What do you think?
Rate this book
From the Land of Sheba: Yemeni Folk Tales
Although Yemen, at the southern tip of the Arabian Penisula, is one of the oldest inhabited regions of the world, in the West, it is one of the least known places. Ancient Yemen is mentioned in the Bible as the home to frankincense and myrrh, which was once more costly than gold; but what else do we know of this place the Romans called Felix Arabia? As stories often moved with commerce, perhaps some of our earliest stories were born in Yemen’s legendary incense groves and traveled with caravans around the world. The Romans called this land happy or prosperous because of the region’s geographic diversity: it is not just another country of vast deserts, and its history goes back thousands of years. Legends tell us, in fact, that Sana’a, the present-day capital, was established by Noah’s son, Shem. The fabled past is ever present in Yemen, and stories are told about events that happened long, long ago—as if they happened only yesterday. From the Land of Sheba brings a rich assortment of folktales from this ancient land.
- GenresMiddle East
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2005
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2014
A very neat collection of Yemeni folktales.
Things I liked:
1. The introduction was fascinating. I learned a lot about Yemeni culture in the past and present, as well as their history.
2. The stories are entertaining, diverse, and not longer than they need to be. There were several that I really loved, and probably will tell in the future, including a Yemeni version of Cinderella, which, strangely, makes a lot of sense in an Islamic culture.
Things I did not like as much:
1. Out of the 100 pages of the book, 33 pages is the Introduction. Which, as I said, is quite a fun read, and because the stories are short, the remaining pages still offer a lot of stories, but still, the book felt kind of short.
2. The stories are re-tellings, which the author notes up front - they are her versions of the original folktales. At the same time, as a storyteller, I felt like many of the re-tellings were unnecessarily literalized. They start in medias res, breaking the traditional folktale pattern, and sometimes it is hard to figure out who is who, and what is happening. It feels like she aimed to create short stories out of folktales, and it doesn't always work. I would have loved to read many of these tales in their original form.
Things I liked:
1. The introduction was fascinating. I learned a lot about Yemeni culture in the past and present, as well as their history.
2. The stories are entertaining, diverse, and not longer than they need to be. There were several that I really loved, and probably will tell in the future, including a Yemeni version of Cinderella, which, strangely, makes a lot of sense in an Islamic culture.
Things I did not like as much:
1. Out of the 100 pages of the book, 33 pages is the Introduction. Which, as I said, is quite a fun read, and because the stories are short, the remaining pages still offer a lot of stories, but still, the book felt kind of short.
2. The stories are re-tellings, which the author notes up front - they are her versions of the original folktales. At the same time, as a storyteller, I felt like many of the re-tellings were unnecessarily literalized. They start in medias res, breaking the traditional folktale pattern, and sometimes it is hard to figure out who is who, and what is happening. It feels like she aimed to create short stories out of folktales, and it doesn't always work. I would have loved to read many of these tales in their original form.
October 22, 2020
I read a lot of folktales from around the world. I like buying collections of them at bookstores when I travel. I picked this book up in DC at Middle East books in Jan 2020, back when we could still travel!
The stories themselves aren’t bad. But the telling of them leaves a lot to be desired, especially when compared to other folk tale compendiums. I’m not sure whether it’s because Han was mistranslating, or mishearing, or something else. But the English is disjointed and often hard to follow. Sometimes it seemed like entire sections of stories were somehow left out of the retelling.
These stories have a lot of potential. I’d love for a scholar of Yemeni culture and history to tackle them, ideally in partnership with a seasoned storyteller.
The stories themselves aren’t bad. But the telling of them leaves a lot to be desired, especially when compared to other folk tale compendiums. I’m not sure whether it’s because Han was mistranslating, or mishearing, or something else. But the English is disjointed and often hard to follow. Sometimes it seemed like entire sections of stories were somehow left out of the retelling.
These stories have a lot of potential. I’d love for a scholar of Yemeni culture and history to tackle them, ideally in partnership with a seasoned storyteller.
December 18, 2023
Great book of folk tales to remind you of the world’s linear and ever relevant history.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews