The Arabian Nights

By: Andrew Lang - translator

Narrated by: Suehyla El Attar

Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance, The Arabian Nights has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Scheherazade, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Scheherazade always withheld the ending: A thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever.

Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Good Story. Good Narration

Good story, or stories. Each new story flowed from the previous one. The narrator was fair. She often lost the flow of the narrative. It was a good listen over all.

The Arabian Nights has far more stories than just the stories of Aladdin and Sinbad the sailor.

The story begins with Shahrazad who is gonna marry King Shahryar and he will kill her if she doesn't please him, so she starts telling stories to maintain his interest. The problem with this book is it never comes back to that story: the narrative delves into the stories that the woman is telling and never comes back to address the original story that led to the creation of all these other stories. I found this to be a tremendous flaw and for that reason gave a slightly less high rating. The rest of the book was well done although some of the stories were less mature than the original, so the translator took some artistic liberties. I found it interesting how the story of Aladdin was quite different than the Disney version. The narrator did a good job with the material she had to work with. Since this book left the most important part of the story out I have added it here: Shahrazad, successfully engages King Shahryar with her captivating tales over 1,001 nights, causing him to fall in love with her and ultimately spare her life, allowing them to live happily ever after. Why this ending was cut out of the book is beyond me! It was decent with some glaring flaws, perhaps there are better copies of this work out there?

Good, But Not Burton

What did you love best about The Arabian Nights?

The length and breadth of the stories is amazing. The combination of real and imaginary places, people, animals, and supernatural beings is dazzling. These stories are works of imagination of a high order. They also provide a great many insights into the Islamic world of the Middle Ages that created them.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harun al-Rashid of course. He was the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph. He ruled from 786 to 809. His reign make well have been the apogee of the Islamic Golden Age. He promoted Islamic art and music along with science and commerce.

Which scene was your favorite?

So many come to mind, it is hard to choose. The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor stand out. However, the tale of the Christian, Jew, and Muslim who all plead guilty to a murder they did not commit (to save someone else) is noteworthy as well.

Any additional comments?

This is both a good to great, and limited narration of the Arabian Nights. The single best feature of this narration is its length (11 hours and 35 minutes). The Arabian Nights is very large collection of stories of varying quality. However, even the very best stories still take many, many hours to narrate. Some of the other audiobooks narrating the Arabian Nights are just too short. This one is not.

Initially I was somewhat wary of a female narration. The stories are generally written from a male perspective and implied storyteller is almost always male. However, after listening to this audiobook, I can strongly recommend Suehyla El Attar's narration.

Others have suggested that this narration is not based on the Burton translations of the Arabian Nights (Lang is suggested as the source). This may or may not be true. However, the language does not appear to be Burton's. Most of the sex and violence has been authentically retained from the original stories. However, the Islamic character and context has been largely deleted. These are (mostly) stories from the Islamic Middle Ages and the Burton translation retained the pervasive Islamic environment of the stories. This version does not.

THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

I enjoyed the short stories. The only thing that I disliked was that the story began with the sultan killing his wives after one night due to his first wife’s betrayal. The daughter of the sultan’s head of the household wanted to stop the killings and thought she would be able to do this by telling her stories and by postponing her death by leaving the sultan on a cliffhanger. It did this one time in the Audible program, but then just continued with the stories. There was no closure as to what happened to the daughter telling her stories. It left you wondering, if you did not already know the ending of the story. The narrator did an excellent job in story telling.

Narrator and miss translations

Numerous miss translations, they keep calling a
Genie (jinn) a genius. They are also not pausing between stories.

Stories without endings due to translation

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Anybody who enjoys cliffhangers without resolution, which is to say, nobody. This translation not only is missing many stories, but the stories themselves have been left unfinished.

Has The Arabian Nights turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not at all, however, it has made me look closer at fellow reviewers and do more research on translations before buying. Also, it would help if the correct translation was listed in the item description

How could the performance have been better?

If the performer had read from the correct translation

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger and curiosity, I will now be buying the print version of the Lyons translation in order to hear all of the stories and find out what happens in "the porter and the three ladies of baghdad"

Any additional comments?

Please correct the item description so that it states translation by Lang

Not unabridged Burton--this is Lang

What disappointed you about The Arabian Nights?

The selection is advertised as the unabridged Burton translation, but it is actually the abridged Lang version.

What was most disappointing about Richard Francis Burton (translator)’s story?

This was not Burton's translation, but rather Lang's bowdlerization.

Which scene was your favorite?

The frame story of Shahrazad.

What character would you cut from The Arabian Nights?

None--but Lang cut freely.

Any additional comments?

Change the advertising as soon as possible. I am sure there is a market for this version of the Arabian Nights, and the voice performer is excellent.

Not the same as my book!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Let's start with the positive - the narrators voice was great - engaging - and pleasant.

Now for the bad.... the translation was so very PG13 that it made me feel dumb. The Burton version I have describes the wives betrayal in the garden ever so much differently that the audio book! I had to stop listening. It is NOT what I have read - and I just couldn't take it anymore!

Has The Arabian Nights turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

What does Suehyla El Attar bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I really enjoyed listening to Suehyla El Attar

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No. It is totally different than the paperback I have in my library.