Arabian Nights

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There was once a poor tailor ... - Rated
Brilliant book. The tales themselves are funny, magical, colourful, earthy, violent and very very colourful. They reveal a lot about the imagination and obsessions of medieval middle eastern society, and human society generally - poverty, work, the wheel of fortune, crime and punishment,truth and lies, god and the devil. Above all they are masterpieces in the art of great story-telling, with all sorts of little twists and turns of plot, narratives within narratives, comic devices, pastiche characters.The translation is superb in its clarity, consistency and stylistic appropriateness. Don't delay - go and educate yourself in one of the foundations of all storytelling and literature.

Truly one of the best collections I've ever read! - Rated
I decided to read this as I am going to Egypt and it was recommended to me. Of course I'd heard the more famous stories such as Aladdin and Sinbad when I was younger, but little did I know what was in store for me as I read a broader selection of these tales! This is a great edition, and you can easily imagine many of the cruder tales being regaled around a campfire long ago. Many of the stories really appealed to the little girl in me, with wonderful stories of magic and genies (or jinns!) and romance. I would definitely recommend this, as it's a selection and you can read these before deciding whether you want to pursue them and go for the full hog. As I've also read The Canterbury Tales and Boccaccio's Decameron, it was easy to see parallels and you can certainly see where much of the later great writers drew their inspiration from. Please read this book, it really is one of those that can be enjoyed by anyone of any age!

Superb translat. of the stories, read by entrancing readers - Rated
Not all translations of 1001 Nights are alike; this translation by NJ Dawood is fresh, funny, and true to the medieval Islamic culture. What's more, the stories are as enchanting to children (8 and up) as they are to adults. Jinns, sorcerers, caliphs, and crafty mothers are in this translation as they are in others, but here they are firmly tied to everyday life -- they might be your neighbors, if your neighbors lived in an enchanted ring or lamp. Realistic and bawdy, serious and fantastic, this is the version I like best.

This audiocassette publication, read by Souad Faress and Raad Rawi, is one of the best books on tape I own. The rythms of the Middle East compliment the stories in a way no library reader has ever done before. Even though the base translation is abridged, the six hours of stories will keep you entranced. My son and I did a 200-mile each way trip with this book as our entertainment, and were sorry when the last tape finally ended.