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Tales from the Arabian Nights
This book is a selection by Andrew Lang of the most relevant tales found in the one thousand and one nights, some of which became classics of literature and inspired animated films. There are numerous high definition illustrations beautifully drawn by H. J. Ford. (Preface) The stories in the Fairy Books have generally been such as old women in country places tell to their grandchildren. Nobody knows how old they are, or who told them first. The children of Ham, Shem and Japhet may have listened to them in the Ark, on wet days. Hector's little boy may have heard them in Troy Town, for it is certain that Homer knew them, and that some of them were written down in Egypt about the time of Moses. (Preface)
303 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1998
104 people are currently reading
991 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Lang
2,906 books555 followersTales of the Scottish writer and anthropologist Andrew Lang include
The Blue Fairy Book
(1889).
Andrew Gabriel Lang, a prolific Scotsman of letters, contributed poetry, novels, literary criticism, and collected now best folklore.
The Young Scholar and Journalist
Andrew Gabriel Lang, the son of the town clerk and the eldest of eight children, lived in Selkirk in the Scottish borderlands. The wild and beautiful landscape of childhood greatly affected the youth and inspired a lifelong love of the outdoors and a fascination with local folklore and history. Charles Edward Stuart and Robert I the Bruce surrounded him in the borders, a rich area in history. He later achieved his literary Short History of Scotland .
A gifted student and avid reader, Lang went to the prestigious Saint Andrews University, which now holds a lecture series in his honor every few years, and then to Balliol College, Oxford. He later published Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes about the city in 1880.
Moving to London at the age of 31 years in 1875 as an already published poet, he started working as a journalist. His dry sense of humor, style, and huge array of interests made him a popular editor and columnist quickly for The Daily Post, Time magazine and Fortnightly Review. Whilst working in London, he met and married Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang, his wife.
Interest in myths and folklore continued as he and Leonora traveled through France and Italy to hear local legends, from which came the most famous The Rainbow Fairy Books . In the late 19th century, interest in the native stories declined and very few persons recounting them for young readers. In fact, some educationalists attacked harmful magical stories in general to children. To challenge this notion, Lang first began collecting stories for the first of his colored volumes.
Lang gathered already recorded stories, while other folklorists collected stories directly from source. He used his time to collect a much greater breadth over the world from Jacob Grimm, his brother, Madame d'Aulnoy, and other less well sources.
Lang also worked as the editor, often credited as its sole creator for his work despite the essential support of his wife, who transcribed and organised the translation of the text, to the success.
He published to wide acclaim. The beautiful illustrations and magic captivated the minds of children and adults alike. The success first allowed Lang and Leonora to carry on their research and in 1890 to publish a much larger print run of The Red Fairy Book , which drew on even more sources. Between 1889 and 1910, they published twelve collections, which, each with a different colored binding, collected, edited and translated a total of 437 stories. Lang, credited with reviving interest in folklore, more importantly revolutionized the Victorian view and inspired generations of parents to begin reading them to children once more.
Last Works
Lang produced and at the same time continued a wide assortment of novels, literary criticism, articles, and poetry. As Anita Silvey, literary critic, however, noted, "The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession... he is best recognized for the works he did not write," the folk stories that he collected.
He finished not the last Highways and Byways of the Border but died.
Andrew Gabriel Lang, a prolific Scotsman of letters, contributed poetry, novels, literary criticism, and collected now best folklore.
The Young Scholar and Journalist
Andrew Gabriel Lang, the son of the town clerk and the eldest of eight children, lived in Selkirk in the Scottish borderlands. The wild and beautiful landscape of childhood greatly affected the youth and inspired a lifelong love of the outdoors and a fascination with local folklore and history. Charles Edward Stuart and Robert I the Bruce surrounded him in the borders, a rich area in history. He later achieved his literary Short History of Scotland .
A gifted student and avid reader, Lang went to the prestigious Saint Andrews University, which now holds a lecture series in his honor every few years, and then to Balliol College, Oxford. He later published Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes about the city in 1880.
Moving to London at the age of 31 years in 1875 as an already published poet, he started working as a journalist. His dry sense of humor, style, and huge array of interests made him a popular editor and columnist quickly for The Daily Post, Time magazine and Fortnightly Review. Whilst working in London, he met and married Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang, his wife.
Interest in myths and folklore continued as he and Leonora traveled through France and Italy to hear local legends, from which came the most famous The Rainbow Fairy Books . In the late 19th century, interest in the native stories declined and very few persons recounting them for young readers. In fact, some educationalists attacked harmful magical stories in general to children. To challenge this notion, Lang first began collecting stories for the first of his colored volumes.
Lang gathered already recorded stories, while other folklorists collected stories directly from source. He used his time to collect a much greater breadth over the world from Jacob Grimm, his brother, Madame d'Aulnoy, and other less well sources.
Lang also worked as the editor, often credited as its sole creator for his work despite the essential support of his wife, who transcribed and organised the translation of the text, to the success.
He published to wide acclaim. The beautiful illustrations and magic captivated the minds of children and adults alike. The success first allowed Lang and Leonora to carry on their research and in 1890 to publish a much larger print run of The Red Fairy Book , which drew on even more sources. Between 1889 and 1910, they published twelve collections, which, each with a different colored binding, collected, edited and translated a total of 437 stories. Lang, credited with reviving interest in folklore, more importantly revolutionized the Victorian view and inspired generations of parents to begin reading them to children once more.
Last Works
Lang produced and at the same time continued a wide assortment of novels, literary criticism, articles, and poetry. As Anita Silvey, literary critic, however, noted, "The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession... he is best recognized for the works he did not write," the folk stories that he collected.
He finished not the last Highways and Byways of the Border but died.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
September 13, 2018
Masterfully written!
The Sultan Schahriar had the most beautiful wife. But when he found her dishonoring him in the worst way he has no choice but to put her to death. To ensure that this blasphemy will never happen to him again every night he takes on a new bride and every morning the bride is ordered killed by the grand vizier. But one day the grand vizier's eldest daughter comes to him and tells him that she has a plan to get the sultan to stop murdering young women. But the catch is she has to marry him first. with much reluctance the grand vizier finally agrees to her plan knowing that if she fails he will have to murder her himself. With the help of her younger sister they weave a web of stories to enchant the sultan. Every night a new story takes place and every night they are spared their lives.
Stories within stories with in stories are interweave so cleverly and beautifully that they flow into the readers very soul. Vaguely reminiscent of Aesop's Fables, these stories are magnificent and hold their own life lessons within timeless moral confines.
I enjoyed this book immensely! The illustrations are amazingly gorgeous and add to the feel of the book and the stories themselves and in a way even make the stories come to life. I feel that everyone should read this book of stories at least once in their lives. It's well worth it! ❤️
The Sultan Schahriar had the most beautiful wife. But when he found her dishonoring him in the worst way he has no choice but to put her to death. To ensure that this blasphemy will never happen to him again every night he takes on a new bride and every morning the bride is ordered killed by the grand vizier. But one day the grand vizier's eldest daughter comes to him and tells him that she has a plan to get the sultan to stop murdering young women. But the catch is she has to marry him first. with much reluctance the grand vizier finally agrees to her plan knowing that if she fails he will have to murder her himself. With the help of her younger sister they weave a web of stories to enchant the sultan. Every night a new story takes place and every night they are spared their lives.
Stories within stories with in stories are interweave so cleverly and beautifully that they flow into the readers very soul. Vaguely reminiscent of Aesop's Fables, these stories are magnificent and hold their own life lessons within timeless moral confines.
I enjoyed this book immensely! The illustrations are amazingly gorgeous and add to the feel of the book and the stories themselves and in a way even make the stories come to life. I feel that everyone should read this book of stories at least once in their lives. It's well worth it! ❤️
September 3, 2009
Great book. Not one that can be read in one sitting, though. I really like the form of narrative, with a story leading into or encompassing another story. Most of this book is like onion layers. You really do want to have a bookmark handy if you put this one down. This was Scheherazade's tactic to keep King Shahryar's attention so that he couldn't have her executed the next morning. He was a very insane man who hated women to the degree that he would marry a virgin and have her killed the next morning. Fortunately Scheherazade was a very clever woman with a gift for fantastic storytelling. Her plan worked splendidly, as 1001 nights passed and she was still living.
If you are a fan of fairy tales, but haven't really diverted away from the European ones quite yet, this is a good stepping stone. They are filled with the exotic and mystical appeal of the East, but are similar enough to the European tales to maintain that fairy tale appeal.
I'm sure that most people are familiar with some of the staples: Sinbad, Aladdin, Ali Baba, but there are other, less popular, but just as good or better stories in the Arabian Nights that it was a joy to discover for the first time.
This is a shorter version of the Arabian Nights. A good place to start for a beginner or a person with a short attention span (I tend to be like the latter at times). I intend to read the full-length version. Barnes and Noble has a version available Arabian Nights The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night. It may take me a while, but it gives me something to look forward to. Definitely delve into the Arabian Nights. You won't be sorry when you do.
If you are a fan of fairy tales, but haven't really diverted away from the European ones quite yet, this is a good stepping stone. They are filled with the exotic and mystical appeal of the East, but are similar enough to the European tales to maintain that fairy tale appeal.
I'm sure that most people are familiar with some of the staples: Sinbad, Aladdin, Ali Baba, but there are other, less popular, but just as good or better stories in the Arabian Nights that it was a joy to discover for the first time.
This is a shorter version of the Arabian Nights. A good place to start for a beginner or a person with a short attention span (I tend to be like the latter at times). I intend to read the full-length version. Barnes and Noble has a version available Arabian Nights The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night. It may take me a while, but it gives me something to look forward to. Definitely delve into the Arabian Nights. You won't be sorry when you do.
July 28, 2020
من خيلي وقت بود كه ميخواستم هزار و يك شب رو بخونم ولي تنبلي و كمبود سواد ادبي مجال نميده بشينم متن كاملش رو بخونم. يك چيز نسبتا خلاصه شده ازش داشتم مال نوجوانان و نشر قدياني، البته اون قدر ها هم بچه گونه نيست ولي مثلا كلمه هاي سخت رو تو زيرنويس (پانويس؟) معني كرده. بعد خلاصه اون كتابه هم خيلي خواب آور بود. تا اين كه روزي روزگاري در شهركتاب ابن سينا در بخش انگليسي با اين مواجه شدم. قصه هاي هزار و يك شب به انتخاب اندرو لانگ! اول نميخواستم بخرمش چون لابد گرون بود ولي وقتي ديدم بين اون همه كتاب ٤٠-٥٠ تومني، اين ٦ تومن (بله! ٦ تومن!!) ه حيفم اومد نخرمش. البته خوندن ترجمه انگليسي از يه كتاب فارسي كار احمقانه ايه ولي خب منم احمقم :دي ضمن اين كه خيلي خوب بود و من خيلي راضيم ازش. اون سير تو در تو بودن قصه ها رم خيلي خوب حفظ كرده بود.
May 26, 2016
Lovedddd it up until the end of The Prince and the Princess! What a disturbing ending. Otherwise enjoyable! Would have liked more about how it ended for Scheherazade!
April 18, 2024
This is where the original tall stories of travellers came from, as Scheherazade keeps herself alive by telling her murderous husband stories of Sindbad the Sailor and such.
Sinbad's stories of where his diamonds, rubies and emeralds came from, involve mythical beasts and impossible giant bird rides, but these tales may have been nicer than mines full of slaves chained together.
These tales follow travellers and traders across the Indian Ocean to the Middle Eastern countries of the time, Persia and Zanzibar. They originate in the Sasanid period and just after, from 200 to 800 AD. So they are younger than the Greek Myths, and older than Shakespeare.
A fascinating look at the pre-Islam era Middle East and Subcontinent.
Sinbad's stories of where his diamonds, rubies and emeralds came from, involve mythical beasts and impossible giant bird rides, but these tales may have been nicer than mines full of slaves chained together.
These tales follow travellers and traders across the Indian Ocean to the Middle Eastern countries of the time, Persia and Zanzibar. They originate in the Sasanid period and just after, from 200 to 800 AD. So they are younger than the Greek Myths, and older than Shakespeare.
A fascinating look at the pre-Islam era Middle East and Subcontinent.
August 19, 2014
If you are someone who likes to weave tales or to put up excuses for doing a task, then take a bow. You are a Scheherazade.
I give it to Scheherazade. Telling stories that fascinate and distract a Sultan who kills a new wife every night is no child's play. And so emerges the theme of the Thousand and One Nights or Tales from the Arabian Nights: a story with an embedded story, with another story, and another one, and another, yet another...
I need to do more research on the provenance of these stories, one of the most exciting collection of stories to have come from the medieval Arab/Persian/Indian civilizations. Though they are enthralling to read, I have a hunch that the stories collated here by the Scottish writer Andrew Lang is a sanitized version, as one can detect hints of more gruesome violence and even erotica.
Merchants, sultans, kings, princes and princesses, beautiful slaves, genii, magicians, dervishes, the Tales from the Arabian Nights are a plethora of characters, real and imagined. (But where is the story of Ali Baba?)
That the Tales from the Arabian Nights are products of the medieval Islamic Arab, Persian, and Indian civilizations is an irony, as the thugs and genocidal bandits of the so-called Islamic State
who are killing, pillaging, and raping religious minorities and even their fellow Muslims are a far cry from the medieval Islamic civilizations that they claim to want to reestablish. Shame on them. God will do justice to those mindless barbarians.
I give it to Scheherazade. Telling stories that fascinate and distract a Sultan who kills a new wife every night is no child's play. And so emerges the theme of the Thousand and One Nights or Tales from the Arabian Nights: a story with an embedded story, with another story, and another one, and another, yet another...
I need to do more research on the provenance of these stories, one of the most exciting collection of stories to have come from the medieval Arab/Persian/Indian civilizations. Though they are enthralling to read, I have a hunch that the stories collated here by the Scottish writer Andrew Lang is a sanitized version, as one can detect hints of more gruesome violence and even erotica.
Merchants, sultans, kings, princes and princesses, beautiful slaves, genii, magicians, dervishes, the Tales from the Arabian Nights are a plethora of characters, real and imagined. (But where is the story of Ali Baba?)
That the Tales from the Arabian Nights are products of the medieval Islamic Arab, Persian, and Indian civilizations is an irony, as the thugs and genocidal bandits of the so-called Islamic State
who are killing, pillaging, and raping religious minorities and even their fellow Muslims are a far cry from the medieval Islamic civilizations that they claim to want to reestablish. Shame on them. God will do justice to those mindless barbarians.
September 11, 2021
Price su divne, zaista su me vratile u detinjstvo, mada kao i uvek kada je u pitanju litaratura za mladje, ja vise ne mogu da se uzivim potpuno u radnju, jer imaju dosta rupa i nelogicnih elemenata, a tu ne mislim na fantasticne elemente. Pre mislim na nesto poput toga da princ koji ima zacaranog leteceg konja sleti negde, ni sam ne zna gde, a onda ne zna sta da radi, pa, iako je uplasen, odlucuje da udje u palatu kraj koje je sleteo znajuci da ce ga to mozda kostati glave. Meni bi logicno bilo da ponovo sednem na konja i vratim se u svoje kraljevstvo. :D Ali, da je tako uradio, price ne bi bilo... Naravno, do kraja knjige mi je vec malo i dosadilo sto su svi princevi, sultani i princeze plemeniti, dobri, najlepsi na svetu, pa cak i ako ne rastu u palati (jer su oteti), maniri i uzviseno drzanje se nekako prilepe za njih pa svi nekako znaju da su visokog roda. :D Kako god, znam da sam citala bajke, a u njima je sve moguce i sve je dozvoljeno. :)) Odlicna zbirka!
July 11, 2016
Denne bog var spændende og interessant! Jeg tog på opdagelse i en masse gamle eventyr og fortællinger, hvor jeg samtidig fik den rigtige historie om blandt andet Aladdin og Sinbad. Jeg nød de fleste af historierne, og der var ikke rigtigt noget tidspunkt, hvor jeg kedede mig eller ikke syntes den var spændende.
Jeg synes det er en herlig effekt med rammefortællingen - hvor vi er inde i en historie, i en historie og muligvis i en anden historie. Man skal holde hoved og hale i det, i nogle enkelte eventyr, men ellers fungerer det ret godt. Derudover er der de fineste illustrationer i bogen af H. J. Ford.
Jeg kunne godt tænke mig at læse alle historierne fra 1001 nats eventyr, da denne udgave blot er redigeret af Andrew Lang, som har udvalgt 33 eventyr - som er unikke hver især.
Jeg synes det er en herlig effekt med rammefortællingen - hvor vi er inde i en historie, i en historie og muligvis i en anden historie. Man skal holde hoved og hale i det, i nogle enkelte eventyr, men ellers fungerer det ret godt. Derudover er der de fineste illustrationer i bogen af H. J. Ford.
Jeg kunne godt tænke mig at læse alle historierne fra 1001 nats eventyr, da denne udgave blot er redigeret af Andrew Lang, som har udvalgt 33 eventyr - som er unikke hver især.
February 26, 2015
I've had the hots for Toby Stephens ever since I saw his portrayal of Rochester 
in the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre. So when I realized he was narrating this book, I jumped at the chance to listen to it.
This is an abridged version of the "One Thousand and One Nights" so it only contains 4 of the most known tales (Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad, etc.) I've never read the stories and was a bit surprised that they were not AT ALL like their Disney counterpart (don't know why I should have been!) The characters are not sympathetic but very greedy people mostly concerned with riches. I cannot even say they were morality tales because even when the characters do bad things (like Ali Baba stealing from the thieves), they never reach a bad end. There's a lot of gore too with beheadings, people being boiled in oil, being eaten by ogres, you name it!
But I what I enjoyed the most was the narration. Mr. Stephens had such a flare with the voices, the emotions and the characters that the narration fairly sparkled. Most of my enjoyment came from imagining his face while he was narrating the book.
Overall, an entertaining audio with a first rate narration.
in the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre. So when I realized he was narrating this book, I jumped at the chance to listen to it.This is an abridged version of the "One Thousand and One Nights" so it only contains 4 of the most known tales (Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad, etc.) I've never read the stories and was a bit surprised that they were not AT ALL like their Disney counterpart (don't know why I should have been!) The characters are not sympathetic but very greedy people mostly concerned with riches. I cannot even say they were morality tales because even when the characters do bad things (like Ali Baba stealing from the thieves), they never reach a bad end. There's a lot of gore too with beheadings, people being boiled in oil, being eaten by ogres, you name it!
But I what I enjoyed the most was the narration. Mr. Stephens had such a flare with the voices, the emotions and the characters that the narration fairly sparkled. Most of my enjoyment came from imagining his face while he was narrating the book.
Overall, an entertaining audio with a first rate narration.
March 18, 2015
Despite some archaic-Anglicized spelling/translating, Lang's excerpts of the Thousand and One Nights is a decent read; I'll hold on to this copy until I happen across a better.
Lang generally preserves Scheherazade's conceit of running each story into the next, which is a classic fixture of this collection, but as he's left out a number of the stories once you get about 10 or 12 nights in you'll find yourself turning back periodically to check whether pages are missing. As a curator of tales Lang suffices, but does not satisfy.
Lang generally preserves Scheherazade's conceit of running each story into the next, which is a classic fixture of this collection, but as he's left out a number of the stories once you get about 10 or 12 nights in you'll find yourself turning back periodically to check whether pages are missing. As a curator of tales Lang suffices, but does not satisfy.
June 18, 2012
A tale within a tale within a tale within a tale. Eat your heart out, Inception!
September 27, 2025
This was difficult to muddle through. I nearly abandoned it. Not sure if it was a translation/editing deal, but very few of the stories even piqued my interest.
January 7, 2018
One of my main goals this year for my reading list is to finish all the books that I own that I’ve never read. Unfortunately, after 20-something years of collecting, multiple moves across the country (in which my books stayed at the Kamloops home-base), and spending more energy reading library books my unread collection has grown to well over 100 items of varying genre, format, and length and become unsurprisingly daunting. Which is why when I was attempting to pick one to read I gave up and told my boyfriend to pick one for me (as long as it wasn’t Tolkien or Edward Rutherfurd). This could have backfired, but he picked my collection of tales from the Arabian Nights, which actually ended up being a perfect book to read before bed over the Dead Days between Christmas and New Years. My collection was compiled by Andrew Lang, the classic fairytale collector, and while he may have rewritten the stories to soften them for a younger audience I found that this collection was one of his stronger that I’ve read. The tone was very whimsical (but still no nonsense and realistic) and the stories that Scheherazade tells to the Sultan to save her life (and that of all the women in her country) definitely have a magical intrigue that drew me into them. I definitely have to find a more comprehensive collection of the Arabian Nights stories though, since clearly 300 pages does not capture them all and Andrew Lang is not what we would call a top fairytale scholar in reproducing the tales in a more traditional and complete manner. But regardless we’re one book closer to reading my entire collection, and Tales from the Arabian Nights set the quest off on a very positive note!
Want to read
April 13, 2013This version from Wordsworth Classics consists of edited selected tales for children at 346 pages.
Compared to the Complete Tales from Oxford World Classics which I am reading in tandem at 892 pages, the Wordsworth is a snack.
The really major difference is in presentation - the children get the stunning illustrations by H.J.Ford.
And I LOVE illustrations !!!
So I bought it.
The last time I read two books simultaneously was Pushkin's wonderful "Eugene Onegin". This was because I couldn't decide between two differing translations. No regrets whatsoever.
However I really think this time it may well and truly take me One Thousand and One Nights...and Days to read these in parallel.
Which is only appropriate considering Scheherazade had to endure it (with some anxiety) whereas my endurance is savoured by pleasure.
Even so I hope I may be granted some share in her spirit perhaps.
The music of Rimsky-Korsakoff's "Scheherazade" is certainly an immediate form of transportation!!!
This will be Fun.
Compared to the Complete Tales from Oxford World Classics which I am reading in tandem at 892 pages, the Wordsworth is a snack.
The really major difference is in presentation - the children get the stunning illustrations by H.J.Ford.
And I LOVE illustrations !!!
So I bought it.
The last time I read two books simultaneously was Pushkin's wonderful "Eugene Onegin". This was because I couldn't decide between two differing translations. No regrets whatsoever.
However I really think this time it may well and truly take me One Thousand and One Nights...and Days to read these in parallel.
Which is only appropriate considering Scheherazade had to endure it (with some anxiety) whereas my endurance is savoured by pleasure.
Even so I hope I may be granted some share in her spirit perhaps.
The music of Rimsky-Korsakoff's "Scheherazade" is certainly an immediate form of transportation!!!
This will be Fun.
September 4, 2019
Nije ovo izdanje, neko kraće je al ne mogu da ga nađem. Knjiga je fantastična by the way.
November 27, 2025
This is probably about the fourth time I've read a collection of the Arabian Nights, and although flawed this it remains extremely entertaining and even has a handful of moments where it really shines. I'm not comfortable giving it my full golden seal of approval but it presents a great starting point for this very extensive and very important body of literature.
To me many of these stories felt very similar in their telling to the collection of illustrated stories I had a a kid and I think if you go into Lang's work with a kiddy-fairytale mentality, you might have an easier time of overlooking the many ways he both advertently and inadvertently diminished the work. Such as editing the stories to suit his Victorian moral sensibilities, working from a French translation instead of primary sources, sanitation of some of the stories, and at times using the work to talk down on non European cultures. Which when listed out sounds just really really bad, but don't despair because there is still a lot that is actually pretty wonderful.
Lang's choice of stories was pretty good I felt. He kept the framing prelude and then found ways to really work with that frame and show us how interconnected all of the stories are. There are stories with stories within stories within those, and so on, and so on. I didn't count but at one point I was pretty sure we were 8 or so layers deep before we would have reached the frame. And it's fun! Most of my favorite tales were here as well, with the exception of Ali Baba! (which I'm still kind of confused about) but makes up for it with all 7 tales of Sinbad, (although I felt these versions to be slightly rushed) and with a really great telling of the Mechanical horse! There were a few other outstanding moments, but for reasons, I've always loved the story of revenge about the severed talking head of the Greek doctor, and was happy that it was included.
So despite being a white-washed and dumbed down version of the originals, these stories remain fun and leaves lots to think and talk about due to the way in which they were compiled.
To me many of these stories felt very similar in their telling to the collection of illustrated stories I had a a kid and I think if you go into Lang's work with a kiddy-fairytale mentality, you might have an easier time of overlooking the many ways he both advertently and inadvertently diminished the work. Such as editing the stories to suit his Victorian moral sensibilities, working from a French translation instead of primary sources, sanitation of some of the stories, and at times using the work to talk down on non European cultures. Which when listed out sounds just really really bad, but don't despair because there is still a lot that is actually pretty wonderful.
Lang's choice of stories was pretty good I felt. He kept the framing prelude and then found ways to really work with that frame and show us how interconnected all of the stories are. There are stories with stories within stories within those, and so on, and so on. I didn't count but at one point I was pretty sure we were 8 or so layers deep before we would have reached the frame. And it's fun! Most of my favorite tales were here as well, with the exception of Ali Baba! (which I'm still kind of confused about) but makes up for it with all 7 tales of Sinbad, (although I felt these versions to be slightly rushed) and with a really great telling of the Mechanical horse! There were a few other outstanding moments, but for reasons, I've always loved the story of revenge about the severed talking head of the Greek doctor, and was happy that it was included.
So despite being a white-washed and dumbed down version of the originals, these stories remain fun and leaves lots to think and talk about due to the way in which they were compiled.
November 15, 2012
This is a wishy washy version of One Thousand and One Nights, the tales Scheherazade told to King Shahryar every night to stop him beheading her. The introduction to the Arabian Nights claims that they have selected the best stories, taken out the boring bits and verse. Having read part way through the first volume of 1001 nights, I see that they have also taken out all the salacious details, while leaving in the violence and with the exception of a paragraph at the begin no reference to Scheherazade.
What is left is a bunch of well worn fairy stories- a top ten out of thousands. I am going back to the original - it might be a bit of a slog but it is funnier, sexier and more entertaining
What is left is a bunch of well worn fairy stories- a top ten out of thousands. I am going back to the original - it might be a bit of a slog but it is funnier, sexier and more entertaining
February 27, 2014
Fairy tales they are, but not just for children! Andrew Lang's 1898 translation (this one) is not nearly as sensual as Burton's earlier one, allowing the wonder of the stories to shine through. It's worth this trip back to those long-ago days when, as Pete Hamill says in the afterword, television had not yet "scrambled and coarsened the imagination of American children". Read it with that thought in mind, and enjoy again Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba, and the real Aladdin. (Forget the Disney version!)
February 20, 2016
Interesting stories but very dated of course, with male dominated themes and some racism that just make you want to roll your eyes. And a few stories have parts that make no sense or aren't really explained. But I read it since the stories of the Arabian Nights are considered a classic. This edition had a good selection of stories but one story, "Story of the Three Calenders, Sons of Kings, and of Five Ladies of Bagdad" omitted the last part of the story for no apparent reason and I had to look it up online to read it. So I wouldn't recommend this particular edition.
August 31, 2008
An interesting compilation of fables. Typical of its genre in that they are not exactly happy little tales, though most end well. I found it interesting that many of them were connected from fable to fable. That made it difficult to put the book down at the end of the story. My favorite was Aladdin, though I was surprised that it took place in China.
March 16, 2012
Probably the fact that I've read these stories so many times, or absorbed them in so many ways over 17 years, impaired my enjoyment of them. "Yes, read this." "Mhm, this is familiar."
And way familiar, too. In a way this is good. These are the classics. But in another way… where are the lesser-known stories? And what's the end to Scheharezade's story?
And way familiar, too. In a way this is good. These are the classics. But in another way… where are the lesser-known stories? And what's the end to Scheharezade's story?
December 22, 2015
An enjoyable compilation of various iconic fairy tales. Probably one aspect I enjoyed the most was the use of the initial frame narrative and frequent use of stories begetting other stories. Still, I wish the initial frame narrative did come to a conclusion and complete the book.
October 12, 2017
You guys!
No but YOU GUYS!
This book is batshit insane. Why are we painting it as some bizarrely romantic fantasy story when it's actually the craziest, rudest, most violent series of stories I have read in a long time.
But god it's enthralling.
No but YOU GUYS!
This book is batshit insane. Why are we painting it as some bizarrely romantic fantasy story when it's actually the craziest, rudest, most violent series of stories I have read in a long time.
But god it's enthralling.
March 12, 2022
This book is about 350 pages, but it feels like 700+ pages. I enjoyed it when i was reading it. However, the mini stories were at the same levels, patterns. It was like re reading the same story over and over. I stopped reading it after the 7th voyage of sindbad
December 22, 2017
A great book that can pull you out of everyday life and put you fully into an imaginary land. This book was sugested by a family member and it lived up to his excellent choice in books.
Want to read
June 28, 2012Free download for the week of June 28 - July 4 on http://www.audiobooksync.com/
February 11, 2016
I quite enjoyed the tales, I've read them between books.
I only would've liked to read about scheherazede again at the end of the book.
4 stars
I only would've liked to read about scheherazede again at the end of the book.
4 stars
February 5, 2017
An excellent collection of stories ! Great memories from my childhood reading this
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