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skybalon's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful art and a great bunch of stories make this one of the best graphic "novels" around. (Really it is more like graphic literature).
Mostly pen and ink drawings that add to the stories that are sometimes subtle and sometimes over the top, but always appropriate.
The only problem with this book is that it is way too short. There are 1001 stories and this book only contains 12. The author is now dead so there'll be no more and that is too bad. Ending a book can generate different emotions--for me this one made me sad that there wasn't more.
Minor note: This is an adult graphic story, so there are some pictures that might be inappropriate for young readers. For everyone else, read this.
Mostly pen and ink drawings that add to the stories that are sometimes subtle and sometimes over the top, but always appropriate.
The only problem with this book is that it is way too short. There are 1001 stories and this book only contains 12. The author is now dead so there'll be no more and that is too bad. Ending a book can generate different emotions--for me this one made me sad that there wasn't more.
Minor note: This is an adult graphic story, so there are some pictures that might be inappropriate for young readers. For everyone else, read this.
turrean's review against another edition
Extraordinary artwork, but uninspired storytelling. There are roughly half a dozen tales from The Arabian Nights here, mostly ones in which foolish or greedy people meet some horrific fate. There is no real resolution to the frame story about Scheherazade and her king, either. I found the artwork so stylized and static that it was more a series of moments from the story, rather than a partner to the storytelling in the way characteristic of the best graphic novels. After a while, I began to page through the stories more quickly, finding there was little to distinguish one story from the next.
pankadoll's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I believe the translation doesn't do it justice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity, War, and Injury/Injury detail
asiia95's review against another edition
5.0
Похмурі та прекрасні історії Шараз-де. Я трішки навіть шкодую, що прочитала всі їх одразу, а не по одній в день.
Мальопис надзвичайний. Стиль малюнку: як тіні на стіні, як картини з піску. Прекрасні та недовговічні, як змінюються повсякчас.
Ця книга - це не тільки історії, які розповідає Шараз-де, а ще й її власна історія. Дівчина полонянка царя, бранка, яка живе одну ніч, і кожної ночі купує собі право прожити ще одну ніч. З іншого боку, вона сама прийшла до царя, сама почала розповідати, вона його зачарувала історіями, то виникає питання: хто ж тоді має владу? Чиїм іменем названо книгу? Хто помирає в кожній історії?
Мальопис надзвичайний. Стиль малюнку: як тіні на стіні, як картини з піску. Прекрасні та недовговічні, як змінюються повсякчас.
Ця книга - це не тільки історії, які розповідає Шараз-де, а ще й її власна історія. Дівчина полонянка царя, бранка, яка живе одну ніч, і кожної ночі купує собі право прожити ще одну ніч. З іншого боку, вона сама прийшла до царя, сама почала розповідати, вона його зачарувала історіями, то виникає питання: хто ж тоді має владу? Чиїм іменем названо книгу? Хто помирає в кожній історії?
aborham's review
5.0
no words can describe the joy of drowning in the endless scribbles that fills these pages and going over and over how the frames are arranged seamlessly taking the yes in a wonderful journey that makes you forget all about the story being told!
6th_extinction's review
5.0
Incredibly beautiful illustrations. Divine, disturbing and visually delicious.
jameshowlett's review against another edition
4.0
Bu kitap hakkında söylenecek çok fazla bir şey yok. Toppi'nin ustalığı göz kamaştırıcı.
Çeviri ve baskı kalitesi de takdiri hak ediyor.
Çeviri ve baskı kalitesi de takdiri hak ediyor.
chelsea_not_chels's review against another edition
3.0
More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.
Let me start by saying this: Scheherazade is one of my favorite fairytales. For those of you who don't know (and many don't; this one isn't as popular as the likes of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty) Scheherazade is the teller of the 1,001 Arabian Nights. The term "1,001 Arabian Nights" itself comes from her story. Here is (briefly) how it goes: One upon a time, the king of a middle-eastern kingdom found out his wife had been unfaithful to him. He had her killed, and then decided to marry a new virgin every day and have her beheaded the next morning. He did this to 1,000 women before Scheherazade, his vizier's daughter, volunteers to be the next bride. Now, Scheherazade was a bit of a bookworm and an excellent storyteller. The night of her marriage, she asked the king to let her say goodbye to her sister. He agreed, and Scheherazade went into the next room to say her farewells. But instead of saying goodbye, she began to tell her sister a story. She didn't finish the story, but instead stopped partway through as dawn approached, leaving a cliffhanger. The king, who'd been listening in on this conversation, decided to let Scheherazade live another day so that she could finish the story the next night, and he could know the ending. The next night, she finished the first story and began a second, which she also left unfinished, and the king repeated his delaying of Scheherazade's execution. This went on for a total of 1,0001 nights and 1,001 stories, at the end of which the king had fallen so madly in love with Scheherazade that he decided not to have her beheaded at all, and she gets to live on as his queen.
Sharaz-de doesn't follow this story. The title obviously refers to Scheherazade, but she's only a minor character in this and the other stories don't even bolster her own. The backstory is the same: king finds out wife is cheating, kills her, decides to do the same to a bunch of other women. But in this version, Sharaz-de is from another country entirely. She tells a story at night, finishes it, and then tells a second one--and finishes that one, too. The king lets her live because he wants to hear more stories, so she goes on. And the book just ends this way. She tells a bunch of stories, but the resolution of him falling in love with her and letting her live is never actually reached. It just, apparently, goes on forever. The stories themselves are beautifully depicted, and full of people who do bad things getting what's coming to them from supernatural sources, but ultimately I felt jipped out of the story I thought I was getting. The Scheherazade structure doesn't work in this book because the story isn't actually there; I feel like Toppi would have done better to nix that storyline all together and just depict the stories themselves, without revealing Scheherazade/Sharaz-de as the narrator, and simply titling it "Tales from the Arabian Nights." It is tales, but the larger narrative structure is missing, which leaves the book somewhat lacking.
The art is beautiful and complex, whether it's in black-and-white or in color, but I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels in general, so finding that the story I'd hoped for and been led to expect by the title and initial set-up was just abandoned was highly disappointing. At least I got my Popsugar Reading Challenge category of "A graphic novel" out of the way.
2.5 stars out of 5.
Let me start by saying this: Scheherazade is one of my favorite fairytales. For those of you who don't know (and many don't; this one isn't as popular as the likes of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty) Scheherazade is the teller of the 1,001 Arabian Nights. The term "1,001 Arabian Nights" itself comes from her story. Here is (briefly) how it goes: One upon a time, the king of a middle-eastern kingdom found out his wife had been unfaithful to him. He had her killed, and then decided to marry a new virgin every day and have her beheaded the next morning. He did this to 1,000 women before Scheherazade, his vizier's daughter, volunteers to be the next bride. Now, Scheherazade was a bit of a bookworm and an excellent storyteller. The night of her marriage, she asked the king to let her say goodbye to her sister. He agreed, and Scheherazade went into the next room to say her farewells. But instead of saying goodbye, she began to tell her sister a story. She didn't finish the story, but instead stopped partway through as dawn approached, leaving a cliffhanger. The king, who'd been listening in on this conversation, decided to let Scheherazade live another day so that she could finish the story the next night, and he could know the ending. The next night, she finished the first story and began a second, which she also left unfinished, and the king repeated his delaying of Scheherazade's execution. This went on for a total of 1,0001 nights and 1,001 stories, at the end of which the king had fallen so madly in love with Scheherazade that he decided not to have her beheaded at all, and she gets to live on as his queen.
Sharaz-de doesn't follow this story. The title obviously refers to Scheherazade, but she's only a minor character in this and the other stories don't even bolster her own. The backstory is the same: king finds out wife is cheating, kills her, decides to do the same to a bunch of other women. But in this version, Sharaz-de is from another country entirely. She tells a story at night, finishes it, and then tells a second one--and finishes that one, too. The king lets her live because he wants to hear more stories, so she goes on. And the book just ends this way. She tells a bunch of stories, but the resolution of him falling in love with her and letting her live is never actually reached. It just, apparently, goes on forever. The stories themselves are beautifully depicted, and full of people who do bad things getting what's coming to them from supernatural sources, but ultimately I felt jipped out of the story I thought I was getting. The Scheherazade structure doesn't work in this book because the story isn't actually there; I feel like Toppi would have done better to nix that storyline all together and just depict the stories themselves, without revealing Scheherazade/Sharaz-de as the narrator, and simply titling it "Tales from the Arabian Nights." It is tales, but the larger narrative structure is missing, which leaves the book somewhat lacking.
The art is beautiful and complex, whether it's in black-and-white or in color, but I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels in general, so finding that the story I'd hoped for and been led to expect by the title and initial set-up was just abandoned was highly disappointing. At least I got my Popsugar Reading Challenge category of "A graphic novel" out of the way.
2.5 stars out of 5.
mikalanir's review
Absolutely stunning art, it looks like it moves on the page. Amazing but orientalist bc I had to write an assignment about it.