.001 ones inside this lovely book but all good things must come to an end.
Anyways, if you wander, why 1001 nights? - here's the answer.
Two brothers, both Kings, have both been victims of cheating wives. They both kill them and their lovers but later on, one of the brothers, King Shahryar can't stand the loneliness in the dark so he comes to a decision to marry a new wife fetched by his Counsellor, every night then kill her next day after because he believes that "All women are fickles" and that "None of them love their husbands for more then one day"...so he marries a new wife each night until the streets began to get emptied. Then, when 'no other girl' is left, Shahrazad, the eldest girl of the King's Counsellor, becomes his 1001-st wife. Unlike other wives, Shahrzad survives because...
Do not say you read books if you didn't read this one!
Highly recommended
Customer Reviews:
Nice book, but not written by Richard Francis Burton.......2006-08-04
I ordered this book primarily because of the illustrations by Leon Carre. I just purchased a tarot deck by Lo Scarabeo which featured his work from The Thousand and One Nights so I thought it would be interesting to see the originals. There are only a few illustrations in this book, and, note that the book is abridged. I am disappointed with how few illustrations there are considering how nice the rest of the book looks. If you are interested in Leon Carre's work, the tarot deck will have many, many more images for you to enjoy.
Book Description
Volume four of this ranslation of the wonderful tales of the Arabian nights
Customer Reviews:
The Most Complete Translation.......2007-05-18
Absolutely this is the best translation. Re-translated from a literal translation of the works made in French, and then translated back into English, the wording is modern and makes for easy reading.
Be forewarned, however. This is only Vol. I of a four volume set. And you will not be able to buy Vol. III or Vol. IV new on [...] at this current time!
To get all four volumes, I was forced to take a loss on Vols I and II ( a $[...] loss ) and forced to order the whole four Volume Set, which only comes together in the whole set - which you will be able to find here after endless searching because for some reason searching by the title and author's names does not find the four volume set easily!
So now I have two copies of both Vol. I and Vol. II, which I will donate to someone.
Also, the Four Volume set was on special back order when I ordered it and it took five months to finally come!
You will need to buy all four volumes, however, in order to get The Tale of Ala al-Din and the Wonderful Lamp, which is in Vol. III. And to get the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves which is in Vol. IV.
Unlike almost all other Thousand Nights and One Night sets, you will get all thousand-and-first nights; if you can first find the whole four volume set, wherever it is hid on [...]!
A good cultural portal.......2006-11-03
For those of us Westerners who are looking for exposure to authentic Mid-Eastern historical literature, "The Thousand Nights and One Night" is a great place to start. The various stories throughout this volume are very rich and complex, which furthermore are illustrative of a culture that appreciates diverse and adventurous experiences.
I give this work a four-star rating for three reasons. First, there is a good amount a sexuality explicit narrative which made me personally uncomfortable at times. However, this wouldn't be a problem for those readers who don't have a problem with that sort of thing; this is just my personal feelings on the matter.
Secondly, the narrative line was often hard to follow. One of the qualities of this work is that there are often stories being told within the overall story, and indeed there are sometimes three lines of stories going on. This makes for a fairly difficult read at times, but is certainly manageable for even the average reader. Lastly, the stories can be repetitive at times. A couple of times I thought I was reading the same story twice.
Needless to say, this work is probably not "bed-time" reading for most people. It's a good translation which leaves several words untranslated, which is good because their English counterparts probably wouldn't accurately express the meaning. I often read with a dictionary or the Internet open so I could look up the meaning of the Arabic words. Other than that, a great and enlightening read which I would recommend to people looking for something different to dive into.
Not what it claims.......2005-07-08
Having earlier in the year read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, I embarked on the 1001 Nights as the nearest equivalent from the Middle East. The Nights proved to be a wonderfully rich text, which evokes with unforgettable vividness the lives of rich and of poor in the great cities of medieval Egypt and the Levant; and the fantastic elements of magic and demons, and of voyages into exotic lands, show great powers of imagination along lines excitingly unfamiliar to us in the west. The version I first embarked on in all innocence was this Madrus-Mathers text; it soon excited my suspicions, and these were confirmed by reading Robert Irwin, `The Arabian Nights: A Companion'. The Mardrus version (in French) that Mathers rendered into English claimed to be an absolutely literal translation, but was nothing of the sort: it was a paraphrase which exaggerated and distorted certain elements in the original to make it appeal to the decadent taste of the France of Marcel Proust and André Gide. Mardrus was particularly concerned to make the work more sexy: the stories take on a prurience and sensuality that is miles away from the spirit of the original. Powys did a very good job in translating this dubious text, but was the job worth doing? Despite the readability of his version and the elegance of his translations of the numerous poems contained in the text, the result cannot be preferred to the older version by Richard Burton or the recent one by Husain Haddawy. The trouble, however, is that Burton wrote in an archaizing style that is an acquired taste for a modern reader, while Haddawy has translated only a quarter of the original. I would recommend starting with the first volume of Haddawy, which translates the first and oldest part of the Arabic text (Haddawy's supplementary second volume is a mere selection of a few popular stories), and then sampling Burton, which is available on the internet. This is a fascinating world to explore, but the English reader is singularly poorly served.
Wonderful translation.......2003-06-16
This is a complete English translation of the Thousand Nights and a Night. Before reading this, I started the Burton translation and never finished it. The language was very awkward, it seemed Burton purposely made it sound antiquated and in the passive voice. Instead of suiting the translation to the preconceptions Europeans had about both old and Eastern writings, Mardrus made a literal translation into French, and Mathers translated that into English. The result is not only a more acurate translation, but it's not the least bit awkward and is a joy to read. This is the only English translation of the book I recommend.
Adult fantasies.......2003-03-09
The tales just go on and on, and would probably add up to more than 1001. You need a lot of courage, detrmination and time to go through the entire collection.
The setting is medieval Islamic world. The tales offer an interesting window into the psyche of the tellers and the listerners.
Two features stand out in these stories. One is the continuing theme of 'betrayal' by women and unbridled lust by men. ... The ... prowess of 'negroes' (who go around servicing their masters' wives) appears to be a major concern for the story-tellers. The language is quite explicit (and certainly not suitable for ages 4-8 as www.Amazon.com has marked it mistakenly).
The second feature is how the story-tellers appear to be obsessed with wealth and riches. There is very little mention of how these riches are to be produced -- mostly they appear as if by magic or are endowed by kings. No one has to work for them. There are few, if any, moral principles, except for a continuing emphasis on faith in Allah and his prophet. It is interesting to speculate what effect these stories would have had on the region's culture over a thousand years of telling. If popular stories affect a culture's world-view. then you have here a very dangerous set of tales.
There are some poignant moments. At times, some of the characters display rare courage and honesty. You also learn how curiosity can kill the cat in a thousand and one ways. The Khalifa and the kings try to be just most of the time. Some of the wazirs are heroic, though others are very crooked. The description of beauty (male or female) is generally quite exquisite. The narrative also spends a lot of time and effort on describing places, chambers and palaces in detail -- so you can almost see them with your eyes. This is perhaps the key to the magic of these tales.
Certainly an invaluable piece of world's cultural heritage -- though you may differ on their contribution to building a better world.
Customer Reviews:
A Fantastical World To Be Lived Through These Pages.......2007-06-21
A collection of tales mostly of Persian, Indian, and Egyptian origin. Legend has it that Shahrazad, to prolong her life, told these tales to the king each night over 1,001 nights. In the end, the king let her lived as he had fallen in love with her. What a delightful legend!
In reality, these tales are most likely a collection that were handed down over time very much like folk tales in our Western world. They are fantastical stories in many cases involving jinnees and magical islands and far off lands and mysterious animals and beautiful women and enchanted lamps and....well, it goes on and on! There are some common themes: poor, common men become wealthy beyond their wildest dreams and eventually become kings, women are (usually) portrayed as deceitful and conniving, and at the center is religion.
An entertaining and fascinating book for children and adults, although there are some stories that might need to be monitored by adults for children - the stories can be a little bawdy! But there are so many good ones here, such as Sindbad and his voyages and Aladin. However, the other stories are just as entertaining, too, such as the hilarious Historical Fart and introspective The Dream. I'm normally not a fan of fantasy fiction, but these are easy to read and easy to follow and allow the read to let their imagination just go to the four winds. Wonderful book!
A lifetime of entertaining stories.......2005-04-28
What a great book. These stories are extremely old from places such as Persia and India with a mostly arabic influence. The introduction gives great historical insight about the various tales. Of all the translated versions of these classic stories, and what was probably much more complicated original prose, I find Mr Dawood's translations simple and fun to read. The stories are rich with adventure and fantasy. Mr Dawood does an excellent job of keeping the stories down-to-earth and entertaining. Those who enjoy cryptic, esoteric literature will enjoy losing themselves in the intertwining stories of this book. With a simplistic style of story-telling, it is still intricate enough to keep one immersed. Those who already enjoy simple stories will be intrigued by the unique storylines and plots. For young, impressionable readers, the tales have no religious overtones or underlying political agenda and women are revered and respected. I first read this book when I was 12, and continue to enjoy and re-read the stories well into adulthood.
Fantastic Tales.......2002-06-14
This book is a selection of the choicest tales from the Thousand and One Nights. The translator, N.J. Dawood, also translated the Koran for the Penguin Classics series. Dawood explains in the introduction that the first of these tales appeared in a written form around 850 C.E., in a book called, "A Thousand Legends." More tales, of lesser quality, were added over the years until an anonymous editor in Cairo finally codified them in the 18th century. A French version of some of the stories appeared in the 17th century, and was followed by several English versions in the 19th century; the best known adaptation came from Sir Richard Burton, in 10 volumes. The stories are a mix of Arabic, Persian, and Indian tales and appear to have been written in response to classical Arabic literature. The Arabs do not consider them part of the classic canon, and after reading these stories, I can see why. They are aggressive and highly sexualized, and are loaded with sorcery, fantasy, and criticism of authority figures.
Whatever their origins and means of transmission, these are excellent and entertaining stories. I cannot think of one tale in this selection that I did not like. Included in the book is the instantly recognizable Aladdin story, as well as the Sinbad voyages. Other tales are just as interesting: "The Tale of the Hunchback," "The Tale of Judar and his Brothers," "The Porter and the Three Girls of Baghdad," and many others. Many of these stories are cycles; they have stories within stories, as characters in one story tell their own stories. At the end of the cycle, the story is cleverly wrapped up, usually with a happy ending. I do not think I need to go into detail about Aladdin or Sinbad, except to say that I was surprised to see Aladdin described as Chinese. Providing details to these stories would be useless anyway because they are so detailed as to be impervious to summary.
There is no doubt that many of these stories started as oral stories, and retained that shape into the written versions. The best example is the Sinbad cycle. All of the stories in this cycle are framed in the same way. This repetition made it easier to memorize the stories, or at least the basic outline. A good storyteller could take the frame and fill in the blanks with whatever his heart desired. You often see this kind of writing in the Bible.
Social roles and class play a large part in these stories. Women are presented as wily and dangerous, but not always. Several stories show men trying to pull fast ones on the ladies, with the results much to the detriment of the men. Many stories show how the high and mighty come crashing down, or how the lowly are elevated to great status. These movements are attributed to the grace or condemnation of Allah, and the characters all act out their movements with Allah close by.
You will not go wrong with this book. These are immensely entertaining stories for both children and adults, although you might want to find a toned down version for the kiddies. Why? I am thinking about the tale where a man and some women play "name that body part." My only criticism of this version is that the tale of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is absent. I have no idea why it is missing, but the book loses one star for this grave omission.
Enjoyable easy reading to take you away to fantasy land........2001-03-27
This book is translated by a person named N.J. Darwood. It's simply wonderful. The tales involved are tales of the Persian Gulf, of Bagdhad, Arabia, and tales that we as adults should revisit for some enjoyable light reading that will make us smile and wonder at the old folklore of the Arabian Peninsula. Sinbad the Sailor is in there, as is Aladdin in it's original form, and the story begins of a king who is so upset by his wife's unfaithfulness that he will now only accept virgins for one night and then have them killed. A smart virgin begins her night with the infamous king by telling him stories, and she so fascinates him and enthralls him with her tales that the tales turn into folklore for readers of the ages. I won't tell you what happens in the end to the virgin princess, but you will find humor, enchantment, wisdom and fantasy for those times when stress becomes a factor in your life. I highly recommend the tale of "The Historic Fart" as a both funny and inspiring tale of human nature. Please buy this book and remember to become a nine -12 year old again as you read with curiosity and wonder at the fabulous enchanting, lively stories. I was beginning to wish my children were a bit younger so I could read these to them. Any child would enjoy these stories, and any adult will find them simply relaxing and a reflection of medieval Islam.
Timeless stories for all!.......2001-01-03
The stories in the Thousand and One Nights never seem to grow old and captivate readers, both young and old. Dawood's translations are faithfull to the original stories while giving a firm footing in the present. This is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in quite a while. If you think you know the stories of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor, or Ali Baba from movies then think again. These tales in their original form are timeless!
Book Description
For centuries, readers have been fascinated by the stories of the Arabian Nights. Perhaps the best-known is Sindbad the Sailor. He discovers an island paradise, but it is actually a giant whale. He sees a huge mountain. It is, in fact, the egg of the famous Roc, a bird so huge that she can carry an elephant in her talons. Sindbad manages to escape from Roc’s nest by tying his turban to the bird’s leg and is transported to the final adventure in this volume: the Valley of Diamonds. It is a story of high adventure and wit overcoming any obstacle.
Customer Reviews:
Charming Art.......2005-09-03
The art in this book is very charming, but we found the story-telling to be a bit stiff in places. Still, it's a great way to introduce younger children to Sindbad.
Product Description
Four Vol Set.
Average customer rating:
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El Jorobado Y Otros Cuentos De Las Mil Y Una Noches / The Hunchback and other stories from a thousand and one nights
Brian Alderson
Manufacturer: Vicens Vives
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 8431659238 |
Book Description
It's the second night, and our unusual Shahrazad tells yet another story to save his own life from the mad Sultan. This time, it's a tragic love story between a beauty from an exotic Eastern kingdom and a slave who's from a far away Western kingdom. Let's be quiet and listen to Shahrazad's beautiful and fascinating tale alongside the Sultan.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful twist to a classic.......2007-01-27
I am so glad I bought this manga. ::big grin:: I haven't had a chance (yet) to read the original translated version of "The Book Of A Thousand Nights And A Night", but this manga had piqued my interest. The art is nice, and the characters are interesting.
Very Surprising.......2006-08-14
I am not normally one to read shôjo or yaoi manga/manhwa, preferring books like "Lone Wolf and Cub", but when I saw a preview for this in a friend's Ice Kunion collection I thought the twist looked interesting and the art was very good. So I bought a copy, and was pleasantly surprised that the story held up to my expectations, too. The characacters are three dimensional wiithout being overly dramatic, the stopry flows beautifully, and as another reviewer mentioned, it is not all cute and silly, which is a good thing. There are some very adult themes going on (especially in volume 2) which may make some readers uncomfortable, but the pain of the charachters makes their plights more moving in my opinion. I await future volumes.
Better than the first one........2006-07-26
The second one actually gets the rest of the story rolling, so if you found the first manhwa boring, do give this one a try. Also, there are elements of boy love in it, so if that offends you it's best to steer clear of this.
That said, Sehara is an awesome character, and I can't wait to see how the entire cast grows.
Interesting New Take.......2006-02-05
This manga is an interesting new take on 1001 Arabian Nights. I like that all of the characters are fleshed-out and human. The sultan's bitter actions are motivated; the storyteller's choices seem reasonable; the sultan's best friend is the voice of reason. The stage is set for many new stories to be told. There is a sufficient amount of mystery about the sultan and the storyteller to keep readers interested in their fate, and the stories told by the storyteller are interesting and well-balanced, as well as complex and bittersweet. The art is also gorgeous. I'd love to read the second volume, when it comes out. I hope that the authors will let us see the sultan and the storyteller change over time; although I enjoy the stories that are told by the young storyteller, I do want to know how the main characters are going to be affected by the stories.
Great manwha!.......2006-02-01
One Thousand and One Nights is a story about Sehara, a man who disguises himself as a woman so he can save his sister, Dunya, from the crazy emperor who kills the women he sleeps with the next day. Sehara is found out to be a man from the beginning, and he starts to tell a tale about love...
The art in this book is unique and sets the tone of the story. It's not a book for kids though. They're some blood and stuff that's not suitable for young readers. Also, the story isn't all cute and happy, so that's another reason I like it...
Average customer rating:
- Magic personified in lyric story
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Arabian Nights: Four Tales from a Thousand and One Nights (Art & Design)
Manufacturer: Prestel Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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My Life (Peter Owen Modern Classics)
ASIN: 3791308424 |
Customer Reviews:
Magic personified in lyric story.......2000-04-18
Richard Francis Burton was essentially the first to produce an unexpurgated translation of this wonderful book of tales. Though Burton's English is often excessively stilted, Jack Zipes has quite handily adapted (and condensed from the original 10 volumes) this magical grouping of stories, as told by the enchanting Scheherazade, who tells the nightly tales to save her own life. A classic and must have for anyone's library.
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