The Voyages of Sindbad

by N.J. Dawood (Translator), Anonymous

Some of the best-loved stories in the world. Originating in Persia, India and Arabia, they were the daily entertainment of the common people. In this edition they are retold especially for children. this collection includes the voyages of Sindbad the Sailor, Ali Baby and the Forty Thieves and the Tale of the Hunchback.

Genres: Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, Folklore, Literature, Middle East, Historical Fiction

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Nessim Joseph Dawood (Arabic: نعيم جوزيف داوود) was born in 1927 in Baghdad, Iraq. He emigrated to England in 1945 as an Iraq State scholar, and settled there. He graduated from the University of London. He is known for his English translations of the Qur’an, Tales from the One Thousand and One Nights (Penguin Classics) and his edition of the Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun. (from Wikipedia).

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that ever since watching the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films I have been fascinated with the stories - even with their many flaws they instilled a sense of mystery and adventure, of daring do and magical adventures. So when many years later I found a copy of the Thousand and One Nights I was drawn to the stories.

This small book which I read in an evening is part of the Penguin 60s collection and contains the stories that make up the seven voyages of Sinbad which are part of the Penguin edition of the Thousand and One Nights as translated by N J Dawood. Like many books which have had numerous translations and I guess interpretations (not to mention the addition of various lost stories to the body of tales) there are different versions but I believe that this is the most common and often referred to edition.

So here we have the glorious and lively tales of Sinbad and his voyages and although you may not know them all there are elements you recognise in all of them.

[Sanchit Bhandari · Rating 4 out of 5]

The voyages of sindbad, the story of the man who survived.
First of all I would like to say that I picked this book because it was small not that I always select small books but as I was in mood of some light reading.

Sindbad is really a typical hero different from others, the book is different thaN the other adventure stories where morality is the first thing to see no sindabad is all about making the toughest decision of life, about the survival instincts and the ability to adapt, about never giving up and making sure that you live no matter the cost.
It's very much like the Oddyssy, about not giving hope even in toughest of situations when life seems so cruel and death a freind, a time when life is living hell and death is a heaven, when everything else is irrelevant and only thing left is two breathing lungs and a painfull beating heart.But it does't matter for you know that after the night dawn will come, for your only hope is that you would survive what no one else did, you will succed where your predessors fail and you keep on going and going......
The characterisation is also very typical theirs a poor man who thinks that the only person happy is the rich, the one who have money have nothing to loose and nothing to worry, and then their is the rich who have all the wealth in the world, but where does this come from from, the farthest of lands, from the voyages that he always want to forget but never will.His wealth is nothing but a sin and if anything it do is to torture him to make him remmember what happened with him and what he did, his sins of the past are a haunting ghost and all his wealth do is make sure that the ghost lives to haunt him.
On each of his seven voyages Sindabad have ended shipwreked in a situation that no one else have ever survived and each time he did survived, for he was ready to do anything that ensures his survival, he was redy to kill, ready to left others, sacrifice his crewmates, anything is fair for the question was not morality but survival of fittest.Just like Oddyseus he would sacrifice his crewmates rather to face the terror of death
the book touches the depth of human instincts insted of all the talk about religion and morality deeply we are still a species trying to survive and if survival means killing that's a small price, the only thing impotant is to make sure you breath and you heart beats.No matter what happen to others the onlythig matters is I live
In the end the strongest weapon that a human posses is not compassion, passion, morality or strength but a planning mind, hope and a littel fate

[PurplyCookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven voyages. Seven missions. Only one man has survived them.

A poor man (Sindbad the Porter) meets a man who shares his name: a great sailor who welcomes him to his house and to his table. The former was amazed to be told of seven journeys to foreign lands, every one ending in shipwreck.

As he listens, the traveler describes a flight on a giant bird, battles with foes including giant serpents, brutal cannibals and the murderous Old Man of the Sea, and the discovery of diamonds.

Sindbad the Sailor has grown rich from his travels--but his path to fortune has been anything but easy...

This volume also includes "The Tale of Ma'aruf the Cobbler": both tales proving to be entertaining reads and never one to disappoint.


Book Details:

Title Vol. XX: The Voyages of Sindbad (Penguin Epics)
Author Anonymous (trans. by N.J. Dawood)
Reviewed By Purplycookie

[Emkoshka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being part of so many book clubs means I'm often compelled to read things I wouldn't otherwise have chosen for myself. Such is the story of my encounter with this slim volume. An easy and entertaining read on a summer's day, each of Sindbad's voyages is more outlandishly dangerous and remarkable than the last. From Rocs to a charnel cave, apes, giants, cannibals and tons of treasure, Sindbad survives to tell the tale ... and then ventures out again for more! A little repetitive, but ridiculously good fun. It makes me want to break out the Odyssey again, as these classic adventure stories remain truly timeless in their spirit and magic.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

i picked this book up to read becasue it was very small. you know, fits in a pocket, read it on the bus small. i dont really ever ride the bus, but that is neither here nor there. becasue i dont really ever have specified blocks of time to read i figured shorter smaller easier reads would be, well, easier.

and this was an easy read. it was the seven voyages of sindbad and another story of ma'aruf and fatimah. i literally just finished the second story, and with about ten pages left i found myself thinking "what the hell is the point of this story." i didnt think that with the voyages, but i should have.

i have been sitting here most of the day doing absolutely nothing. becasue, now that i am laid off for good, i just dont have anything to do. after hours and hours i decided to start packing. packing for what? i really just dont know. yeah, i have it as a loose plan to move from portland to chicago but i have either overthought it or not thought about it enough. becasue it certainly does not seem real.

when i went traveling the other year, i but all of my books and other things on some shelves in my ex-girlfriends house and when i came back i got all that stuff back. and it was A LOT of stuff. enough to fill my pickup truck completely. and it all sat there in the truck for a month or so while i was sort of couch surfing and looking for a place to live.

once i found that place to live all that stuff just came out and got put away. all in plain sight, but arranged in such a way that it would look like i had some kind of life. like maybe a stranger or new friend would come to my quarters and think "woah, this dude has interests and likes specific things and probably has something about life figured out." what an idiot! becasue i have absolutely nothing figured out.

and reading this second story - the fatimah one - was really depressing. here's this guy, he's got a mean wife and is just trying to do his best to get by. then he finds a way out, he doesnt have to think about it, no prolonged weighing of options tese magic rings and djinnies just fall to him and he goes on with life. the good life, or at least a better life.

i dont really beleive in djinnies so i dont think i am going to find some magic ring. but i do wish there were some kind of catalyst that i could reference to do something in life. you know, like maybe a close family member got real sick and, voila!, theres a good reason to move back closer to them. it seems so selfish to say that i just want to be closer to my family. maybe it isnt selfish, it's proactive. who knows?

and what of life once i actually get somewhere new? that's probably going to suck. i dont do very much here in portland, but i know that i can. i got a bunch a friends that i call on infrequently who would probably love to hang out and do something out of the ordinary. i dont think i have that in chicago. i got like three friends there. life is just so stupid and confusing.

so, here i am, packing. i am going through all of these books that i have had for years. most of which i havent touched since i put them on a shelf when they came out of the truck. and i separating them. can't move cross country with a bunch of random paper that i may or may not ever want to utilize for it's intended purpose. and anyway, like i said, most of these books are just posturing, a silent signal to random folks that maybe i am deeper than i let on. maybe i have sort of hidden talent or interest. maybe there is something there to want to be a part of.

might as well just cut the lies out right now. you know, sever and move on. rebuild. so, now all of the books that were neatly arranged on shelves with little trinkets and dead plants strewn about them are packed tightly in a corner closet. waiting for boxes, and then they go back in the truck and to a store that will buy them.

and that is where i start hitting another fucking roadblock. the store that buys them is also the store i've wanted to work at for about 8 years, the store that i did work at for 6 months, and the store that laid me off leading me into this dismal spiral of questioning life and stuff. so, i 'm scared to go back to the place and face all the people i used to work with. to tell them, "yeah, since you fired me i have slowly been unraveling and now i am selling all mys hit to move back near my parents." two minutes after i leave they are all laughing at the pathetic plight that is my life.

or maybe not, maybe they'll just say hi and want to catch up, give me a couple hundred dollars and compliment me on my book collection. either way i'll have to go there. i cant sit in my house until the future gets the best of me. gotta get out sometime somehow.

so, i was disappointed in the seven voyages of sindbad also. each of the voyages were similar. and the timeline seemed way off. dude was married at least three times and killed countless people just because he was growing weary of being idly rich. and now since he presumably cannot have more adventures he pays random porters to feign delight in the lame trips he took as a kid. which are also probably exaggerated.

but, see what i am getting at? here i am, sure i never killed a roc or sailed the seven seas or anything, but i've had adventures. i dont go into much detail about them, but i've had them. and am i just going to move back to chicago and rest on the laurels of my past? sit at the bar and drink 75 cent cans of beer while i tell some wide-eyed 21 year old from the suburbs about how i did some protest stuff, or set up a pirate radio station, or lived in a truck? probably not. i'll just sit at home and silently pine for a life that i never should have left.

also, for the record, as it currently stands: i have zero regrets about my life. zero regrets about the choices i've made which in retrospect havent always been awesome, but there is no changing it.

so, welcome to chicago march 2011 style.

[Dergrossest · Rating 3 out of 5]

[This is a review of the 1955 Heritage Press edition, chock-full of interesting illustrations.:] Once again, I seem to have forgotten the unrepentant cruelty and questionable morality of another childhood favorite. Sindbad is quite the sharp operator, constantly beating the odds because of his willingness to cheat or kill any friend or foe standing in his way. Maybe I fail to appreciate the subtleties of the Oriental mind, but Sindbad seems to me a very questionable hero (or maybe he is the original anti-hero) and the antithesis of post-Greek, Western heroes who were paragons of honesty and fair-dealing. Such perfect personages may indeed be unrealistic, but at least they possess characteristics to which we should aspire, which is more than I can say for Sindbad who can most charitably be described as a survivor. Nevertheless, I am glad that I re-read the book.

[Coenraad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely addition to the Penguin 60s set: slightly older and stylishly elegant translations of these stories that one assumes are familiar until one reads them and discovers what they actually contain. If read in one go, like I did, they become too similar; one should show self-discipline and read one per day, as they were told. Timeless narratives.

Hierdie stel verhale omtrent Sindbad se seereise is tydlose stories. Lees hulle egter een per dag, soos hulle vertel is, om die eenselwigheid te verdoesel. Elegante vertalings.

[Daren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a slightly different translation from the one in my copy of The Book of One Thousand Nights and One Night,and is of course much shorter.
It is however a great story (or story cycle) in any translation.

[Polar Bear Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really missed it when I finished it. Love the bravery in this character!

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav]

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}--- :}|{:-:}|{:- * FOLLOW 4 FOLLOW * -:}|{:-:}|{: ---{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}--------:}|{:-:}|{:- * LINKS * -:}|{:-:}|{:----------{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~
***********************************************

~} * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * - * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * {~
* -} neuralsurfer {- *
~} * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * - * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * {~

* -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{:- ^ AUDIOBOOK ^ -:}|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{}|{:- * SUMMARY * -:}|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{:- * RATING * -:}|{:- * /10 * -:}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{}|{: =EXPERIENCES=&=DISCERNMENTS= :}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{: = ? = }|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VWrl... {- *

* -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- *

* -} Gestalt Psychology Simplified with Examples and Principles {- *

* -:}|{}|{: = MY SYNTHESISED ( ^ GESTALT ^ ) OF THE * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * ( WAY THE AUTHOR FRAMES = HIS WRITING PERSPECTIVES ) & ( POINTERS & IMPLICATIONS = the conclusion that can be drawn IMPLICITYLY from something although it is not EXPLICITLY stated ) = :}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{: = ? = }|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

[Wreade1872 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tough read for me as are all folk/fairytales. But it makes up for it with the content. This is NOT the Sindbad your familiar with. It's amazing to think they got all those films from this source.
You know he's only called 'the Sailor' because he travels by boat a lot, thats like calling someone 'the Pilot' cause they use a lot of air-travel!
He's also a coward, remarkably docile in captivity and with a nasty habit of figuring ways out of a trap once everyone ELSE is dead. Oh and the 4th voyage, wow!! it really says everything you need to know about this guy :lol .
(read from the Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang)

[Adam Calhoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating for the Sindbad and Aladdin stories, in particular. Read this in prep for the Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

Sindbad was surprisingly fun! I understand why it is so popular to re-make as a movie, I would love to see a great modern re-interpretation. A lot of interesting mythical non-sense and adventure.

The story of Aladdin makes no sense to me. There's just so many infinite wishes rings lying around. The conclusion is that the infinite wish lamp gets stolen so Aladdin just uses his infinite wishes ring to take it back? Why did he even need the lamp when he had the ring? What was going on here?

[Deb Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t realise how gruesome and macabre these original stories were, not the watered down kids’ versions I’d always seen (although on rereading even the kids’ stories are still pretty gruesome with great dollops of violence and cannibalism!) Shock and horror, not even if those of his travelling companions who befall grisly deaths but Sindbad himself thinks little of slaughtering people in his way. Maybe it’s all in the translation! Anyway, curious little book and I’ll probably have nightmares tonight!!!

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is basically a bunch of guys bragging about the stuff they did. Some bragging is done by way of introduction: "Hi, I'm Sinbad. Want to hear about my awesome sailing adventure?" Mix that with women used as collateral, traded or offered from man to man-seen as a prize to be won or given-or women portrayed as evil and wicked and in need of destruction and we have a bro-code frat adventure. Not really for our current times.

[Marcin Roszkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

To nie do końca Sindbad, którego znamy z kreskówek czy opowieści Leśmiana. To arabskie legendy, przetłumaczone na angielski i podane czytelnikowi, by się z nimi zmierzył. Lektura bezkompromisowa, niekiedy okrutna, niekiedy trudna do zrozumienia, na wskroś przesiąknięta kulturą arabską. Fascynująca, inna, uderzająca dokładnie w te struny, w które trzeba.

[Amy ;) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Premier conte un peu répétitif mais c’est un conte donc c’est pas trop trop grave par contre top le Old Man of the Sea m‘a dégouté 🤢
Ma‘aruf j’allais te défoncer t’as eu grave de la chance !! Et aussi une femme capable 👰‍♀️

[Nousheen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a good book.

[Sarah chaher]

2020 kept us at home, but Sindbad took me to marvelous adventures throughout the book 😍

[Alissia Hannuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful and special book, beautifully translated

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling and exhilarating read! I absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down!

[Jarod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also included is a second tale: Ma'aruf the Cobbler.

[Rock · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is simply a personal opinion. This is my first attempt on any Arabian Nights story and I can say the story truly did not age well in modern times. It was expected that stories stretched as far back as a thousand years varied greatly through the evolvement of culture, religion, society and plenty other aspects.

Yet, could not deny fact that some ideas portrayed were outright appalling. Ali Baba who found the cave filled with treasures stashed by the robbers was meant to say that it was right to steal because stealing from robbers were not wrong just because they were robbers. so it was acceptable to steal one's possession. There were scenes of brutality and grosteque that were told as a matter of fact made it felt like an everyday life past time. Victim was chopped into six pieces and hung on the wall , and family member moved on.

Ali Baba's slave poured burning oil onto thirty nine unknowing thieves were fine and rewarded. To the society murder was fine if it was committed onto thieves. The brutish act of pouring burning oil could melt naked skin and screaming of agony were not mentioned and it was repeated onto thirty nine different people. It made the slave much worst than thieves , if not sadistic for even willingly committing murders that were worst than death. And this was rewarded? These stories were outright disgusting.

I be damned, the world of Arabian Nights were nothing but a living hell for poor people of the time. It was startling that description so dark were told in a casual manner. How could this even be a children's bedtime story at all?

[Kimberly Fields · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is something mystical and magical about the Arabian Nights. One can't help but feel excited at the thrill of reading such classics as Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor, and so forth. Unfortunately, in this case there was more magic in the thought of reading the book, than in the actual book. The stories in this version were interesting, but most were not compelling enough on their own. I especially got tired of hearing about Sinbad's voyages and how every time he gets home safely he promptly forgets all the times he regretted leaving home and gets sucked into another voyage and another disastrous situation. Of course, he always manages to get out of the situation and end up richer (apparently the only goal in any of these stories-- as long as you're rich, nothing else matters), but in the meantime he doesn't learn his lesson and the repetitive journeys get old. The other stories got equally tedious, and seemed rather barbaric, with a lot of cutting people in half or chopping them in quarters or boiling them to death with oil. (These parts aren't explicit at all, but the idea is still more disturbing than I care for.) I don't know if Western folklore is tamer than Arabic, or if it has just been softened over the centuries, but these Arabic tales seemed a lot more violent than typical Western fairy tales.

In conclusion, it was interesting to read these selections from the Arabian nights, but I wouldn't care to read them again.

[Mariyam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories are inception, it's a story of one person telling another person a story about someone who's also telling stories to others.
The tales, on their own, are repetitive and strange, as are all tall tales. But, after being able to keep track of all the characters and narrators, I enjoyed it, enough to see underlying themes and stuff. It wasn't dramatically like there was a moral for each story, and it's not really the type of book you read to be invested in the plot and characters.
I think somebody needs to make an animated series, because the artwork could be truly killer with a bit of imagination. Did I mention that the imagery isn't exactly extravagant written in the book?
Basically a collection of short, surface-value stories, meant to be solely entertaining. It's simply oral tradition.
Also kind of pissed off that Sindbad is the most well-known from this collection, when he's literally the same thing 7 times. It should've been called "The Queen's Tales of 1,000 and 1 Arabian Night" قصص الملكة من ألف ليلة عربية واحدة

[Storey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my 'bedtime' book for a while. I'd read a few stories out of it before going to bed. It's a fun little introduction into the "Arbian Nights." But I'm not sure I would want to read the whole one-thousand-and-one nights - the tales are a little repetitive and seem to use the same kind of themes over and over.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guy does not know the meaning of a quiet life! Stop adventuring and settle down you stupid man! If the same bad things happen every time you go away, maybe that's a hint that you shouldn't go away!

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retellings of the familiar stories of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Sindbad the Sailor, and many others that the Scheherazade told to her husband the sultan so that he would not kill her in the morning!

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories of Seven voyages of Sindbad taken from 1001 Tales of Arabian Nights offer an aspect of life steeped in Moslem tradition and has a focus on adventure and eventual coming home to one’s real true home

[Vika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining little stories. But what I don't understand is WHY did he go out into the sea SEVEN times, if every time, everyone on the ship died and he barely escaped?!

[Goodness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically written.