displacedcactus's review
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Do you have fond memories of reading some version of Arabian Nights as a child? Are you a nerd? Do you think that more books should be at least as big as a dictionary? Then you owe it to yourself to pick up this awesome edition of Arabian Nights.
In addition to the stories you know and love, this book has an extensive introduction and afterward, lots of annotations (as you would expect from the title...) and a ton of artwork from previous illustrated editions, artists from the MENAHT region, stage and film productions, artifacts, etc etc.
No, this isn't the sort of book you can easily throw in your bag to go to the coffee shop or beach, but it's an entertaining-yet-scholarly read that rewards you for being willing to bear the weight of its 700+ pages and hardback cover.
In addition to the stories you know and love, this book has an extensive introduction and afterward, lots of annotations (as you would expect from the title...) and a ton of artwork from previous illustrated editions, artists from the MENAHT region, stage and film productions, artifacts, etc etc.
No, this isn't the sort of book you can easily throw in your bag to go to the coffee shop or beach, but it's an entertaining-yet-scholarly read that rewards you for being willing to bear the weight of its 700+ pages and hardback cover.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Sexism, Animal death, Death, and Death of parent
aizaksonas's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
owl_in_tra1ning's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
kmac07's review
5.0
So good that I am saddened it’s over and borderline want to pick it up and read it over again.
vasha's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
This is one eye-catching book: huge and beautiful, typeset with care, on creamy, pleasant-textured paper, with hundreds of illustrations from old and new, European and Middle Eastern editions [I only complain that the illustrations should have been printed a little larger]... The centerpiece of this book is the stories translated by Yasmine Seale; I would rate her writing 6 out of 5, since I've read these stories in several other translations, but never found them so lively, immediate, full of captivating details and with attention paid to the rhythms and sounds of the words.
The editor, Paulo Lemos Horta, talks about how this translation differs from previous English versions -- it's not the first "modern" one, it's not the first by someone with roots in an Arabic-speaking country, it's not quite the first by a woman (Ursula Lyons having contributed some to the Penguin edition), but it's the first that's all of those. More important than reckoning up identity is the attention that the translator and editor paid to the role that women played as audience and storytellers during the transmission of these stories. They were listening to these stories, and they were in them, as villains and heroes both. This volume, long as it is, could only contain a few stories. Horta selected several of the most famous, including "The Porter and the Three Women of Baghdad" which contains some of the most remarkable appearances by women, and added "The Tale of Dalila the Crafty" -- a lesser-known story, one of several featuring the amusing cheats of famous thieves (these were added to the collection in 14th/15th century Cairo). Dalila appears in a number of thief stories, but in this one she and her daughter Zaynab run the whole show. Horta points out that Seale paid close attention to avoiding sexist language. For example, women are usually disparagingly said to have "wiles," which is not one of the words Seale uses for Dalila's and Zaynab's ruses.
The "Annotated Arabian Nights" as a whole, unfortunately, is a bit of a sprawling omnium gatherum. Horta has been spending many years researching Hana Diyab, a Syrian traveler who told stories to the first European translator of the "Nights," Antoine Galland. Galland included several of Diyab's stories in his edition, and they (for example "Aladdin" and "Ali Baba") have proved to be some of the most popular with European readers--the Syrian storyteller evidently knew his audience. The issue of what Diyab contributed, and what Galland, to the stories as they were published, has been a matter of much debate. Horta's interest accounts for the fact that Diyab occupies a quite outsize place in this collection--all of Galland's versions of his tales are included along with Galland's notes from the sessions when he heard them, and notes from several stories he didn't publish. This long section is certainly quite interesting (I really like the original version of "The Forty Thieves," bare-bones though it is; it centers not on Ali Baba but on his clever slave Marjana) -- but I almost feel it ought to have been a separate book. Then, too, the editor included a number of famous stories inspired by the "Nights." They're all public domain and easily accessible, so why take up page space with them here? Yes, it's interesting to point out the allusions in them. But I nonetheless would have preferred more of the original stories; there are several not included which Horta refers to repeatedly in his notes. By the way, the notes combine things like literary analysis, remarks on the multiple manuscript sources and consideration of the original audiences, so they are very different from the notes of Lane's or Burton's translations for example, which used the stories as a jumping-off point for telling the readers things about contemporary culture in Arabic-speaking areas.
I hope the text (only) of Yasmine Seale's translation gets published in an accessible edition and is very widely read!
chelsaat's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This annotated edition of The Arabian Nights is PERFECTION. I cannot recommend it enough.
I’ve been frustrated by previous translations when attempting to tackle reading Shahrazad's tales (particularly Richard Burton’s racist version), but here, Yasmine Seale’s translation was exactly what I wanted -- it’s readable, true to the originals, lyrical, and above all, immersive.
The introduction and subsequent annotations provided really interesting background about how the different stories came to be, alongside other cool historical and cultural facts about various elements in the tales. Things like - what's the difference between a good djinn and bad djinn in Islam? Why was Harun al-Rashid the go-to caliph in these tales? Why are so many of these stories about merchants?
I had no idea Syrian adventurer Hanna Diyab was the original storyteller for Aladdin and Ali Baba. Reading Galland’s notes from his storytelling sessions with Diyab was such a cool peek at seeing how fairytales are produced. I definitely want to read his autobiography now.
All of this goodness is then sprinkled throughout with incredible imagery…the ideal way to read these stories.
My personal favorite tale was “Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Pari Banu.” I really want to see/read a retelling of it. My favorite of the “core” stories was probably “Dalila the Crafty”…love me a devious female thief. And of course, I always love the framing tale of Shahrazad, one of literature’s all-time great heroines.
I’ve been frustrated by previous translations when attempting to tackle reading Shahrazad's tales (particularly Richard Burton’s racist version), but here, Yasmine Seale’s translation was exactly what I wanted -- it’s readable, true to the originals, lyrical, and above all, immersive.
The introduction and subsequent annotations provided really interesting background about how the different stories came to be, alongside other cool historical and cultural facts about various elements in the tales. Things like - what's the difference between a good djinn and bad djinn in Islam? Why was Harun al-Rashid the go-to caliph in these tales? Why are so many of these stories about merchants?
I had no idea Syrian adventurer Hanna Diyab was the original storyteller for Aladdin and Ali Baba. Reading Galland’s notes from his storytelling sessions with Diyab was such a cool peek at seeing how fairytales are produced. I definitely want to read his autobiography now.
All of this goodness is then sprinkled throughout with incredible imagery…the ideal way to read these stories.
My personal favorite tale was “Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Pari Banu.” I really want to see/read a retelling of it. My favorite of the “core” stories was probably “Dalila the Crafty”…love me a devious female thief. And of course, I always love the framing tale of Shahrazad, one of literature’s all-time great heroines.
hsalameh's review
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A beautiful collection of stories with beautiful artwork on nearly every page. I loved the in-depth annotations and learned so much of Arab culture long ago. Yasmine Seale's translation is modern and takes out the exotiscm and orientalist writing from previous translations.
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