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A review by whitjones1
One Thousand and One Nights by Hanan Al-Shaykh
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.