Rating: 
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".
Rating:
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".
Rating:
Summary: BORING!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This is the most boring book that I have ever read! There are about a million words that you have to look up in the dictionary and if you are looking up words the whole time you don't even get a chance to read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: the original is still the best!
Review: this is the original translation by Richard Burton who collected these stories through his trip through the middle east. They are excellent and the largest collection of them in one book.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful story of a woman who tells tales to save her life
Review: This is the story of Shahrazad, the wife of a king,who tells tales well
enough to save her life. Her husband, King Shahryar, has been
following the edict that he must kill his wives after their first night
together. For a thousand and one nights Shahrazad tells tales that
capures the king's attention causing him to let her live in order to hear the end of each tale and finally to fall in love with her. The tales themselves are prose in action. The lessons are
plentiful and still relevant today. This is a book that will enrich a reader's life, one that a family could read aloud to each other
and have fun. A great classic not to be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: Eastern Gem
Review: To write or even begin to write a book review on a classic, whose fascination has captivated generations, is a task not light. This is especially so for The Arabian Nights (or more affectionately called The Stories of A Thousand Nights and A Night), a compilation of stories, of stories within stories, told and untold (in the form of interpolations and ommisions) by various authors and finally translated by the Western Arabic Scholar Sir Richard Burton. Well known by now, the main story-teller is Princess Shahrazad, who, well-polished in the arts of the learned and versed in manners of telling anecdotes, tells the King Shariyar tales after tales for a thousand and one nights. This saves Princess Shahrazad from the wrath of the King, a victim of a treacherous, adulterous wife, who was wont to kill, on the very next day after the wedding night, every girl whom he marries, as revenge for the dishonour suffered at the hand of his unfaithful wife. Princess Shahrazad told stories of love, of adultery; of Kings and Princesses; of animals; of Jinns and Ifrits; of merchants and of porters; of heroes and their travels; of villains and their nefarious devices. Some are very famous such as Alaedin, Sinbad and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves while others are less known like The Ebony Horse (a story about a magical horse that the hero rode to travel far and wide) and The Porter and The Three Ladies of Baghdad. The latter is a wonderful story made up of stories told by one-eyed merchants and by beautiful ladies who were in one another's company. An especially captivating aspect of the book was the weaving of stories within stories and even further within stories. I read with childlike delight the stories, even if I did not understand the beautiful old English used by the translator. At times, it can be quite confusing to understand who is telling the story (Princess Shahrazad or her anecdotal characters) but the heading at the beginning of every story is helpful to reflect the raconteur behind it. The tales told are mainly of light lore, fantasy and love. It is different from classics say from China that are very didactic. The tales within the Arabian Nights are light-hearted and amusing yet only some are moral stories (that of a rich man who was too proud too die and eventually did and others of triumphing heroes displaying goodness). More than half of the stories are of charming Princes whose wits are captivated by the beauty of Princesses and such tales end in happy ways. But the story-teller (whoever that may be, Princess Shahrazad or others within her stories) does not lack humility and ample reverence by way of encomium is given to God Almighty, a characteristic feature of Arabian literature I suppose.
Given my lack of historical insight into the background of the compilation and the inability to distinguish between what is purely Arabic as opposed to Persian, this review lacks a better critique of the book. But history is the best critique of all and the fact that the magic and marvel of the tales have endured for centuries bears testament to this book as a gem among of the Near East.
Rating: 
Summary: This bugs me...........
Review: We are all familiar with the stories of Ali Baba, Aladdin, and Sinbad. But where did these tales come from? The answer lies in this wonderful (condensed) volume known as the 'Arabian Nights.'
The story is of a woman, Scheherazade, who marries a king. The king's custom is to spend one night with a woman and execute her in the morning. To avoid this, Scheherazade tells him a tale, but leaves part of it unfinished, thus gaining the king's interest and insuring her survival for another day so she can finish the tale. Being clever, she never finishes it, but keeps it continuously going, until the king finally spares her life.
The stories presented here, though often somewhat crude, have great moral lessons to be learned. The serve as a sort of moral reminder as to how a good person should act.
When Richard Burton translated the Nights, he collected as many manuscripts as possible and pieced together the tales. Many had been created centuries earlier, and were often told during gatherings among friends. Burton, through his unparalelled knack for translation, managed to capture all the magic and mystery that are the Arabian Nights.
Besides the delightful stories and good lessons to be learned, the Nights serve another purpose--they provide an intimate look at the culture of the time. By examining their legends, one can gain a basic understanding of how Arabic culture functions. There is as much to be learned about the people who tell these stories as there is from the stories themselves.
I read this book for historical and cultural value, and found it to be abundant in both. Besides that, though, I encountered a mesmerizing set of tales which will be entertaining to any audience, even (after some revision and editing) children.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful tales and an excellent look at Arabic culture
Review: We are all familiar with the stories of Ali Baba, Aladdin, and Sinbad. But where did these tales come from? The answer lies in this wonderful (condensed) volume known as the 'Arabian Nights.'
The story is of a woman, Scheherazade, who marries a king. The king's custom is to spend one night with a woman and execute her in the morning. To avoid this, Scheherazade tells him a tale, but leaves part of it unfinished, thus gaining the king's interest and insuring her survival for another day so she can finish the tale. Being clever, she never finishes it, but keeps it continuously going, until the king finally spares her life.
The stories presented here, though often somewhat crude, have great moral lessons to be learned. The serve as a sort of moral reminder as to how a good person should act.
When Richard Burton translated the Nights, he collected as many manuscripts as possible and pieced together the tales. Many had been created centuries earlier, and were often told during gatherings among friends. Burton, through his unparalelled knack for translation, managed to capture all the magic and mystery that are the Arabian Nights.
Besides the delightful stories and good lessons to be learned, the Nights serve another purpose--they provide an intimate look at the culture of the time. By examining their legends, one can gain a basic understanding of how Arabic culture functions. There is as much to be learned about the people who tell these stories as there is from the stories themselves.
I read this book for historical and cultural value, and found it to be abundant in both. Besides that, though, I encountered a mesmerizing set of tales which will be entertaining to any audience, even (after some revision and editing) children.
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