Book Description
When a savage creature known only as the Adversary conquered the fabled lands of legends and fairy tales, all of the infamous inhabitants of folklore were forced into exile.These magical characters now disguise themselves as normal citizens and have created their own peaceful and secret societies in modern-day NewYork and around the world.When wayward fables from Arabia arrive in Manhattan at the exclusive luxury apartment building called Fabletown, a culture clash of dire proportions arises that must be defused beforeblood is spilled.
Customer Reviews:
Demented fairy tales, but in a good way.......2007-06-11
The premise of this wonderful series is to rewrite and expand the world of fairy tales. They characters of which has entered our world fleeing a great evil. Lost of fun, smart and witty, typical american style illustrations for the most part, but nice. Some similarities of premise to the Sand Man series, but not quite as inventive or as extensively research and deep. Start at #1 for the best read.
Still at cruising speed........2006-08-24
Bill Willingham, Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) (Vertigo, 2006)
The seventh volume of the Fables series has finally dropped, and it looks like the transitional-volume period is coming to an end. Willingham gives us two stories here. The first deals with the coming of Sinbad and his retinue to Fabletown after the Adversary started attacking the Arabian homelands. Not all of them, however, are seeking refuge... the second is about a love story in the Army of the Wooden Soldiers, and is just the sort of thing for which this series has earned all its raves-- the kind of tale that you have to wonder what Bill Willingham was smoking when he came up with (and where you can get some of it). Of course, anything that looks like a mere diversion isn't, and it all ties in at the end.
Another very good volume in the series. It'll keep you interested until things explode again. *** ½
Fables.......2006-08-16
The Fables series continues to get better and better. This is clearly evident in Fables vol.7.
An introduction to the next phase in the war.......2006-08-11
"Arabian Nights" is as good as any of the books in the Fables series, but the entire sequence read like a prelude to future volumes. Nothing happens in this latest installment to significantly impact the war against the Adversary, nor are there any major changes in the established cast, though we see a lot of new characters introduced who will no doubt play major roles in the future.
There are basically two stories in this volume. The first concerns the arrival of a delegation of Arabian Fables in New York, led by Sinbad. We've seen references to non-European Fable lands in previous volumes and knew that the Adversary had already begun his invasion of the worlds of the Arabian Fables. Now we learn that the Arabian Fables are quite aware of the threat, but still have not decided whether or not to ally themselves with the Fables who have fled to Earth.
There are a lot of culture clashes and the requisite amount of treachery and bloodshed, along with a few subplots highlighting the personal lives of Beast, Beauty, Prince Charming, the Frog Prince, and Red Riding Hood. (As a side note, I personally found the resolution of the Djinn threat to be rather lame -- it is introduced as the magical equivalent of a nuclear weapon, but resolved in an anticlimactic manner in which Willingham seems to be making up new magical rules just to get himself out of a plot bind.)
The second story is about two wooden soldiers serving the Empire in a unit that is establishing a beachhead on an Arabian Fable world. We get another glimpse inside the Empire and learn more about the wooden soldiers, and these two individuals are obviously being set up as recurring characters whom we'll see in future volumes.
Doesn't Live Up...........2006-07-31
I'm a tremendous fan of the "Fables" series of graphic novels, and eagerly await each new installment. With the central concept -- the characters of fable and fairy tale, driven from their homes by an evil tyrant, now live in secret among us normal folk -- author Bill Willingham and artist Mark Buckingham continue to outdo themselves with bizarre plot turns and a massive, wonderful cast of immortal refugees. That said...I didn't dig this seventh installment quite as much. It has the same flair as the rest of the series, but the two stories are detours from the main plotline, and my favorite characters have minimal screen time. After "March of the Wooden Soliders" (definitely the best in the series so far), the plot got a makeover that doesn't entirely agree with me. I hope they get things back on track soon.
"Arabian Nights and Days" continues the second chapter of the series, after the power shift that occured in Volume 5, "The Mean Seasons." Prince Charming is the mayor of the hidden Fabletown community in New York City, and is learning the hard way that when you're mayor, you have to do more than attend fancy dinners and get laid. Beauty and the Beast are his deputy and sheriff, respectively. Former deputy Snow White is raising her kids at the non-human Fabletown in upstate New York, former sheriff (and father of Snow's kids) Big Bad Wolf is MIA, and Charming has enlisted Mowgli (y'know, from "The Jungle Book") to track down the wolf.
The main story in Vol. 7 focuses on the sudden arrival of Sinbad (of "Arabian Nights" fame), who comes to Fabletown with his entire harem in tow. Seems the Arabian fables are evacuating their homelands in advance of an invasion from the evil Adversary. Sinbad is their diplomat, but his arrival in the US sparks a massive clash of cultures. (Concubines are bad? Why?) Even worse, Sinbad brought a djinn (aka a genie) with him, and as Fabletown's head witch explains, djinns are the magic equivalent of WMDs. Any three wishes you want? What if the wrong person rubs the lamp? Unfortunately, this particular conflict resolves itself in a very lame, anticlimactic way. Call me crazy, but I think this series works best when the heroes get to kick butt. That doesn't happen here. Although there are some clever/ironic digs at the current situation in Iraq and some good jokes about the culture gap, this story made me ache for the main storyline. I miss the Big Bad Wolf!
SPOILER WARNING!
This volume also includes a two-issue story about an unconventional love affair between Rodney and June, two sentient wooden mannequins serving the forces of evil. (In the series' craziest twist, the evil Adversary turned out to be Gepetto the puppetmaker.) Because they're made of wood, Rodney and June can't exactly realize their love for each other, but their determination to be together leads them on quite a journey. Sorry, but I didn't really care. Again, good writing and execution (the drawing is by guest artist Jim Fern), but a blah story.
I liked this book, but I wish Willingham would get back to the interesting stuff. There's things I'm dying to know. Will Boy Blue get over Little Red Riding Hood? Will Pinocchio side with his rotten father? Are there more traitors lurking in the fables' midst? Is Goldilocks really dead? And what about that reporter dude who discovered the fables' existence? I have high hopes for Volume 8, which will focus on Mowgli's search for the Big Bad Wolf. Sounds like it'll be blast. With "Arabian Nights and Days," it felt more like a muffled thud.
Book Description
These stories (and stories within stories, and stories within stories within stories), told by the Princess Shahrazad under the threat of death if she ceases to amuse, first reached the West around 1700. They fired in the European imagination an appetite for the mysterious and exotic which has never left it. Collected over centuries from India, Persia, and Arabia, and ranging from vivacious erotica, animal fables, and adventure fantasies to pointed Sufi tales, the stories of The Arabian Nights provided the daily entertainment of the medieval Islamic world at the height of its glory.
The present new translation by Husain Haddawy is of the Mahdi edition, the definitive Arabic edition of a fourteenth-century Syrian manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, which is the oldest surviving version
of the tales and is considered to be the most authentic. This early version is without the embellishments and additions that appear in later Indian and Egyptian manuscripts, on which all previous English translations were based.
Customer Reviews:
So far very good, not for kids though.......2007-08-27
I have been reading this to my 8 yr old and changing or leaving out the inappropriate parts. She loves to hear it, and with the cliff hangers she is always asking for another chapter.
Excellent Translation.......2007-05-16
Excellent translation, from the oldest known manuscript of the tales. True to the original, it captures not just the letter, but the spirit of the text. Clearly, Haddawy is a talented writer on his own accord.
A very good place to discover Arab culture as well.
Arabian Nights.......2007-01-16
As I took a trip to Egypt over the new year, I thought it fitting that I should read books pertaining to the culture there. So I picked up this authoritative copy of Arabian Nights from the library and took it with me for some reading.
This edition is followed by a second edition that includes the better-known stories (including Aladdin and Sinbad). I didn't recognize any of the stories in this edition. Granted, I didn't read every story.
I think the trouble with getting together an "authoritative text" on the Arabian Nights is that the stories were never meant to be compiled into a book and read straight through. The stories were part of a rich oral culture that involved sitting around a fire with fine musical instruments, good food, great company and a storyteller who could draw in extra details and add in any embellishments that he thought the crowd would appreciate. Meaning- you never really heard the same story twice.
All of this is lost in a print copy. The stories begin to seem repetitive (which they wouldn't, if they were told over the course of a few years by a traveling storyteller) and the language becomes onerous- every section begins and ends with the same two phrases over and over, again and again.
However, the stories are a lot of fun :-) If you're interested in the Arabian Nights, I would certainly recommend this edition- Haddawy does well in his translation. But I'd also only read a story or two here and there, so that you don't become tired of the book. That way, the magic will still hit you. Or maybe, you can become the storyteller and read it aloud to someone else- it would probably be excellent in that form as well!
Handcrafted Quality.......2006-07-12
They don't make books like they used to - or, so i thought, until i bought this elegant edition of The Arabian nights. Beautifully bound, printed on high-quality paper, with an erudite introduction, and clear, but stylish font, I thought how appropriate for the publisher to release a classic such as The Arabian nights in such a 'classic' style, hearkening back to a time when great care was put into published books.
Congratulations on a great edition.
The best 'Nights' yet!.......2006-07-09
Haddawy's translation is the most accurate and elegant yet. Although it does have a few quirks (typos, unfamiliar phrases) it is by far better than any other English translation of the 'Nights.' Also, the Syrian manuscript he used as the basis for his translation is now considered the standard Arabic 'Nights.' (for tales that are especially popular in the West, but are probably less authentic, such as 'Aladdin' or 'Sindbad the Sailor,' check out the second volume Haddawy's 'Nights.') If you want a more complete, but less accurate 'Nights,' check out Sir Richard Burton's translation. I personally have a few more problems with Burton's translation though: I don't want to have to read 16 volumes (10 original volumes, 6 supplementary volumes) of the 'Nights,' his writing style is slightly archaic (Burton was from the Victorian age), and sometimes he gets excessively engrossed in sexual detail and nuance that it detracts from the important aspects of whatever particular scene he is dealing with. I do also have one minor issue with Haddawy's translation (actually it's more of an issue with the manuscript he used): the third old man's tale is missing in the Story of the Merchant and the Demon (this wouldn't be much of a problem if that particular story didn't happen to be one of my favorites.)
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
Book Description
The Arabian Nights: A Companion guides the reader into this celebrated labyrinth of storytelling. It traces the development of the stories from prehistoric India and Pharaonic Egypt to modern times. It also explores the history of the translation, and explains the ways its contents have been added to, plagiarized and imitated. Above all, the book uses the stories as a guide to the social history and the counterculture of the medieval Near East and the world of the story-teller, the snake charmer, the burglar, the sorcerer, the drug addict, the treasure hunter and the adulterer.
Customer Reviews:
A MUST!.......2007-07-11
The best companion to one of the most fascinating collection of tales in history. Irwin's work is also a great socio-political study of both the times that The Arabian Nights was written in and the times that it was finally translated into the west. If you have the The Arabian Nights and this book then I highly recommend Irwin's other book, Night & Horses & the Desert: An Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature, and Edward Said's Orientalism.
A Facinating Read.......2006-04-10
This is one of the more interesting companion books I have read. It goes into great detail of the history and the formation of the 1001 Nights collection, and provides an interesting window into Arabic culture. However, one thing I found to be really interesting is that the 1001 tales of Arabic culture were primarily oral tales. The professional storytellers who would tell these books would have manuscript versions which they would use as notes, so there were no official versions--each telling would be elaborated and expanded on depending on the audience. The version that we are familiar with in the west was formalized in France in the 17th century, and may have more relevance to the European expectations of Arabic culture than to Arabic culture itself. In fact, several tales which appear in the European version do not appear in any Arabic manuscripts and may have been written by Europeans to fill the demand for fantastic tales. Overall, this book is quite interesting and I really recommend this to those who would like to see how a lose collection of oral tales becomes a work of literature.
A very useful companion........2005-09-24
The history of the Arabian Nights (1001 Nights) is often appended to the various translations available. They tend to be brief and often reflect the focus of the editor and/or translator. The Arabian Nights: A Companion by Robert Irwin is very substantial. The author often makes conclusions but always includes the thoughts of those with whom he disagrees. This is a must for anyone who really enjoys this collection of stories and will be rewarded by its fascinating history and the history of its translation...almost as enjoyable as the stories themselves.
Good companion.......2000-05-03
As someone who loved the "Arabian Nights" since childhood, I eagerly read this book as well. For the most part, I wasn't disapointed. It does a wonderful job of setting the scene, discussing its origins, its distortions, and showing how the stories relate to medieval Arabian life. I was particularly impressed with the section discussing the connections between various story collections in both Asia and Europe. In short, this book helps the reader better understand this complex (and often confusing)work. The chapters are all clearly laid out and well argued, and the book as a whole is easy to read. He has complex ideas, but is able to communicate them fluidly.
One idea I would challenge, however. I believe the scholars who argue that the more "complete" manuscripts probably arose from increased European interest in it. It makes sense that writers would add filler to reach 1001 nights in response to consumer demand.
An interesting read for fans of "Arabian Nights."
Book Description
Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance,
The Arabian Nights has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Shahrazad, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Shahrazad always withheld the ending: A thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever.
This volume reproduces the 1932 Modern Library edition, for which Bennett A. Cerf chose the most famous and representative stories from Sir Richard F. Burton's multivolume translation, and includes Burton's extensive and acclaimed explanatory notes. These tales, including Alaeddin; or, the Wonderful Lamp, Sinbad the Seaman and Sinbad the Landsman, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, have entered into the popular imagination, demonstrating that Shahrazad's spell remains unbroken.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Download Description
The Complete Arabian Nights in a single edition
Customer Reviews:
good.......2007-06-13
condition of book is really good, but its dimensions are smaller than i expected.
Excellent.......2006-11-02
Richard Burton's narration is fantastic, the accompanying music adds to the mood, and the selection of tales is also good.
Universal, Timeless Storytelling.......2006-09-25
The Arabian Nights: Tales from A Thousand and One Nights -translated by Sir Richard F. Burton
Though the collection is incomplete (this edition contains only the "most famous and representative" tales from the entirety), the compendium outshines any expectation or foreknowledge of the stories and is choc with the marvelous wit of ancient Arabian storytelling. The stories have an underbidding theme all alike, good is good and evil is evil, Allah is all and always and man and manhood will be sundered, for without fail comes with the tail of every tale "the Destroyer of delights and Severer of societies, the Plunderer of palaces, and the Garnerer of graves." Reminding sundry-reader that, despite diamond caches and throes of love, all is vanity of vanity, and only the story will exist for aught. The structure of each of these stories is thematically similar: a poor man happens on a souterrain of riches, he is espied by someone of evil, foul play ensues, a moon of moons of a beauty entrances one and all, a jinn sneaks out of a signet ring, the enemy is bewitched, and the hero is consummated with love and gold. Or, the reverse. Or, the inverse. But what is unique to each of these stories is the complete freedom of happenstance. A man fishing in a pond nets a monkey. A marooned sailor flies with a giant bird to freedom. A man blind in one eye runs into another blind in one eye and they run into another blind in one eye. Ali-Babba overhears an eponymous password to a storehouse of plunder. Everything and anything goes. As well with the language, in "fairest favour and formous form," Sir Burton spares no joyance of neologism coined, alliteration aligned or rhyme rhymed. The text is bedight with proper consciousness of Shaharazad, "for interest fails in twice told tales," and "Words cannot undo the done," as we are gently and thematically reminded of the bookends: the murderous king and the maiden, Shaharazad's "fictitious" fight for survival. The stories that have so obviously leaked into our culture, Aladdin, Ali-Babba and the Forty Thieves, are so much richer, more profound, and less coddling than our cartooned interpretations (as is also the case with the Grimm and Andersen tales). In the end, it is obvious that nor King nor author nor Queen is the hero. None save the stories themselves and the love of the telling will live on.
Not for everybody...........2006-01-04
If you are looking for a book, where you can read and enjoy the stories... this is not for you. The way it is written, is so difficult to understand and there is no continuos flow in the book, which will make you so bored that you just want to stop reading.
A Children's Book not for Children-- Especially the PC Ones.......2005-11-24
The Nights were, until a week or so ago, another classic I wanted to dip into.
I somehow missed The Nights in my formal literary education.
It violates just about every left-wing-taboo.
Reading the Nights for pleasure, with Burton's help one commits the cardinal sins of Colonialism and Orientalism.
The tales themselves are consistently religious, sexist, racist, and xenophobic.
Before buying, I too knew the 'frame' for the tales: 'Shahrazade the clever woman tells stories to the King so he won't behead her', which is a rather reductive, feelgood soundbyte, perhaps, since what you don't hear is that the King has his beef with women because he and his brother both caught their wives in flagrante delicto with African slaves; about which Burton gives a useful gloss about said party's particular anatomical superiorty, replete with Burton's own first-hand real-world observations concerning this useful fact.
All that said, it's indeed easy to feel like the forgetful King, since Shahrazade's tales are not just tales, but tales within tales within tales. Her enchanting stories center on multiple characters, each with an oddball fate, each with their own uncanny stories to tell;and there are often characters in those stories that have stories. It's like a funhouse full of mirrors; but it's pleasant to get lost, as your consciousness of what part of Shahrazade's labrynth you're in falls away. Like the King, you just give in and enjoy the strange experience, and Shahrazad makes it to yet another dawn. The stories, in Burton's translation, read with a real Medieval romance kind of flavor, which I assume is endemic to the Nights and the period, and is not strictly representative of Burton's English tastes, despite his choice of peculiarly English diction.
The book itself is handsome and durable, like the rest of the Modern Library paperbacks. As a previoius reviewer has noted, this particular text is not a complete Nights. The Editor has chosen 'representative' tales to put in this collection.
The stories themselves are charming, but perhaps their palpable repetitiveness (even in a cherry-picked and abridged selection) slubbers the gloss of the supposed inventiveness of the remaining 975 or so stories.
A must for a serious reader who likes fresh air while they thumb their nose at Puritans.
Average customer rating:
- Historically Inaccurate
- Featuring more than 800 sperate entries
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The Arabian Nights: An Encyclopedia (Two Volume Set)
Ulrich Marzolph
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ASIN: 1576072045
Release Date: 2004-08-24 |
Customer Reviews:
Historically Inaccurate.......2006-02-15
The whole story of One Thousand and One Nights is Persian and the characters are Persian, including pure Persian names, however its better known as "Arabian Nights". This book advocates this inaccurate name and therefore is not a trustworthy source for studying the "One Thousand and One Nights".
While you are at it write a book on Alexander and call it the "Turkish Conqueror" who is a Ninja, historically accurate by your standards.
Featuring more than 800 sperate entries.......2004-09-11
An impressively collaborative work by Ulrich Marzolph (Professor of Islamic Studies, Georg-August University, Gottingen, Germany) and Richard van Leeuwen (Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) this two-volume edition of The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia is a comprehensively detailed compilation providing students with authoritative and up-to-date research on the diverse stories historically comprising the Islamic classic collection of myth, legend, and folklore known to western readers as "The Arabian Nights". The characters, themes, most influential translations, textual history, adaptations, and literary context for each individual story is proffered in a thoroughly accessible and "user friendly" arrangement. Featuring more than 800 sperate entries organized in an A-Z format, The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia is a seminal, core, essential, informed and informative contribution to personal, professional, academic, and community library Literary Studies, Folklore Studies, and Islamic Cultural Studies reference collections and resource holdings.
Book Description
A twelve-member cast enacts Scheherazade's tales of love, lust, comedy, and dreams. Scheherazade's cliffhanger stories prevent her husband, the cruel ruler Shahryar, from murdering her, and after 1,001 nights, Shahryar is cured of his madness, and Scheherazade returns to her family. This adaptation offers a wonderful blend of the lesser-known tales from Arabian Nights with the recurring theme of how the magic of storytelling holds the power to change people. The final scene brings the audience back to a modern day Baghdad with the wail of air raid sirens threatening the rich culture and history that are embodied by these tales.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent piece for educational theatre.......2005-08-03
I am a theatre teacher and have read several (read around 100) plays looking for a play that 1)has several significant female roles, 2) has literary merit, 3)has a story with some heart 4)has humor and 5)will stretch my actors in ways they have not worked before. Mary Zimmerman's THE ARABIAN NIGHTS has all that and more. It really is a fantastic piece built around the tale of The Arabian Nights but using stories that are not overtold. Every time I read this script I discover more and more to it. Although it has some clever notes from the original production of this play, there is PLENTY of room for new creation including an improvisational idea for a portion of the script and an allusion to modern day Iraq at the end of the play. I hope we are able to secure the rights to do this show because I am looking forward to directing this play with my students. Even if you don't produce the play, it is well worth reading.
Book Description
A renowned Nobel Prize-winning novelist refashions the classic tales of Scheherazade in his own imaginative, spellbinding style. Here are genies and flying carpets, Aladdin and Sinbad, Ali Baba, and many other familiar stories, made new by the magical pen of the acknowledged dean of Arabic letters.
Customer Reviews:
A top 5 favorite book.......2007-05-04
I love this book, I love this book, I love this book! Having read it twice from library copies, I finally bought a copy for my own and am reading it again. I love this book! Though it should be noted that the city ruled by Shahriyar is Samarra, as the Jinns were sitting on the dome of the mosque of the Tenth Imam. This book is a jewel of literature. It is a work of art.
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature for a Reason.......2006-03-27
Unique, fresh, and inspiring. At times amusing, at times disturbing, but always thought-provoking, never allowing good and evil to really be defined. The reader never knows what to expect. Go read it! It's quality literature that should not be missed.
A new spin on old tales.......2006-01-04
I've been wanting to read a book by Naguib Mahfouz for quite some time now, and so I was excited when I learned that I had to pick a book by him for my class on Arabic literature. Afer reading several excerpts from A Thousand and One Nights for the class, I decided to pick this book because I wanted to see how the author would put a new spin on ancient tales.
Mahfouz's story begins where the classic work left off: only last night did Shahrazad finish the last of her stories. On the morning that the book begins, the sultan Shahriyar has decided to end his routine execution of wives and keeps Shahrazad alive. Mahfouz continues the A Thousand and One Nights technique of using Shahriyar and Shahrazad's tale as a "frame-story" while also narrating the stories of other characters found within the pages of the original compilation.
Rather than leaving characters to their fate, though, as often was the case in the original stories, Mahfouz forces his characters to experience both fantastical situations, as well as the very real consequences that develop from them. I liked Mahfouz's writing very much and his mixture of reality with fantasy, so this book gets four stars both for writing and enjoyment.
A brief introduction to Mahfouz style.......2004-05-05
Mahfouz has written much better books than this one.However,the title makes it be more attractive to the new reader. Good for a taste of his huge body of work.
A world of outward piety and latent corruption.......2003-06-17
Naguib Mahfouz's Arabian Nights and Days is a bitterly entertaining and compelling read. In medieval age, in some unknown Islamic town, genies pulled a series of escapades that created havoc. The clash between the genies and the townspeople was evocative of inveterate, age-old struggles of virtue, corruption, despotism, injustice, and other practices purged by conscience.
Seized by a pang of guilt that pricked his heart, Sultan Shahriyar repented of his atrocious massacre of virgins and other pious, god-fearing people. Shahrzad, daughter of vizier Dandan, sacrificed her happiness and remained with the sultan in order to stem the torrent of blood.
Merchant Sanaan al-Gamali had a nightmare in which a genie would otherwise punish him if he refused to kill the governor, who had brought about the genie through black magic and made the genie accomplish purposes not approved by conscience. In a state of delirium and crazed fantasies, Sanaan raped and murdered a girl. When Gamali finally summoned his courage, unsheathed the dagger, aimed at the governor's heart and stabbed with a strength drawn from determination and despair, the genie abandoned Gamali to his own fate.
Gamasa al-Bulti, the chief of police, was another man whom the genie chose to be the saving of the quarter from corruption. Gamasa was despondent at the ruin of Gamali's family, which now lived in ignominy. But the chief remained aloof to Gamali's widow for fear of ruining his own position and his standing with the sultan, who regarded the blow directed against his official as being aimed against him personally. The genie confronted Gamasa as one despicable person feeding off ignominy for he protected the elite (who was just as corrupted) by prosecuting the respectable people. In "repentance", Gamasa launched a lethal blow at the neck of the governor, who gave a horrified scream as his blood spurted like a fountain. Unlike the merchant, Gamasa was spared by the genie and was given a new identity Abdullah the porter who then continued the criminal killing spree.
The above tales are just a tasteful sampling of Mahfouz's tour-de-force as a raconteur. Arabian Nights and Days is made up of stories and adventures of 1001 Nights-like characters whose lives Mahfouz deftly and seamlessly woven together and converged at the Café of the Emirs. The café was the central hangout spot of town, where the elite met the ordinary, the rich mingled with the poor. It was where Sinbad parted with the town and returned with serendipitous treasures. It was where every father of a virgin daughter felt reassured relieved and rejoiced over the news of sultan's repentance. It was where the whisperings of people regarding Aladdin's innocence originated and eventually reached the sultan's ears.
The book does not manifest a plot; rather it drifts along and presents the etched characters and their tantalizing but bitter struggles. I have to employ some patience to scrupulously keep track of the exhaustive cast of characters and their intricate relationships (newly adopted identity, remarriage of widows, merry-go-round-like change/succession of governor and police chief). Underlying the thrilling tales are Mahfouz's persistent philosophical overtones and queries. What is the "true path" to salvation? To what extent is a person responsible for his wrongdoings? How does one gauge the extent of repentance, if one is persistently pricked by guilt? To what extent does conscience permit wrongdoings, if the wrongdoing is conducted for a good cause?
The Islamic town is somehow a satirical miniature of the incorrigible society, a world of outward piety and latent corruption. The acts and conduct of the characters bespeak man's weakness that betrays trust, treats generosity with disdain, and plunges recklessly into debauchery and criminal activities. From stealing, stupid pranks to murder; we see the pitiful fall of one of the most morally righteous man in the book. Does his conscience justify his actions?
I am not sure how much I am really absorbing the philosophical message Mahfouz brings about underlying the tale, other than to know I am reading a brilliant satire and a very richly-written novel. Arabian Nights and Days is a delightful departure from Mahfouz's formulaic melancholy works chronicling his times. 4.2 stars.
Book Description
26 magical tales of beautiful princesses, genies who emerge from bottles, and talking birds in: "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," "Sinbad the Sailor," "Noureddin and the Fair Persian," "Merchant of Bagdad," and more. 66 illustrations.
Download Description
A collection of 26 tales told by Scheherazade to save herself and other young girls from death at the Sultan's hands.
Customer Reviews:
Terrific stories for road travel with young kids.......2007-06-08
I bought this for my two sons, ages 7 & 9. We put it in at the beginning of a 2.5 hour trip and it kept our entire family very entertained. The trip flew by.
Reddragon.......2007-03-30
The product came quickly. It was exactly as advetised and met expectations. Thank You.
Magnificent!.......2003-12-08
This book is awesome! I read it 3 years ago and I borrowed it again from my aunt and I'm reading it now. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of the Reader's Digest version please post. Thanks!
An excellent collection.......1999-04-12
My four children and I loved reading this collection of stories from Arabia. Though I highly recommend any book by Mr. Lang, The Arabian Nights Entertainments is my favorite. Happy reading!
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