Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Arabian Nights by Bennett Cerf, Richard Burton ISBN: 0-679-60235-6 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 25 February, 1997 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.17 (23 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Wonderful tales and an excellent look at Arabic culture
Comment: We are all familiar with the stories of Ali Baba, Aladdin, and Sinbad. But where did these tales come from? The answer lies in this wonderful (condensed) volume known as the 'Arabian Nights.'
The story is of a woman, Scheherazade, who marries a king. The king's custom is to spend one night with a woman and execute her in the morning. To avoid this, Scheherazade tells him a tale, but leaves part of it unfinished, thus gaining the king's interest and insuring her survival for another day so she can finish the tale. Being clever, she never finishes it, but keeps it continuously going, until the king finally spares her life.
The stories presented here, though often somewhat crude, have great moral lessons to be learned. The serve as a sort of moral reminder as to how a good person should act.
When Richard Burton translated the Nights, he collected as many manuscripts as possible and pieced together the tales. Many had been created centuries earlier, and were often told during gatherings among friends. Burton, through his unparalelled knack for translation, managed to capture all the magic and mystery that are the Arabian Nights.
Besides the delightful stories and good lessons to be learned, the Nights serve another purpose--they provide an intimate look at the culture of the time. By examining their legends, one can gain a basic understanding of how Arabic culture functions. There is as much to be learned about the people who tell these stories as there is from the stories themselves.
I read this book for historical and cultural value, and found it to be abundant in both. Besides that, though, I encountered a mesmerizing set of tales which will be entertaining to any audience, even (after some revision and editing) children.
Rating: 5
Summary: A wonderful glimpse into a fantastic world of tales.
Comment: This is a sometimes brutal, mostly wonderful, anthology of tales weaved into the story of a corageous young woman who uses her enchanting narration as a means of survival. All of the magical stories take place in a long gone world with cultural differences that might offend sensitive readers. Yet the morals of the book never clash with our present values and it provides us with a look into a world since forgotten. The tales and fables are ingeniously connected, stories within stories, and are captivating and full of fantastic characters, wonderful places and legendary creatures. This is the source of many common children stories such as Aladin and the Genie, The travels of Sinbad, and Ali-Baba and the forty thieves. I recomend it as a nightly read for small children during story time, with a small warning for mature content.
Rating: 5
Summary: Burton, the Scholar and Adventurer, & The Arabian Nights
Comment: This is a phenomenal selection of the intricate web of fantasy commonly known as the "Arabian Nights."
Captain Burton's translation remains contested amongst scholars for its subjective indulgement and commentary (among other things). Nevertheless, his was a critical and monumental 16-volume endeavor that brought to the English world the legendary tales Shahrazad told King Shahryar--who exectued his mistresses after one night so as to preserve fidelity--in order to remain alive. It proved the most comprhensive and entertaining, and stands as the definitive translation for many.
But why should you bother with Burton, when you could go with Lane or Galland? As a reader, if your desire is to fully experience these tales as closely as possible in capturing that sense of adventure, excitement, of magic and morality that has fascinated imaginations for centuries, Burton's "plain literal translation" certainly dazzles and entertains, vividly, powerfully, without disappointment. You shall be drawn into the world of the thousand nights and a night, of Islam and Jinns, through Burton's archaic though eloquent diction--a part of the veil of fantasy--and his ample knowledge of Middle Eastern culture.
The present edition offers a vital, "representative" selection of these neatly woven and intertwining tales in one volume.
* Note: This can be fun, very enjoyable reading with patience, but the lack of paragraph breaks and the language may prove challenging for some.
Also: the hardcover is definitely a better choice, as it has placed the selected footnotes on the bottom of the page they appear on rather than the back of the book - like the paperback.
 |
Title: Arabian Nights by Husain Haddawy, Muhsin Mahdi ISBN: 0679413383 Publisher: Everyman's Library Pub. Date: 30 June, 1992 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
 |
Title: The Perfumed Garden by Richard Francis Burton ISBN: 0892814438 Publisher: Inner Traditions Intl Ltd Pub. Date: October, 1992 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Mecca (Volume 1) by Richard Burton ISBN: 0486212173 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1964 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography by Edward Rice ISBN: 030681028X Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 05 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
 |
Title: 1001 Arabian Nights by Geraldine McCaughrean, Rosamund Fowler ISBN: 0192750135 Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr Childrens Books Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
