A review by chelsaat
The Annotated Arabian Nights: Tales from 1001 Nights by Anonymous
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.