"The Arabian Nights" [33]
Another current book in my
Lifetime Reading Plan is
The Thousand and One Nights [33], also known as
The Arabian Nights. The biggest problem with reading this is that the recommended version is the 16(
sic) volume translation by Sir Richard Burton from the 1880s. Or maybe just the 13(
sic) volume translation by John Payne from about the same time. Zoiks!
Luckily, Jack Zipes has abridged the collection, but not the stories, in a two volume paperback set called
Arabian Nights, Vol 1 and
Vol 2. As mentioned in the
NLRP, it's important to get an unexpurgated version because, like The Brothers Grimm, the original stories bear little resemblence to the bowlderized versions normally told.
It's been alot of fun so far. I just finished the tale of
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, with Aladdin and his magic lamp coming up next.
Posted by jdarnold at July 26, 2005 10:27 PM