One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (Oxford Story Collections) | Geraldine McCaughrean

One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (Oxford Story Collections) | Geraldine McCaughrean | Gift for Grandchildren

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One Thousand and O...

	One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (Oxford Story Collections) Geraldine McCaughrean Oxford University Press, USA, 2000 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

King Shahryar kills a new wife every night, because he is afraid she will stop loving him. But his new bride Shahrazad has a clever plan to save herself. Her nightly stories--of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba, and many other heroes and villains--are so engrossing that King Shahryar has to postpone her execution again and again... This illustrated edition brings together all the Arabian Nights tales in an original retelling by award-winning author Geraldine McCaughrean.
(paperback reissue of ISBN 0-19-274500-X)

Appeals to all ages

My seventh grader is reading this book to my second grader. They are both loving it.

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Gift for Grandchildren

This was a gift for my two Grandsons. Their mother is an English Literature teacher. She said it is a great book she is looking forward to sharing with her boys.

Ultimate Fairy Tales

"Arabian Nights" is one of those works that everyone has heard of, but not many have actually read. Hence I decided to actually read it, instead of guessing the stories of Ali Baba or Abu Kasim. I am glad that I did.

"Arabian Nights" are well deserving their reputation as one of the best collections of fairy tales anywhere. Interwoven and connected by the young Queen wanting to stay alive, and managing to do so by telling her husband stories, the collection is amazing in language, style and sheer imagination.

Most stories take place in Baghdad, and instead of a war torn, news-exploited place, Baghdad became a place of magic and place of palaces and culture so deeply entrenched, that the entire world knows of them. I recommend this book to everyone who wants to go somewhere exotic and beautiful, even if it is just in thoughts. Great reading!

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Best translation I found

I have been searching for a decent copy of Arabian Nights for years. I originally bought the really nice, leather-bound, 3 volume collection....big mistake. Most 1001 Nights are translated by Richard Burton, whom you should stay away from at all costs. Although his translation is more accurate, it is HARD to read. It's written in old English with 10-line sentences.

That being said, this translation is much more enjoyable to read. Although it does not have every tale, it has all the major stories you are looking for including: Aladdin, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, and Sinbad. This is for younger readers so certain points of the original were left out. For instance, the desire for the slave-girl Jesmin (in Aladdin) was romanticized a bit. Nonetheless, it is far more pleasurable to read than any version I came across. I suppose it's as child friendly as a story about a man murdering every woman in the world after he has sex with them can be.

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Pleasantly Surprised

Since my girls were learning up the Arabian Night tales in school, I thought I'd brush up on some of the stories. This was a very entertaining book. I especially enjoyed how the various tales were linked together. I'm not sure on how this compares to the original tales, but these stories were written with with a consideration of the culture and historical time. Very interesting.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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