The Arabian Nights (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)

Beautiful binding, tons of typos

All the effort went into creating a visually stunning book. The cover, the illustrations, even the page numbers are beautiful. If only they had bothered to check the gally proofs for typos!

15 out of 23 people found this review helpful.

Magnificent!!!

This story has been one of my favorites since I was a young child. My grandmother read the stories to me and I always found them facisnating. Now I am doing the same for my granddaughter, for whom I purchased this particular book as a Christmas gift. She is 10 years old and in 4th grade, and this book is just a tad difficult to read at that age; however, she is an extremely good reader, reading already at junior high level and I now she will love and enjoy this book just as much as I did at her age. I bought 2 of them; one for her and one for me, as I like to read and re-read the stories of Sheherezade, and in this way we keep books both in her house and my house, so when she visits we can read it together. Now she can read to me.

This particular edition is bound in beautiful rich-colored bonded leather, with gold writing and it's great to hold and feel its high quality. The thin, beautiful, parchment-like paper of its pages are also great and remind the reader of very old, very high quality books from Europe. I grew up in Europe and remember books looking and smelling like this one. The translation of Sir Richard Burton is a great edition of a fabulous book that has fascinated and enthralled many people through the ages. This book is fantastic!

8 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

Excellent text, beautiful copy

One Thousand and One Nights is most definitely a required read for anyone who loves literature. The poetic style incorporated by the various authors adds not only detail, but interest to the tales.

Almost everyone is familiar with Aladdin, Sinbad, and Ali Baba, but there are other great tales such as the story of Prince Behram and Princess al-Datma (which has an excellent spin on the 'battle of the sexes' concept--though this story is not for feminists or people easily offended), the Genie bartering for a man's life by listening to tales, which reflects the greatness of this book--it's a tale within a tale (Princess Shahrazad entertaining King Shahryar in order to survive). The genie story is even more in-depth, whereby the princess is telling the story of a genie who is listening to stories by people trying to save a cursed man's life, which reflects the princess trying to save her own life! It's complex, but fascinating.

The book is beautiful, and the coloring chosen was perfect, as blues, golds, and turquoise are the divine colors within Islam. One issue with an above review I have is that I am a Humanities professor, and scholars do not believe that it "contains some of the oldest stories ever told" nor that it is "considered the first book ever written." True, it is a compilation of centuries-old Islamic, Persian, and Arabic tales, but many of them are based on much older Egyptian and Greek myths, and the stories were not put together until between the 10th-15th centuries. The Iliad and Odyssey are much older, and the Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest 'book' ever written. Just thought it was important to clear up any confusion. But in terms of the book, it's a must-read, and this edition is excellent.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful book but...

This is such a beautiful book, I grew up reading these stories and it was wonderful to find the leatherbound version.
I do have a big issue with it... I am not understanding why is it called Arabian Nights, Shahrazad was in fact Persian. The original title was 1001 Nights so I am not sure why the translator chose to change it to an incorrect one.
I have Iranian friends (Persians) who were pretty offended that such an important piece of Persian fiction is atributed in the title to... a different people.
Overall, good read, beautiful binding.

3 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

An excellent edition and great for gift giving!

This is a choice of Tales from the Arabian Nights in the Burton translation (not easy to read, but one gets accustomed to it with time). However, the choice of tales in this gorgeous, heirloom style edition is based on the very first European translation -- the Galland version... So by reading this edition, you are actually killing two birds with one stone -- the Burton text and the Galland contents!

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Gorgeous

I showed this book to my grandmother (She was an English teacher and has a veryexpansive library filled with collectible books) and was very pleased to have her approval. Many scholers believe The Arabian Nights (originally published One Thousand One Nights) to contain some of the oldest stories ever told. By many, it is considered the first book ever written. This edition is a little flamboyantly presented, but does contain beautiful illustrations. It is said that all stories somehow find their root in One Thousand One Nights. However, many stories have been taken out and added through the years with some edtions containing more and some less than "one thousand nights." For this reason, you would be very hardpressed to ever find two identical compilations.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

I'm sure this is a great book if I were to receive it. I am an i

I'm sure this is a great book if I were to receive it. I am an international customer (Canada), and waited a month to receive this book, and got nothing. Barnes and Noble gave me a tracking number that DID NOT even work with USPS or canadapost. I am very upset, because their poor service clearly depicted that they do not value their international customers. International customers beware.  

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Decorative but Flawed

This decorative Leatherbound edition looks good, especially as the printed art on the spine is well-aligned; however, there is minor overlapping of colors and outlines crating a slightly-blurred effect on the elaborate front and back covers. This edition elides the traditional dedication to Allah, starting half-way through sentence 4 with, "In tide of yore" (this is not an error for "time," see the Shammar edition) However, the slipshod proofreading is the real problem with this book, as the key to enjoying Burton's translation is his lyrical prose style which loses all sense of alliteration when "forded" is substituted for "lorded" in the line, "...he ruled the land and lorded if over this lieges..." (p 1). Further errors prevent clear and relaxed reading: "attend ants" for "attendants" (p 3); "resected" for "reflected" (p 7); "fief" for "lief" (p 9); and "bans formed" for "transformed" (p 33). This is edition is decorative, but if you intend to READ the narrative, pick up an edition which includes the original "Translator's Preface" and Burton's explanatory notes.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I picked this up at a Barnes & Noble retail store and have j

I picked this up at a Barnes & Noble retail store and have just loved it. Each night is a journey into another time and another world, but, alas, I won't get 1,001 nights out of it. Gorgeous binding, gilt-edged pages, and very solid: I expect it to last several lifetimes (uh, not all of them mine).

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Beautiful Book, but not for beginners

I am still currently reading this book, but love it anyways!! It's hard to read quickly because it uses old English and is written passively most of the time. This means it should be limited to more advanced readers. Also, many of the stories have similar story lines - such as they go do something and they're gone for seven years, then another five, then another three, etc. Also, I would like to point out that these leather bound classics tend to be recreations of older versions of books. So typos, formatting errors, and spelling errors should generally be attributed to the older version. (Note: this is not always true)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Lovely- A story within stories of stories.

Im still young, the novel contains some old english, but after a whlie you get used to it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Arabian Nights

I have read thousands of books, and this is one of the most sumptuous books I have ever laid hands on! Elegantly, beautifully designed and richly illustrated, it has the classic tales that people love: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp,The Tale of Scheherazade... This is not a book recommended for children, rather it is a keepsake book, one you put in a special place and handle with care, a book you would hand down to your children only when they become adults. The stories are a fun read, full of rich detail and exotic locales.The Arabian Knights immediately draws you in and keeps you fully engaged in the stories from the first page to the last. A definite recommend!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The stories of the Arabian Nights aren't what I'm reviewing over

The stories of the Arabian Nights aren't what I'm reviewing over (since they're some of my favorite anyway), but it's the book itself that has made me frustrated from the first day I purchased it. I bought my first copy while out of state, came back home, opened it, and found that the paint from the intricate designs on the cover flaked off and discolored my hands every time I touched it. By the time I handled it a decent four times total, the cover art was completely disfigured. I brought the situation to the attention of customer service, who told me I could only have a replacement/refund if I mailed the book back to the retail store I purchased it from. Did that. Bought another copy from the store online. This second copy has the same exact problem. It might just be I had bad luck with the book selection, but overall, I'll never have a chance to read it without wearing gloves.

Maia

Is it only sold in stores? Help me!!!!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Child safety warning: there is a part in the beginning of this b

Child safety warning: there is a part in the beginning of this book where two men are raped. Now on to my review so far: In honesty? I'm only about halfway threw the book and I've been wanting to throw at a wall since I hit chapter three.
Don't get me wrong, the binding is stunning, you don't see books like this very often. But if you're looking for an example of early 1700s translations, find a different story because Scheherazade was either a really bad story teller or Burton was a very bad translator.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Beautiful

I have not completed but love the book. The illustrations are gorgeous. My only difficulty is the translation. Once the reader gets use to the English translation it is truly a wonderful read. I am thrilled I purchased the book to add to my classics collection.

Stunning...Absolutely stunning

I just received this today and I almost cried at the incredible beauty of this book. When I first opened the cover, already I was mystified by the illustrations. It's a highly mesmerizing book with stories that still delights readers to this day.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

To all Classic Readers

This item arrived exactly on the date it was expected. Cover is beautiful and pictures are vivid.

Very Attractive

When I first saw this book and its brothers, I fell in love. The cover, the internal illustrations, the stories, all worth the money.

The actual text of the stories is written in high literary language, such as "Quoth Scheherazade that night, "It hath come to me, O auspicious King, that..."" which makes it a difficult read, but boy is it worth it!

I'd say that this book is good for anyone with a 10th grade reading level and above, with an exception for the advanced readers out there.

I highly recommend this, as well as all the others in this Leatherbound Classics series!

Rarely do you see these classic pieces of literature rendered with such sophisticated elegance and beauty, faithfully honoring and respecting the equally unique, creative literary material loved by generations of readers. I have been enjoying them all, and eagerly look forward to each new addition to the series.

Hopefully, the publisher (who appears to be unreachable) will keep releasing more of these fine collected works, including such classic writers as Baum, Milne, Kipling, Twain, London, Melville, Hemingway, Stoker, Shelley, as well as other poets like Virgil, Longfellow, Keats, Eliot, Hawthorne, and Blake.

Time will tell, but hope is alive. Get on board with these fantastic masterpieces of literature, and be swept away in worlds of imagination!