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Summary: It is outrageous!!!!!
Review: I have read all the stories of this outrageous book.However, I liked the story of Sindabad, Ali Baba and the magic horse the best. Magic and reality are mixed in these marvelous stories!!!! These stories take you in an unforgetable adventure. YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Summary: Excellent translation
Review: I highly recommend this new translation of the Arabian Nights. Previous translators have sought to colorize or edit the tales, but here the translator sought to stay true to the text. Readers may be surprised to see that the most famous tales (Aladdin, Sinbad) are not here, since they were added on at a later date. I enjoyed working through the story sequence and was surprised at the humor (the Barber's tale was hilarious). Read the introduction - for one thing, it taught me to look at the amazing level of detail in the stories, such as the individual dishes a character prepares for a feast.
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Summary: Fabulous!!!!!!!1MARVELOUS!!!!!!!!!must read!!!
Review: I love this book because it is mystic,tranquil,and it really makes you think that you're there,living the stories.I think my favorite one was(although I like them all!)"The 3 Ladies from Bahgdad". And my second favorite was "The Envier and the Envied".You really ought to make an effort to get your hands on this book.Soon!!!!!!Thanks!!!!! -Meg
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Summary: The Ladder of Love
Review: I read this book several years ago during a time in my life when I was free to devote a good deal of time to it. I immersed myself in it for quite a while, making charts and graphs to keep track of the intricate structure of stories within stories. When I was about half or three quarters of the way through, I began to experience a sort of spiritual excitement or intoxication, similar to experiences I had reading Hegel's *Logic*, or the works of Meher Baba, or some other works. I called the author and told him about this, and told him I thought it was a spiritual book. He said no one has done anything, as far as he knows, to examine or explain the book in that way. I believe many of the characters and situations are symbols for characteristics of the spiritual path; I can feel this level of meaning, but I am not sufficiently knowledgable in that area to really explain them fully. However, it is quite clear that the overall scheme of the book has a meaning. Scheherazade was a beautiful young woman of high status, living in a kingdom where the women had met a great misfortune. The king was betrayed by one of his mistresses, so he took the habit of recruiting a new mistress every night, whom he would slay in the morning to make sure he was not again betrayed. Scheherazade told her family, to their great dismay, that she was going to volunteer for this duty. The stories are the ones she used to engage the interest of the king, so that his curiosity was so great he would delay killing her for at least one more night. The first stories portray people of the absolute meanest and most crude nature, full of lust, violence, selfishness, suspicion, and a very low nature. Bit by bit, the tone of the stories becomes elevated, until at the end they are stories of unbelievably sublime love, self sacrifice, absolute humility and the willingness to undergo any suffering for the sake of the beloved. By this method, Scherezade raised the consciousness of the king, and liberated him and his kingdom from the thralldom of his previous state of ignorance. I hope one day to say more about the specific symbolic meaning of many of the characters and situations, which are extremely evocative and mean a great deal more than what is on the surface.
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Summary: So much more than I expected! Accept no other translation!
Review: I really had no idea how much I would enjoy this! I came to it with some vague recollections of some of the tales as they had been adapted into children's stories, but I soon discovered I actually knew almost nothing about the Arabian Nights. The introduction was extremely helpful in explaining the history of the Arabian Nights, why there are different versions, and why those different versions may contain different tales. This volume collects the oldest, "original" tales. More familiar stories that were added later--such as Sinbad and Aladdin--are collected in a separate volume, Arabian Nights II. This translation is an absolute joy to read. The language is vivid and alive--thoroughly modern, yet (judging from the effect on me as a reader) certainly successful in conveying the nuances of the original text. I glanced at the Modern Library Burton edition after reading this. It reads like a King James Bible. Why subject yourself to a translation that you to re-translate in order to read--especially with a wonderful modern translation like this available? How terribly that must choke the pace of the stories! I felt like the King himself as I read this, knowing that I needed to put it down to go to sleep, but constantly telling myself, "Well, maybe I'll push on for just one more night..." Funny, sexy, violent, and packed with magic and adventure, it really had it all. Except for children, for whom the original tales are too sexual and violent, I can hardly imagine an audience this WOULDN'T appeal to!
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Summary: Absolutely delightful
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading Haddawy's translation of "The Arabian Nights". It has a feeling of authenticity, as if it is truely an oral story being passed down through the ages, as it once was. The whole concept of the book is mind-boggling, with stories within stories so many times over that half the fun of reading the book is trying to follow the winding path that the stories lead you down. The physical book itself is also top-notch, as the Everyman's Library editions always are. For me, investing the few extra dollars for such a beautiful edition is well worth it. This book may not be what you expect. It is not the Disney-fied, watered-down version that most of us were introduced to as children. Several of the more famous stories that most Americans would associate with "The Arabian Nights", such as Ali Baba or Aladdin, are actually not part of the work. They were added much later, by the early European translators. Also, the book contains bawdiness and violence (particularly towards women) that may not be appropriate for young children, so be forewarned. Overall, I feel that this an authentic, lucid translation of a fantastic story, wrapped in the most beautiful of packages. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely delightful
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading Haddawy's translation of "The Arabian Nights". It has a feeling of authenticity, as if it is truely an oral story being passed down through the ages, as it once was. The whole concept of the book is mind-boggling, with stories within stories so many times over that half the fun of reading the book is trying to follow the winding path that the stories lead you down. The physical book itself is also top-notch, as the Everyman's Library editions always are. For me, investing the few extra dollars for such a beautiful edition is well worth it. This book may not be what you expect. It is not the Disney-fied, watered-down version that most of us were introduced to as children. Several of the more famous stories that most Americans would associate with "The Arabian Nights", such as Ali Baba or Aladdin, are actually not part of the work. They were added much later, by the early European translators. Also, the book contains bawdiness and violence (particularly towards women) that may not be appropriate for young children, so be forewarned. Overall, I feel that this an authentic, lucid translation of a fantastic story, wrapped in the most beautiful of packages. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Adventure and Sex in a land of magic
Review: I was surprised to find that Sinbad, Ali Baba, and Aladin were not a part of the original Arabian Nights. I read a translation of the stories as a child and wanted to reacquaint myself with them after becoming an "adult." I must have read the PG version because the stories now are much more involved with magic, adventure, and sex. Did I mention sex? It appears that every story has some in it. Sometimes a lot of it, but not in a necessarily graphic way. Each story has some interesting twists in it, and there are enough demons and mystery to awaken the adult child within all of us. Some of the stories follow the same general pattern, but each is unique unto itself. The only thing I can say is that curiousity is many a character's downfall. Read it and you won't be disappointed.
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Summary: Fantastic adventures in the land of Arabian Nights..
Review: I will say that Husain Haddawy's translations of "The Arabian Nights" are the best you'll read for quite some time. I've had these books for awhile now and they're great. Haddawy has done a remarkable job and provides great introductions for both books. A map is also provided in each book showing the locales mentioned in the stories. There are really two volumes you will need to get the complete collection. This volume has the earlier stories as told by Shahrazad, classic tales of mystery, fun, and excitement. The second book " The Arabian Nights II" has the more popular stores most people are familiar with. Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and the Fourty Thieves, Ala al-Din (Aladdin) and the Magic Lamp. Be sure to get them both and you'll be transported to the mystical lands of Arabian Nights. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic adventures in the land of Arabian Nights..
Review: I will say that Husain Haddawy's translations of "The Arabian Nights" are the best you'll read for quite some time. I've had these books for awhile now and they're great. Haddawy has done a remarkable job and provides great introductions for both books. A map is also provided in each book showing the locales mentioned in the stories. There are really two volumes you will need to get the complete collection. This volume has the earlier stories as told by Shahrazad, classic tales of mystery, fun, and excitement. The second book " The Arabian Nights II" has the more popular stores most people are familiar with. Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and the Fourty Thieves, Ala al-Din (Aladdin) and the Magic Lamp. Be sure to get them both and you'll be transported to the mystical lands of Arabian Nights. Enjoy.
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