About this title: Bawdy and exotic, "Arabian Nights, " feature the wily, seductive Scheherazade, who saves her own life by telling tales of magical transformation, genies and wishes, flying carpets and fantastical journeys, terror and passion to entertain and appease the brutal King Shahryar. First introduced in the West in 1704, the stories of "The Thousand and One Nights" are most familiar to American readers in sanitized children's versions. This modern edition, based on Richard F. Burton's unexpurgated translation, restores the sensuality and lushness of the original Arabic. Here are the famous adventures ...
read more
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: New Amer Library, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780451525420ISBN:0451525426
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Very light spine creasing. A name stamp on the inside front cover and a small corner crease on the bottom front cover. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780451525420ISBN:0451525426
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover shows wear with creases BUT binding tight, pages appear unmarked and only lightly tanned. Contains illustrations. Adapted from Richard F. Burton's unexpurgated translation. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780451525420ISBN:0451525426
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780451525420ISBN:0451525426
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780451525420ISBN:0451525426
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Binding: S Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: New Amer Library, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780451525420ISBN:0451525426
Description: Good. While the cover and first 50 pages or so of this book have some moisture ripples and its spine has some light creasing, it is otherwise in good shape. It remains tight, free of markings, square and solidly bound. Fully illustrated throughout with many drawings--you'll somersault with delight on arrival of this book! ! ! ! read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780451525420ISBN:0451525426
Description: Fine. 0451525426 FREE UPGRADE TO EXPEDITED SHIPPING (2-4 days when selecting standard shipping). Read Once. Light cover and binding wear. Otherwise in Excellent Condition. We Ship Same or Next Day. read more
Description: VG++/Very Good. Fine in VG++ DJ. Light shelfwear only, excellent copy. Hardcover Book Nice, tight, clean copy. All items ship from Gig Harbor, Wa within 24 hrs! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Book League of America
Description: Steele Savage. Good. No Jacket. Deckle edge, pages are yellowing, bumping to top and bottom edges of backstrip, dampstains on back cover. read more
"I really need a 2.5 stars option, though I would end up using it on three-fourths of everything. As a generic, I can neither recommend nor disavow this book.
Okay so the beloved Arabian Nights, tales from a thousand and one nights. I should start with what this is NOT. This is not a linear story about a princess telling stories to a king. This is not a childrens' read involving genies and cyclopi (I refuse to spell this any other way, no matter the red line beneath it) and magic. This IS a collection of stories (one suspects passed down in the oral tradition) dating back from ancient times.
Taken on their own, many of the stories are quite fascinating. Unfortunately, as a straight through read, I quickly became bored. The stories are, with some notable exceptions, more or less the same.
"There's a beautiful girl whose eyes were like moonbeams, her lips were the color of coral, and as fresh, and she astounded with amazing astoundness all who beheld her. But she had no interest in being married, and her father the king, though he doted on her, could not accept this and so he locked her up. But on the other side of the world, there's a handsome gent whose eyes burned like saucers of the sun, his lips were sweeter than the nectar that camels walked thousands of miles to obtain and carry back, and his hair floated like all the Towers of Babylon. He, also, had no interest in being married, truly he said to HIS father the other king, "I have no interest in being married," and though his father was wroth and consulted his Wazir extensively, no plan was made. Then deus-ex-machina style, there are two omnipotent Djinnis (read: Genies) that somehow decide to compare the two and yadda yadda yadda. They get married." But, says the meta-princess, who is meta-telling the meta-king these stories so she doesn't get mega-decapitated, this story is not more fascinating than the other girl and guy who get screwed over, but fall in love anyway, and so on.
Congrats, you have had the Arabian Nights experience!
In short, this book, quaint translation included (you have no idea how many times you'll read phrases similar to: he joyed with exceeding joyness), is something that you'd have to keep by your bedside for several years. Reading one story a week, lest you get tired of it. Unfortunately it's not good enough to keep by your bedside for several years, so where does that leave it? 2.5 stars, baby.
Get from library. Read a few so you can be edumacated. Write a witty review. Have ten times more fun watching Aladdin.
Oh and I found this particular footnote the best part of what I read: "Four wives are allowed by Moslem law and for this reason. If you marry one wife she holds herself your equal, answers you and "gives herself airs"; two are always quarreling and making a hell of the house; three are "no company" and two of them always combine against the nicest to make her hours bitter. Four are company; they can quarrel and "make it up" amongst themselves, and the husband enjoys comparative peace.""
"I enjoyed reading this, the storytelling was fluent it was a page turner. The stories were timeless and if you're a fan of adventure I recommend this one. The characters were witty and the events wonderful. I really liked the true Aladdin and the magic lamp.
I noticed that this book was a little anti-female, because in all the stories, the women always cheated on their husbands, and all the men are good towards their wives, but the way the women were punished was really brutal, it's a good thing they weren't described in detail.
I appreciated the use of magic, sorcery, and a little witchcraft because I was always fascinated by them. Most of the stories here have genies (spelled jinnee) and thanks to Disney we have a clear picture because they're described as scary ifrits.
There were some morals in the stories as well and I'm looking forward to reading the unabridged version."
"I played the orchestral work Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov my senior year of college. The music is so amazing and will always mean something special to me. I love how it is composed based on the tales Scheherazade tells to the Sultan in order to save her life. The collection of tales are definitely "tales" - filled with strange and bizarre things not plausible, but the stories are full of adventure and wonder. Some of the most famous stories are known by many including Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Aladdin."
"I don't know if this is the precise translation I read, since I downloaded it onto my iPhone, but oh well. This was an interesting exercise in catching up on my cultural literacy. Yes, I thought, I know the basic story of Aladdin, but do I know the real story? Or that of Sinbad the Sailor? Now I can say I do--though the details are a bit hazy even now, given the sheer number of plot twists contained in the myriad tales. There is a lot of magic in these stories, along with plenty about the art of making money (or treasure finding) and the responsibilities of the rich (who often like to masquerade as poor people, if the stories are read literally). It was sort of interesting to see the way they're constructed as stories within stories within stories. But so often I found myself wondering, what's the point of this? They're mostly just to entertain, though a few moral lessons poke themselves through the plot. Chief among these are the lessons to avoid being greedy and overly curious, which you learn as you see people disregard that counsel and do the opposite. At the same time, there is a lot of value placed on being a clever merchant/trader, on wits in general, and on traveling far and wide. Do I regret reading these? No, I don't think so. Would I read them to my kids? Probably not, unless it was a kid-friendly retelling, in some cases. Would I read them again? No. Mixed feelings. My two stars are pretty accurate: The Arabian Nights are not as hot as I thought they might be."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
