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Summary: This bugs me...........
Review: I really annoys me when people call the "Thousand and One Nights" the "Arabian Nights". These tales are mostly Persian, the story of Shahrzade is Persian, etc. Shahrzade is a Persian name, still popular today in Iran, meaning "city born". Shahrzade was a Persian princess married to a Persian Sultan (Shah), telling tales that wouldn't have any reason to not be Persian, right? I don't see what the big mystery is as to what culture it came from when the origional book "The Thousand Tales", was written in Persia in Persian! Man, people need to get their facts strait! One reviewer said that this book was a great introduction into Arab culture???...The stories in the book are O.K., I've read better versions, so I'll give it 2 stars, but I'm subtracting 3 because of the confused info given to unsuspecting readers.
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Summary: Exactly what I was looking for
Review: I was looking for an authentic original telling of the tales of a thousand nights and one night. This is the best I've found so far. I bought it for research purposes, but found it very enjoyable at the same time.
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Summary: Charming, quite charming
Review: Okay, i love this book, or any book for that matter that winds several stories within one overall story. This is an old story, but is just as fresh and intreaguing today as it must have been at it's creation. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this masterpiece of fiction.
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Summary: one of the best mysterious and factinating books I've read
Review: Reading this book you enter a fascinating world full of sensuality and mystery. However, the passions and attitudes can be perfectly translated to today's world (human condition never changes!)
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Summary: A magic carpet ride like no other
Review: Richard Burton's translation of "The Arabian Nights" is one of the oldest in existence and some people have a problem with this version; it's too old, antiquated, etc.; but for this reviewer, the very fact that it's an early translation lends the tales much of their charm; it underscores the fact that "The Arabian Nights" go back for hundreds of years, all the way back to "once upon a time". Richard Burton introduces us to Sharazad, that seductive storyteller who took the bull by the horns and dared to marry the sultan Shariyar who had been driven mad by the infidelity of his former wife and tried to exorcise the demons of her adultery by marrying a new wife every morning and slaying her that same night. Sharazad knows that a good tale can tame the savage beast much in the way music can, and she keeps the Sultan enchanted night after night with the tales that still enchant us in our own time. We all know about Aladdin and his magic lamp, and Ali Baba and the forty thieves, but there are loads of other treasures in this collection; my personal favorites, aside from Ali Baba, are the story of Ali the Persian (short, succinct, and very funny), and The Lady and Her Five Suitors, a hilarious tale of a woman who lures five men into a trap and then runs off with her boyfriend. And Sharazad, smart lady that she is, took care to insure her own future; not only does she regale her sultan with a thousand and one tales in as many nights, she also presents him with three children during that time, wins the heart of the sultan, and, we suppose, lives happily ever after.No one knows where the tales originated. Burton suggests that the earliest may date from they 8th century A.D., and the latest may have been as recent as the 16th century, only 200 years before Antoine de Galland translated the tales into French and unfolded them like a magic carpet before the astonished and delighted eyes of his European readers. Burton translated them into English into English in 1885 and they have been weaving their own spell of enchantment for us ever since. When we open "The Arabian Nights" we step onto our own magic carpet and we're off on a ride of fun and fantasy that lasts until the last page when we close the book and come back down, reluctantly, to earth.
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Summary: the quintessential heroine
Review: This a great collection of tales, despite all the Hollywood glam that's been haunting it for the last 50 years. My husband and I read it together. I read it out loud, which really brought the stories to life. I have read a great deal of Arabic Literature, and I still feel that Shahrazad is a heroine unparalleled. She maintains her femininity and stills wins the day, saving thousands of other girls from the jaws of death. Of course, there are some big words out there for those of us who are allergic to dictionaries.
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Summary: Burton, the Scholar and Adventurer, & The Arabian Nights
Review: This is a phenomenal selection of the intricate web of fantasy commonly known as the "Arabian Nights." Captain Burton's translation remains contested amongst scholars for its subjective indulgement and commentary (among other things). Nevertheless, his was a critical and monumental 16-volume endeavor that brought to the English world the legendary tales Shahrazad told King Shahryar--who exectued his mistresses after one night so as to preserve fidelity--in order to remain alive. It proved the most comprhensive and entertaining, and stands as the definitive translation for many. But why should you bother with Burton, when you could go with Lane or Galland? As a reader, if your desire is to fully experience these tales as closely as possible in capturing that sense of adventure, excitement, of magic and morality that has fascinated imaginations for centuries, Burton's "plain literal translation" certainly dazzles and entertains, vividly, powerfully, without disappointment. You shall be drawn into the world of the thousand nights and a night, of Islam and Jinns, through Burton's archaic though eloquent diction--a part of the veil of fantasy--and his ample knowledge of Middle Eastern culture.
The present edition offers a vital, "representative" selection of these neatly woven and intertwining tales in one volume. * Note: This can be fun, very enjoyable reading with patience, but the lack of paragraph breaks and the language may prove challenging for some.
Also: the hardcover is definitely a better choice, as it has placed the selected footnotes on the bottom of the page they appear on rather than the back of the book - like the paperback.
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Summary: A wonderful glimpse into a fantastic world of tales.
Review: This is a sometimes brutal, mostly wonderful, anthology of tales weaved into the story of a corageous young woman who uses her enchanting narration as a means of survival. All of the magical stories take place in a long gone world with cultural differences that might offend sensitive readers. Yet the morals of the book never clash with our present values and it provides us with a look into a world since forgotten. The tales and fables are ingeniously connected, stories within stories, and are captivating and full of fantastic characters, wonderful places and legendary creatures. This is the source of many common children stories such as Aladin and the Genie, The travels of Sinbad, and Ali-Baba and the forty thieves. I recomend it as a nightly read for small children during story time, with a small warning for mature content.
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Summary: A good book of some of our favorite stories.
Review: This is an adult version of the Arabian Nights tales that most kids grow up with. By adult I do not mean that it contains a lot of sexual material, however there is some, so this book is probably not appropriate for children. Stories like "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" are included in here, along with some more obscure stories like "The Hunchback's Tale". If you're interested in learning about stories from the middle east, this is the book for you.
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Summary: Some Nights Are Missing
Review: This is not the Complete Arabian Nights, some nights are missing, I bought this E-Book for a particular night- "Ma'aruf The Cobbler And His Wife Fatimah", but it was not there. I think it's better to buy the Paperback edition to get all 1001 nights, or what we Arabs call it "Alf Laila wa Laila".
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