The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 1 (Penguin Classics)

This new Lyons translation of the "Thousand Nights and One Night" is extremely important, being, as it is, the first complete English translation to appear in over a century and the fact that it is highly readable and yet still exudes the kind of mystery which, I think, is what draws all of us into this work. Robert Irwin in his "Arabian Nights Companion" (an excellent book which all fans of the "nights" should own)lamented that there was no complete English translation of the "Nights" which was acceptable (at the time of his writing). I think Lyons has remedied this problem or, at least, has provided a first rate alternative. I actually own (and, believe it or not, have read) all the English versions. Since I am not an Arabic scholar and cannot read the original, I've accepted them for what they are and have liked each of them for various reasons. Mardrus/Mathers has a nice dreamy fin de siecle feel to it (hardly authentic, though), Payne is straightforward but dull, Lane's notes are excellent but his version too expurgated, and Burton is...well...Burton. (Until now, Burton had been my favorite mainly due to its oddity and idiosyncratic foot notes.) None of them is an "authentic" version of the "Nights", and I've resigned myself to the fact that until I learn Arabic I will never get the feeling that the original hearers had when these stories were first told. But I think Lyons comes awfully close. Best of all, Lyons has chosen to render the verse literally, rather than trying to re-versify it into English, something which I hate about all other translators who have included the poetry, Burton being the worst of all. So Lyons has provided a terrific translation, his translation is comprehensive (the entire Calcutta II edition with the "orphan stories" appended), and it is easily accessible and affordable (I think I had to pay some three hundred dollars for my complete 15 volume Burton translation). Why hesitate? Once you start reading this magnificent work (and I do think of it as a cohesive work) you will probably be hooked for life.

If I had known what a sexy book this is, I probably would have read it in my early teens. It also would have been a great "head trip" in the late 1960s, with its mind-blowing structure of stories within stories within stories. There's a high violence quotient, too, as the book is rife with beheadings, castrations, maimings, and mutilations. Even though some of the sex scenes are fairly graphic, I would call them sensual rather than sensational. The framework for the stories is a ruler who so distrusts women that immediately after consummating his marriage he has his wives killed. His new bride, Shahrazad, prolongs her life by telling him a fascinating story after their lovemaking, but falling asleep before the story is finished, allowing her to live yet another day. And for a thousand and one nights the scene is repeated. Shahrazad's stories cover a vast array of subjects and styles. Some are moralistic stories about animals (similar to Aesop's Fables), some are comic sketches, and some are multigenerational sagas. There's high-flown poetry juxtaposed with lowbrow comedy. (Inopportune flatulence is a big laugh-getter.) But what this 21st Century reader found interesting were the gender roles of the two sexes. In these stories the women are far more likely to be consumed with lust than men are and men are just as apt to swoon from emotion as any damsel. Several of the female characters disguise themselves as men in order to lead armies and win contests of swordsmanship. Everyone oohs and ahs over the beauty of both males and females. Several of the characters are homosexual (but they are invariably villainous). This is really provocative material. This is only volume one and it's 960 pages that I read very quickly. The translation by Malcolm C. Lyons is a masterpiece. Both intellectually and sensually thrilling, ARABIAN NIGHTS is engrossing reading and I look forward to reading the other two volumes. Shahrazad lives. Five stars.

When I ordered the Arabian Nights, I had this idea of how to read them: I wanted to read one night every night, so that it would take me 1001 nights, and I would know what King Shahriyar had to go through for three years. Well, I simply wasn't patient enough. I read the story of the first night, and I had to know how it went on. I ended up reading the first volume of this in about two weeks (roughly 70 pages a day) during finals at college. I literally could not put it down. The 1,001 Nights gave me a child-like feeling that I have not experienced since reading Mr. Popper's Penguins in second or third grade. The 1,001 Nights are truly magical; they are filled with demons, magic, other worlds, people unintentionally marrying 'ifrits, etc. But what truly makes them magical is that, even when the stories have no elements of the supernatural, they still seem convincingly bizarre and fantastic because of the vastly different culture in which the stories takes place. This different culture is sometimes disturbing (when a mistress is unfaithful it always happens to be with a conniving black slave, and women are thought to be treacherous, libidinous creatures) but always makes for a more interesting read. Also included in this volume is the famous story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, which is not part of the original nights, but I'm still glad they put it in. The book itself is heavy and beautiful, the maps and index of words are very helpful (who would know that 'A'isha was the third favorite wife of the prophet without it?) and the introduction gives an important historical backdrop, as well as addressing the irritating fact that the nights contain so many events that are unexplained. Is it complete? Well, no, but we will probably never have anything closer to complete than what we have now. I can't vouch for accuracy compared to other translations, but I can say that this book is beautiful and engaging, and will keep you up nights.

Beautiful and poetic translation of the most incredible tales in all of literature. Along with this volume, volume two, and volume three, this is also the most affordable complete collection of an otherwise abridged work. A glossary helps with the more authentic language. This more authentic use of language and culture (in my very humble opinion), the use of the word ifrit in place of demon for example, is just one touches that make this my favourite version. I also appreciate the list of stories and a map as well. This volume contains some of the best tales- such as the porter's tale -and once you start reading a set of stories it really is difficult to put the book down. Highly recommended to have the second and third volumes as well, you'll get all 1,001 nights, and will find it hard to resist continuing the story.

Pretty good.

Very enjoyable! I read some of it in my teenage years, but I did not have the complete series. I cannot speak for the accuracy of the translation, as I am not an Arabic speaker, but it seems to me that the translators took great pride in their work as the text is very friendly and the poetry parts appear to convey the nuances very well. The tales are, of course, a mixed bag, some fascinating and with a lot of philosophical elements, some quite boring, and a lot of stories within stories, but who can blame Shahrazad for winging it when her life is at stake? Overall, very immersive in the atmosphere of earlier Islamic world. It should be rated R for violence, alcohol and sexual content.

It's a shame that while the tales of The Arabian Nights are still well known, they seem to be seldom-read these days. I hope this new translation corrects that at least a little bit. It's the first translation of the "complete" 1001 Nights since Sir Richard Burton's translation was published during the late Victorian period, and it's a much more readable one (although Burton's isn't without its own fascination as a baroque Victorian relic). Like all translations of the Nights, it has its flaws, and I think that there are some things that Husain Haddawy's shorter 1990 translation of the "core" Arabian Nights stories did better (in particular, I think Haddawy did a better job of glossing over some of the boring parts), but for readers new to the Arabian Nights, this is a good place to start.

Classic I love since my childhood

Last year I read an abridged version of the 1001 Nights, which was originally published by Penguin Classics in the 1950s. I liked it so much I decided to read the whole thing, which is now published by Penguin Classics in a more modern translation done in 2005. Be warned, though. This is just volume one of three and runs to nearly a thousand closely printed pages. It covers the first 294 nights with the tale of Ali Baba tacked on at the end. There is also a useful introduction and glossary and some maps of Baghdad and Cairo, though it is difficult to relate these to the text. If you think that Shahrazad tells 1001 separate tales, you’ve been led astray. What you get here are a serious of tales within tales within tales. Some of these inter-linked tales last for several nights – a hundred nights in one case. If that sounds a bit daunting, it isn’t. You soon get the hang of it. What happens is that in many of the tales a character will start telling a tale about someone else, and on it goes. There is a handy index at the end showing how the tales are linked. Splitting these tales into “nights” is a handy device because it splits the tales into bite-size chunks. Some “nights” are shorter than others – barely a page in some cases. Either it’s summer or Shahrazad and her husband were otherwise engaged. The “nights” are also a reminder that Shahrazad’s life is on a knife edge. If she fails to entertain the tyrannical King Shahriyar sufficiently to make him want her to continue her story-telling the following night, she faces the chop. Literally. Fortunately, she is a narrator of genius and the demanding king and demanding reader are equally entertained. One observation, assuming this is an accurate translation, some readers might be surprised at the consistently negative portrayal of black characters. They are invariably slaves; they are usually dishonest or downright evil; and blackness is frequently associated with wickedness and ugliness. By contrast, beautiful characters are not just white. They have silver skin and are compared to the moon. Interestingly, male and female beauty are often described using identical terms. At times beautiful men have the same physical characteristics as beautiful women, including slender waists and heavy buttocks. There is a strong homoerotic element in some stories with some male characters either openly homosexual or seemingly unaware of their homosexuality as they feel a strong attraction for a beautiful young man. There is a lot of wine drinking. There is an obsession with wealth and palaces and political power, usually manifested in the right to lop off heads. There are occasions where women seem to be living independently, often with vast wealth and are making their own decisions about marriage – and about having sex outside of marriage. There are occasions when a woman calls in the imam and a bunch of other officials and says, “Right, I’m marrying this bloke. Sort out the paperwork.” In other words, many of my assumptions about mediaeval Islamic culture have gone west after reading this volume. I have a long list of books to get through this year but I will definitely be reading Volumes II and III within the next few months.

Llego en plazo y los tres tomos suman tres mil páginas, o sea la obra completa

Very good translation, nice collections of stories, must read…

This is volume 1 of a 3 volume set. The introduction is split across the three volumes each dealing with a different thematic topic. The intro to this volume is well written and informative and deals with some of the more mysterious aspects of the Nights. The edition is made to the usual Penguin production standards and being a large volume I would handle with a little extra care (I am hard on my books and occasionally reinforce the spine with a little Duct tape to strengthen it). The translation is good and very readable and the index/notes can be helpful. The story itself is a trememndous amount of fun to read and the structure of the stories itself is interesting for the scholarly type. I highly recommend these three volumes, they are affordable, well translated with supporting material and very inexpensive for what they offer. Thank you to Penguin for bringing back a complete set of the Nights - I believe the first in English since Burton 19th Century edition.

Got it as a gift. No complains.