The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights by Robert Irwin (Editor)
The most important translation of one of the greatest works of world literature in the last 100 years. The tales of The Arabian Nights, which range from Ali Baba and the forty thieves to Sinbad’s journeys, are ageless and fascinating. This excellent new version, which was released in three volumes, is the first total English translation since Richard Burton’s translation from the 1880s and brings these stories to life for contemporary readers. The furious King Shahriyar sleeps with a new virgin every night for three years before killing her the next morning. Shahrazad, the daughter of the vizier, decides to stop this cruel cycle by beginning to tell the king enthralling stories about mystical lands populated with princes and hunchbacks, the Angel of Death and other supernatural beings, and jinnis imprisoned in rings and lamps—a series of tales that will last 1,001 nights and save her own life.
The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights by Robert Irwin (Editor)
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The Arabian Nights abbreviated version will have no concept of the scope and complexity of the original masterpiece. The fact that so many writers have been affected by the stories featured and the concept of stories inside stories has made this immensely popular throughout the years and important. As you can see, Scheherazade is spelt differently in this instance due to translation issues, the name’s origin, and variations in spelling and pronunciation. Anyway, the young woman comes up with the concept of telling stories since she needs to survive because her new spouse kills a woman after the first night.
The 1,001 Nights are indeed magical; they are full of demons, magic, other planets, people who marry ‘ifrits unknowingly, etc. But what makes them genuinely magical is that, even when the stories don’t involve anything supernatural, the completely different culture where they are set makes them appear believable strange and amazing. Even while this foreign society can be unsettling at times (women are viewed as deceitful, libidinous creatures, and when a mistress is disloyal, it always involves a cunning black slave), it always makes for an interesting read.
