The Book of The Thousand Nights And One Nights
by Richard Francis Burton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Richard Francis BurtonIllustrator: Leon Carre
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-01-02
ISBN: 2843237254
Number of pages: 423
Publisher: Assouline
Book Reviews of The Book of The Thousand Nights And One Nights
Book Review: Adult Fantasies from the Medieval Age
Summary: 3 Stars
The tales just go on and on, and would probably add up to more than 1001. You need a lot of courage, detrmination and time to go through the entire collection.
The setting is medieval Islamic world. The tales offer an interesting window into the psyche of the tellers and the listerners.
Two features stand out in these stories. One is the continuing theme of 'betrayal' by women and unbridled lust by men. ... The ... prowess of 'negroes' (who go around servicing their masters' wives) appears to be a major concern for the story-tellers. The language is quite explicit.
The second feature is how the story-tellers appear to be obsessed with wealth and riches. However, there is very little mention of how these riches are to be produced -- mostly they appear as if by magic or are endowed by kings. No one has to work for them. There are few, if any, moral principles, except for a continuing emphasis on faith in Allah and his prophet. It is interesting to speculate what effect these stories would have had on the region's culture and economy over a thousand years of telling. If popular stories affect a culture's world-view. then you have here a very dangerous set of tales.
There are some poignant moments. At times, some of the characters display rare courage and honesty. You also learn how curiosity can kill the cat in a thousand and one ways. The Khalifa and the kings try to be just most of the time. Some of the wazirs are heroic, though others are very crooked. The description of beauty (male or female) is generally quite exquisite. The narrative also spends a lot of time and effort on describing places, chambers and palaces in detail -- so you can almost see them with your eyes. This is perhaps the key to the magic of these tales.
The set I have is a four volume set by Routledge (The Book of Thousand Nights and One Night (4 volume set) (Volume 1-4)), and does not contain any illustrations. Fortunately :), the present volume is an abridged version, which is just as well!
Certainly an invaluable piece of world's cultural heritage -- though you may differ on their contribution to building a better world.
Summary of The Book of The Thousand Nights And One Nights
In the late 1920s, the art publisher H. Piazza produced a twelve-volume version of The 1001 Nights that was one of the most beautiful ever made. It included splendid illustrations by Mohammed Racim and wonderful miniatures by painter Leon Carre.Today, Assouline is publishing an abridged version of this masterpiece, which includes the most famous and most enchanting of the tales, from the story of King Shahryar, to the story of Sinbad the sailor, Ali Baba and the forty thieves, or Aladdin and the magic lampā?¦ all told by the beautiful and sensual Shahrazad.
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