The 1001 Arabian Nights

by Anonymous, Richard Francis Burton (Translator), Andrew Lang (Adapted By)

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Genres: Classics, Fantasy, Historical, Fiction, Audiobook, Historical Fiction

564 pages, Paperback

Published April 19, 2009

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Phillip Gauronskas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a true classic. All the stories that are told within the 1001 Arabian Nights are within a main overarching story that involves the Royal Vizier's daughter Scheherazade telling her husband a story every night to stay her execution, until he eventually learns to fall in love with her over time. I will say that the book is a product of its time, and there is some pretty blatant anti-black Racism and plenty of misogyny, but if you can get past all of that and accept the collection of stories for what they are, you will find an intricately woven masterpiece of timeless tales and classics that inspired many modern of fairy tales and fantasy media, and will enable you to have a deeper appreciation for the culture behind all of these stories. Definitely worth a read if you have the time. My only regret is that I don't know Arabic well enough to read the original 1001 Arabian Nights, and had to depend on a translation of the text.

[Isaac Blackwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to read this for a while now and I finally got round to it. Can't say I really had much of a good time with it.

Most of the stories were honestly pretty boring and repetitive. The vast majority of them were just different ways of telling the same kind of story of a man trying to get a girl.

Also whoever wrote the tales seems to have had a very low opinion of women and Africans as nearly all of them end up being villains and/or sexual deviants.

Sinbad+Alibaba were the best stories with Aladdin being pretty good as well (Although it went on far to long) but most of the other stories were not really worth the time it took to read them.

All in all I can't say that I'd recommend, The Arabian Night, to others.

[Hrmcginty · Rating 1 out of 5]

So that only took 9 years to get through.

[Shameeleon · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it! took me several copies but delving into the cultures of pre Islamic middle east was wonderful and learning about these esteemed stories was great fun!

[Laila · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a collection of folktales from the Muslim world. It’s also a beautiful path to a whole other world. It’s a long read, but it will be your favorite.

[Quentin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that takes some getting used to. The style of writing is of the medieval Middle East, and the story takes place in the palace of King Shahriyar who, after having his wife cheat on him with hundreds of his own slaves, decides to kill a new wife every night. He has, at this point, killed every woman in the kingdom save one; Shahrazad. She devises a plan to survive, every night she would start a story, and not tell the ending until the next night, Shahriyar kept her alive for 1001 nights just to hear her stories. Now most of the nights have been lost due to the time period, but the ones that I have are: "The Story of the Merchant and the Jinni", "The Story of the Fisherman", “The Story of the Porter the Ladies of Baghdad and of the Three Royal Mendicants,” “The story of the Humpback”, “The Story of Nur-Ed-Din and Enis-El-Jelis” “The story of Es-Sindibad of the Sea and Es-Sindibad of the Land”, “The Story of the City of Brass” and “The Story of Jullanar of the Sea.” In the appendix are the stories of “Ali Baba and the 40 thieves”, and “Ala-Ed-Din and the Wonderful Lamp”, which may or may not have been in the original 1001 nights. These stories are basically: A man angers a Jinni and 3 men tell stories to relieve the claim on the man’s blood; a fisherman finds a Jinni’s body, who shows him a pool of multi colored fish, he shows the king, and the king journeys to find the origin of the pool; a porter is invited into a house where he must not ask that which does not concern him, hilarity ensues; several men are accused of killing a humpback, they must relate a story more wonderful than the way he died, or they will die; a servant falls in love with one of the king’s slaves and steals her, they go off on an adventure; a poor porter finds a huge mansion and believes that the one who owns it doesn’t deserve it, he is proven wrong; several people search for the City of Brass; and a beautiful person of the sea marries a king of the land.
While this book was quite good, it was perhaps to wordy, and every mention of the wood God (whose name be exulted, praise be to him the most perfect, Sullyman is a man of God, praise be him with the most perfect plan) will be met with one of the following and sometimes more. If you plan to read this book, you must be tolerant of the racial differences of medieval times, like slavery, and sexism. As well as the old style writing, not unlike the time of Moby Dick. Overall I enjoyed the book, and recommend it for those who can comprehend it.

[N.J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't not tell people how much I bleed, sweat and cry about One Thousand and One Nights. Even though it isn't a children's book I still fill as though it has an atmosphere of ardor and innocence. I know it might not seem like it. Richard Burton's standardization of the text is probably my favorite version so far - especially since I loved the penguin classics version (very controversial). Though the thing about 1001 nights is that it is not for everyone - I feel as though to really enjoy it you have to slowly immerse yourself into its world. Sharahazad has probably become one of my favorite literary characters because of her dexterity and her adroitness - when faced with her new life. I also feel like 1001 nights is the epitome of explicit fairy tales because it really does show the bonafide sides to all the creatures: Human, Djinn, Ifrits, etc...

[Madelaine Cargill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. I enjoyed the structure of the frame tale, the way Sharazad tells stories inside of her own story, and her tales are told strategically to enforce her point that women are not all lacking in morals or intelligence and are not all sexually deviant as King Shahriar's previous wife had been. The way the smaller stories within the larger story are each separate and entertaining, as well as significant to the overall piece is what impressed me about this book.

[Alice Diorio]

Still better than the Disney film

[Chris Gager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read long ago, maybe even in Jr. High. Might not be the correct version/author. Date read is a guess.

[John Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burton's translation does not censor anything, and his footnotes are hilarious in parts. They tell you more about 19th century ethnography than about the Arab world, though.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, a window into a different time, with universality that makes the stories still interesting. Definitely worth the time to read!

[Henrys Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true classic. Not to be replicated without a loss.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this when we were studying ancient Arabia. We enjoyed most of the stories.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scheherazade, a wonderful story teller.