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

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.

Normally, I'd only post a review once finishing a book, but since starting Penguin's The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 1 (The Arabian Nights or Tales from 1001 Nights) I've realised that it really is a book to dip into when you're in the mood. It's a chunky tome and not something that can be polished off in a couple of weeks.I've reached Night 10 so far and am thoroughly enjoying it. I'm not a scholar so am coming to the text with a layman's view as I've always been interested in getting to know the stories. Some reviews have criticised the translation as being dull and less poetic than it should be, but I've found it very accessible and the stories are wonderful and magical at the same time. In fact, I'm a firm believer that you will never find a translation of any foreign-language text that pleases all. For the "everyday reader", though, this one is ideal.I'm in the Kindle camp and currently have Volumes 1 and 3 - just waiting for Volume 2 to drop to the right price! I always make a point of mentioning the formatting and this one is perfect - which is highly unusual for Penguin books! Text and headings are laid out correctly, and all the real page numbering is in place. If I had one (very minor!) technical criticism it's that the contents and navigation divides the book into collections of 20 or so nights - clearly an approach to reduce the length of the contents and "Go To" menu. But, as there are so many nights to get through, you can forgive this!I look forward to continuing my exploration of the 1,001 Nights over time. I don't know how long it'll take me to complete this volume, but I'll certainly return with an overview when I have.