A loss that can be repaired by money is not of such very great importance.
Having this leatherbound edition on my bookshelf is threefold:
1. A wonderful addition to my leatherbound collection
2. Getting in touch with the roots of the Arabic/Islamic folklore
3. Finally reading the original stories we were always told as children
WHOEVER TALKS ABOUT WHAT DOES NOT CONCERN HIM, OFTEN HEARS WHAT DOES NOT PLEASE HIM!
Before getting myself a copy of this book, I looked deeper into the history of the Arabian Nights. There is no particular author to the nights, and it is unclear from what date they have been collected. They are a collection of folktales based in the Middle East, compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. They were a collection of folklore from various parts of the world, mainly ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Egyptian, Indian, and Mesopotamian roots.
The history and origins of the "Thousand and One Nights" are complex and unclear. Scholars put in a lot of effort to justify how, when and where the Night came to be as we know them. Quoting Robert Irwin as he summarises their findings:
In the 1880s and 1890s, a lot of work was done on the Nights by Zotenberg and others, in the course of which a consensus view of the history of the text emerged. Most scholars agreed that the Nights was a composite work and that the earliest tales in it came from India and Persia. At some time, probably in the early 8th century, these tales were translated into Arabic under the title Alf Layla, or 'The Thousand Nights'. This collection then formed the basis of The Thousand and One Nights. The original core of stories was quite small. Then, in Iraq in the 9th or 10th century, this original core had Arab stories added to it—among them some tales about the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. Also, perhaps from the 10th century onwards, previously independent sagas and story cycles were added to the compilation [...] Then, from the 13th century onwards, a further layer of stories was added in Syria and Egypt, many of these showing a preoccupation with sex, magic or low life. In the early modern period yet more stories were added to the Egyptian collections so as to swell the bulk of the text sufficiently to bring its length up to the full 1,001 nights of storytelling promised by the book's title.
A library of books is the fairest garden in the world, and to walk there is an ecstasy.
Having all that in mind, I mustered up the courage to get my own copy and start reading those ancient stories!
The book starts with an introduction about the Arabian Nights, how they were collected and presented to us now. Ken Mondschein also discusses Sir Richard scholarly history and his works up until the translation of the Arabian Nights. Oh, how those Nights have impacted the media and movie adaptations. Starting from Scheherazade(1888) by the Russian composer Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov and one of the well-known films as The Thief of Baghdad (1924), and many others. Disney has a part in the animated adaptation of the Nights, with the infamous (and most profitable) Aladdin (1992) and its sequels. Dream Works also had the beautiful adaptation of the nights in their animated Sindbad: The Legend of the Seven Seas (2003). Not forgetting the countless Japanese comics, series and movies: Adventures of Sindbad (1975) directed by Fumio Kurokawa, and more recently, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (2009) and its sequels, etc
The story starts with two brothers, to be kings: Shahryar and Shah Zaman. Fast forward to when Shahryar becomes king and ruler of the land of India and China. After discovering his wife’s unfaithfulness to the sanctity of their marriage, he kills her. Based on this incident, he loses all faith in women and decides that they’re all the same. After getting married to the virgins, he’d execute them the following morning. And when there were no more virgins in the land, Scheherazade(daughter of Shahryar’s Wazir), offers herself as the next bride. On the night of their marriage, she starts telling him a tale but does not end it, leaving him on a cliffhanger. Only promises the King Shahryar she will conclude it the following night. Then starts another tale… and so, the thousand and one nights were done.
In this version, the Scheherazade asks her maidens to bring out her three children, the children she bore for King Shahryar and pleads for mercy and to not be beheaded the following morning. However, Shahryar admits that he was bewitched with her brilliant mind, intelligence, wit and her stories. So much so, he had already dismissed the idea of killing her.
Following that, he attends a meeting with his Wazir (Scheherazade’s father) and asks for her hand in marriage. Shahryar then proceeds to tell his brother Shah Zaman of all the tales, the knowledge Scheherazade has shared with him over the past time of a thousand and one nights (around three years). Of her wit, her beauty and intelligence. Based on that, Shah Zaman decides to marry her sister Dunyazad.
All who looked on her bepissed their bag-trousers, for the excess of her beauty and loveliness.
The stories within this version include:
1. The Tale of Scheherazade
2. The Tale of the Trader with the Jinni
3. The Tale of the Fisherman with the Jinni
4. The Barber’s Tale of Himself
5. The Tale of the Enchanted Horse
6. Sinbad the Sailor
7. The Tale of Prince Sayf al-Muluk
8. Abu Mohammed Hight Lazybones
9. The Tale of Zayn al-Asnam and the Sultan of the Jinni
10. Khudadad and His Brothers
11. Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
12. The Adventures of Harun al-Rashid
13. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
14. Ali Khawajah and the Merchant of Baghdad
15. Prince Ahmad and the Fairy Peri-Banu
16. The Two Sisters Who Were Jealous of Their Younger Sister
17. Abu Kir the Dyer and Abu Sir the Barber
18. Judar and his Brethren
19. The Rogueries of Dalilah the Crafty
20. The Adventures of Mercury Ali of Cairo
21. The Tale of Scheherazade Concluded
Short Analysis:
Book cover: (4 stars)
A very elegant Arabic design, filled in the shades of blue. The artwork is lined with a golden rim.
Writing style: (1 star)
One of the major points for disappointment: this book only contains 21 stories (including The Tale of Scheherazade and The Tale of Scheherazade Concluded)
Sir Burton chose to translate these stories using “Ye Olde Englishe” style to match the supposed timelessness of the stories.
As brilliant as that is, reading through the stories was far too tiresome and wearing. Not long after I start reading a new story that I start dozing off…
Plot: (2 stars)
As detailed aforehand, King Shahryar was known to execute his wives the morning following their first night until there were no virgins in the land anymore. Scheherazade, the daughter of the Wazir, offers herself as the next bride for the king. On the night of their wedding, she commences with telling him a tale but leaves him with a cliffhanger and a promise to conclude the story the following night. This was all in hopes of delaying her execution
Story structure and content: (3 stars)
In this volume, only eighteen “tales” are enclosed. Quite disheartening… I was actually shocked by this discovery when I first opened the book and inspected the index… I had high hopes that maybe the thousand tales were included in this volume of ~670 pages…
The stories themselves weren’t as interesting as I’d imagined them to be. Barely mediocre at best. I couldn’t rate the best ones more than 3 stars...
Call it what you may, but I usually steer clear of any Arabic/Islamic references when it comes to my choice in literature and stories/novels I read. Well at least in English… I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book (mind you it was compiled during the “Islamic Golden Age” where Islam had been spread across the continents, from Africa, all the way to China. An era when Arabic was the “Language of Civilisation”). There definitely is a heavy reference to the Islamic culture, the presence of Allah (God, The One, The Higher Forces, The Universe…), and the Arabic world in general. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it portrays a glossy and beautiful image of the said culture.
It’s vital for the reader to distinguish between the teachings of true Islam and the common beliefs within the Arabic culture, veiled under the false definition of religion (Ok I said it. I don’t want to dwell further into this)
There are immense references and detail of gore, blood, and terrifying abuse of power! People are easily killed off here and there!
What about women?! Oh, don’t be so hasty! Women have been objectified alright! So much rape… the misogyny… it’s loathsome!
Ending: (1 star)
The arrogant and ruthless Shahryar’s attitude changes towards the end, after a thousand and one nights. He shows Scheherazade mercy by sparing her and asking for her hand in marriage
King Shah Zaman also marvelled with Scheherazade’s stories, knowledge and wit, he resigns from his old life and proposes to her sister Dunyazad.
It’s an interesting twist for all parties involved really… However
The last 4 pages were an ultimate compilation of bore… The sisters dressing up and the brothers praising and singing to them… But then again, no one died here
Final rating: 2.2 stars /5
I am thankful for the mutilated retellings and adaptations in books, TV shows and best of all are those of Disney and Dream Works! I thank you for brightening up my childhood and adulthood throughout the years. I do not wish to read through the remaining 980 stories, as I can foretell it follows the same pattern of cruelty, bloodshed, objectifying women, rape and misogyny. Nevertheless, I am grateful I’ve read it in English… I’m sure the details are far more gruesome in the original Arabic language…
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