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myworldtoread's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
mikaelaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
whitjones1's review
3.0
One Thousand and One Nights is a book that weaves classic Indian, Persian, and Arabic stories into modern English. The stories are at times laugh out loud funny but more often sorrowful and brutal.
I struggled what to rate this book. While reading it I was mesmerized but when I put it down I found I had to talk myself into picking it back up. So many of the stories treat women as second class to their husbands and only really good for having sex with. As a self proclaimed feminist I struggled with that narrative even though I know that this is how the stories were told. I am glad that I read this version though as I found it easy to follow and the writing style is soooo well done. I do wish the author would have cut back and forth a bit more with Shahrazad as she was the most intriguing to me.
I struggled what to rate this book. While reading it I was mesmerized but when I put it down I found I had to talk myself into picking it back up. So many of the stories treat women as second class to their husbands and only really good for having sex with. As a self proclaimed feminist I struggled with that narrative even though I know that this is how the stories were told. I am glad that I read this version though as I found it easy to follow and the writing style is soooo well done. I do wish the author would have cut back and forth a bit more with Shahrazad as she was the most intriguing to me.
lsparrow's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this translation/adaptation - especially the focus on the female perspective.
neilblahblah's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
pizzamyheart's review
3.0
Note: This is the first version (retelling, translation, etc) that I have read of One Thousand and One Nights. Before reading this I knew:
- It revolves around a woman named Shahrazad
- To escape death she tells a new story every night
- A lot of classic stories came from this.
- Bugs Bunny did an episode about this a long long time ago
That's it. How does it end? I don't know. What are the stories? Aladdin? Sinbad? Some other smaller ones?.... basically, I was in the dark.
I decided to read this as part of a group read here on Goodreads. It had high praise, so why not? It surprisingly wasn't that long either.
Let me start with the good.
- Lots of original stories.
- updated with some modern language
- writing style flowed nicely.
Now the problems.
- What happened to Shahrazad?... She starts the first few "chapters", then disappears until the very very end. If she's telling a new part of the story every night, then shouldn't she appear a little more often.
- The ending... Um... So what DID happen to her? Again, this is my first time reading One Thousand and One Nights. Since the whole point is to escape death, I assume she survive. Was she happy? How long did all these stories take her? hello??
Basically, I enjoyed the story, but I felt let down. For someone who is unfamiliar with the original tale, this leaves too many unanswered questions. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they were familiar with the original tale.
- It revolves around a woman named Shahrazad
- To escape death she tells a new story every night
- A lot of classic stories came from this.
- Bugs Bunny did an episode about this a long long time ago
That's it. How does it end? I don't know. What are the stories? Aladdin? Sinbad? Some other smaller ones?.... basically, I was in the dark.
I decided to read this as part of a group read here on Goodreads. It had high praise, so why not? It surprisingly wasn't that long either.
Let me start with the good.
- Lots of original stories.
- updated with some modern language
- writing style flowed nicely.
Now the problems.
- What happened to Shahrazad?... She starts the first few "chapters", then disappears until the very very end. If she's telling a new part of the story every night, then shouldn't she appear a little more often.
- The ending... Um... So what DID happen to her? Again, this is my first time reading One Thousand and One Nights. Since the whole point is to escape death, I assume she survive. Was she happy? How long did all these stories take her? hello??
Basically, I enjoyed the story, but I felt let down. For someone who is unfamiliar with the original tale, this leaves too many unanswered questions. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they were familiar with the original tale.
bluelilyleest's review against another edition
3.0
To be honest, I had no idea there were so many issues of (re)translation, retelling, Orientalism, sourcing etc with the stories of Arabian Nights. I’m not quite the expert in Arabian literature unfortunately, but after doing a little research I think that Al-Shaykh’s collection is true to the original stories (in so far that is possible). It is written very accessibly so that lays like myself can easily acquaint themselves with the stories that really make up the mythology and folklore of One Thousand and One Nights. I’m happy to have read what I believe is an authentic rendering of the way these stories would’ve been told and embedded in a night of storytelling.
The first half of the book, I was shocked by the violence and brutality of this ancient society. Arms and heads are cut of at a whim and most of the characters are solely drive by sex and revenge. Still, it makes sense that in an oral setting, characters would have to fall in love quickly -like, marrying after seeing each other for 2 seconds quickly- because a storyteller simply wouldn’t have had the time to develop an intricate romance. As a result, characters are mostly typical and easily interchangeable with a couple of exceptions. Although I didn’t really enjoy most of the stories because of their insistence on gender binaries and cruelty, I did find myself turning page after page. And that’s exactly what the magic of Shaharazad is all about, isn’t it?
The first half of the book, I was shocked by the violence and brutality of this ancient society. Arms and heads are cut of at a whim and most of the characters are solely drive by sex and revenge. Still, it makes sense that in an oral setting, characters would have to fall in love quickly -like, marrying after seeing each other for 2 seconds quickly- because a storyteller simply wouldn’t have had the time to develop an intricate romance. As a result, characters are mostly typical and easily interchangeable with a couple of exceptions. Although I didn’t really enjoy most of the stories because of their insistence on gender binaries and cruelty, I did find myself turning page after page. And that’s exactly what the magic of Shaharazad is all about, isn’t it?
_danrobin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
lindsayb's review against another edition
4.0
It's REALLY difficult to figure out just how to rate this. On one hand, the storytelling is masterful; it's bawdy and action-packed, full of demons and lovers and vengeance. Most of the stories end very poorly for everyone involved, which is kind of awesome. However, even though I've become relatively familiar with many of the Arabian Nights stories over the years and thought myself fairly prepared for any old-fashioned notions couched in these ancient tales, I had an incredibly hard time getting over the abject misogyny of many of the stories...so much so that I wasn't sure if I could continue on. I was so enthralled though, curious to see just how the plot might twist in each individual story. This kept me going. al-Shaykh's phrasing certainly helped make it more accessible, too--I may just have to check out more of her own work.
simply_jxde's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0