Book Review: Arabian Nights (Barnes and Noble leatherbound classics)

1001 nights, is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian folk tales over many centuries. It is one of the most collectible literature in the world, full of wonderful and amazing stories, and form the basis for many modern fictions. Some of the stories are so popular that most people would have heard a story of two from 1001 nights. For example, Aladdin and the wondrous lamp, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, or Captain Sinbad and his 7 voyages.

In this book review, I will focus more on the quality of this particular edition of Arabian nights and less focus on the content of the book. This is because the story of 1001 nights is so popular that I assume everyone would have heard at least, one or two tales from the entire collection sometimes in your life.

Synopsis:

The story of 1001 nights started when a Persian king, discovered the unfaithfulness of his brother's wife, and became even more shocked when he discovered that his own wife has also cheated on him. Out of bitterness and rage, he executed his wife, and decided that all women are treacherous in nature. So he started marrying virgins in his kingdom day after day, only to execute them after the first night of their marriage. After a long period of cruel massacre, the people in his kingdom trembled with fear and were hateful against his tyranny. Until one day, the daughter of the king's vizier, a young lady named Scheherazade volunteered to marry the king, she was determined to save the girls in the kingdom by changing the king's heart with her own wit and power of persuasion.

On the night their marriage, Scheherazade started to tell the king a story, but doesn't end the tale. So the king was forced to stay the execution until the next day. Scheherazade repeated the same trick on the king, night after night. By telling him tales of wonders and amazement for 1001 nights. Until the end where she bore the king 3 children, and managed to persuade the king to have a change of heart, and abandoned his previous ways.

All the tales told by Scheherazade were collected together, and became known as "1001 nights".

The book itself:

By chance, at the beginning of this year, I found out that Barnes and Noble have been publishing a series of leatherbound classics, for really affordable price of 18 dollars per book. The collection included classical literature such as: The Divine Comedy, Lewis Carol, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, the complete Grim's tales, Narnia, Iliad and Odyssey etc....

So I ordered quite a few of these books. And one of them is "Arabian Nights". This edition probably doesn't contain all of the stories from 1001 nights, but it does have 20 stories. The book is decorated with numerous color illustrations. Overall, the quality of this book is excellent. It is leatherbound, with gold gilded edges and a book ribbon. As you can see from the picture, the cover of the book is beautiful and really stands out on any bookshelf.

The only possible annoyance for some people is that, this edition uses the translation from Richard F. Burton. The translation is dated back to 1850. The style of language is therefore, quite old. For example, to give you an idea what the use of language is like: "Ho thou, I once visited thy Hammam and thou entreatedst me with honor and accomplishedst all my needs..."

However, if you are like me, and don't mind the use of old fashioned English language in a book. Then I think you will definitely love this beautifully decorated edition of Arabian Nights. The only possible side effect after being exposed to more than 700 pages of old fashioned English language might be, when you are visiting your friend's house, and asking your friend to bring you a glass of water, you might say: "Ho thou, have me a glass of water bringeth so I may quench the thirst of my throat and adore the beauty of thy shelter"... After which your friend might respond with a raised eyebrow!

The bottom line is, if you like classics, if you like beautiful leatherbound books at low price. Then don't wait, go get this book, this is a good edition of 1001 nights. It's good, real good.

Rating: 4.5/5