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The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 1 (Penguin Classics) Paperback – Illustrated, May 25, 2010

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 481 ratings

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The most significant translation in one hundred years of one of the greatest works of world literature
 
From Ali Baba and the forty thieves to the voyages of Sinbad, the stories of
The Arabian Nights are timeless and unforgettable. Published here in three volumes, this magnificent new edition brings these tales to life for modern readers in the first complete English translation since Richard Burton’s of the 1880s.
 
Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with a different virgin, and the next morning puts her to death. To end this brutal pattern, the vizier's daughter, Shahrazad, begins to tell the king enchanting tales of mystical lands peopled with princes and hunchbacks, of the Angel of Death and magical spirits, and of jinnis trapped in rings and in lamps—a sequence of stories that will last 1,001 nights, and that will save her own life.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A magnificent, unexpurgated edition of the greatest collection of folk tales in the world . . . The Arabian Nights is not a book to be read in a week. It is an ocean of stories to be dipped into over a lifetime. And this new Penguin edition is the one to have." The Sunday Times (London) 

"The translation . . . ought to become the standard one for the present century." 
The Times Literary Supplement 

"These magnificent volumes are the most ambitious and thorough translation into English of 
The Arabian Nights since the age of Queen Victoria and the British Empire." The Guardian 

"This new translation of the world's greatest collection of folk stories restores their colour and verve." 
The Sunday Times (London)

About the Author

Malcolm Lyons (co-translator) is a professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge and a widely published scholar of classical Arabic literature.
 
Ursula Lyons (co-translator) is an emeritus fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, specializes in modern Arabic literature.
 
Robert Irwin (editor, introducer) is the author of The Arabian Nights: A Companion as well as numerous other studies of Middle Eastern politics, art and mysticism.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics; Illustrated edition (May 25, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 992 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140449388
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140449389
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 2 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 481 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
481 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers enjoy the book's storytelling and find it unique and enjoyable to read. They appreciate the poetic translation of incredible tales and adventure in literature. The text is readable and the glossary helps with authentic language. Customers find the book affordable and worth the investment.

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16 customers mention "Enjoyment"16 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book. They find it enjoyable, unique, and a wonderful piece of literature. The translation is poetic and beautiful.

"...Why hesitate? Once you start reading this magnificent work (and I do think of it as a cohesive work) you will probably be hooked for life." Read more

"Very enjoyable! I read some of it in my teenage years, but I did not have the complete series...." Read more

"...The translation by Malcolm C. Lyons is a masterpiece...." Read more

"...of the supernatural, they still seem convincingly bizarre and fantastic because of the vastly different culture in which the stories takes place...." Read more

16 customers mention "Storytelling quality"14 positive2 negative

Customers enjoy the book's storytelling quality. They find the tales incredible, interesting, and magical. The book contains all the stories from the original collection, not just selections. Readers appreciate the provocative material and mystery that draws them in.

"...and the fact that it is highly readable and yet still exudes the kind of mystery which, I think, is what draws all of us into this work...." Read more

"...The translation by Malcolm C. Lyons is a masterpiece. Both intellectually and sensually thrilling, ARABIAN NIGHTS is engrossing reading and I look..." Read more

"...stories have no elements of the supernatural, they still seem convincingly bizarre and fantastic because of the vastly different culture in which..." Read more

"...This volume contains some of the best tales- such as the porter's tale -and once you start reading a set of stories it really is difficult to put..." Read more

13 customers mention "Translation quality"13 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the translation quality. They find the text friendly and readable, with a glossary to help with authentic language and culture. The poetic translation of classic tales is beautiful and spellbinding. The book is easy to access and affordable.

"...So Lyons has provided a terrific translation, his translation is comprehensive (the entire Calcutta II edition with the "orphan stories" appended),..." Read more

"...me that the translators took great pride in their work as the text is very friendly and the poetry parts appear to convey the nuances very well...." Read more

"...This more authentic use of language and culture (in my very humble opinion), the use of the word ifrit in place of demon for example, is just one..." Read more

"I thought I'd take on the task of reading the first volume of this classic text. It's fairly dated writing, as well as how the stories are framed...." Read more

5 customers mention "Value for money"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book affordable and worth the investment.

"...and it is easily accessible and affordable..." Read more

"...volume two, and volume three, this is also the most affordable complete collection of an otherwise abridged work...." Read more

"...However, it was a relief to find an affordable version of the Arabian Nights that wasn't sanitized or badly shortened. Incredibly good read." Read more

"A great book I have been looking for. Fantastic price!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2013
    This new Lyons translation of the "Thousand Nights and One Night" is extremely important, being, as it is, the first complete English translation to appear in over a century and the fact that it is highly readable and yet still exudes the kind of mystery which, I think, is what draws all of us into this work. Robert Irwin in his "Arabian Nights Companion" (an excellent book which all fans of the "nights" should own)lamented that there was no complete English translation of the "Nights" which was acceptable (at the time of his writing). I think Lyons has remedied this problem or, at least, has provided a first rate alternative. I actually own (and, believe it or not, have read) all the English versions. Since I am not an Arabic scholar and cannot read the original, I've accepted them for what they are and have liked each of them for various reasons. Mardrus/Mathers has a nice dreamy fin de siecle feel to it (hardly authentic, though), Payne is straightforward but dull, Lane's notes are excellent but his version too expurgated, and Burton is...well...Burton. (Until now, Burton had been my favorite mainly due to its oddity and idiosyncratic foot notes.) None of them is an "authentic" version of the "Nights", and I've resigned myself to the fact that until I learn Arabic I will never get the feeling that the original hearers had when these stories were first told. But I think Lyons comes awfully close. Best of all, Lyons has chosen to render the verse literally, rather than trying to re-versify it into English, something which I hate about all other translators who have included the poetry, Burton being the worst of all. So Lyons has provided a terrific translation, his translation is comprehensive (the entire Calcutta II edition with the "orphan stories" appended), and it is easily accessible and affordable (I think I had to pay some three hundred dollars for my complete 15 volume Burton translation). Why hesitate? Once you start reading this magnificent work (and I do think of it as a cohesive work) you will probably be hooked for life.
    44 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2024
    Very enjoyable! I read some of it in my teenage years, but I did not have the complete series.

    I cannot speak for the accuracy of the translation, as I am not an Arabic speaker, but it seems to me that the translators took great pride in their work as the text is very friendly and the poetry parts appear to convey the nuances very well.

    The tales are, of course, a mixed bag, some fascinating and with a lot of philosophical elements, some quite boring, and a lot of stories within stories, but who can blame Shahrazad for winging it when her life is at stake?

    Overall, very immersive in the atmosphere of earlier Islamic world.

    It should be rated R for violence, alcohol and sexual content.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2010
    If I had known what a sexy book this is, I probably would have read it in my early teens. It also would have been a great "head trip" in the late 1960s, with its mind-blowing structure of stories within stories within stories. There's a high violence quotient, too, as the book is rife with beheadings, castrations, maimings, and mutilations. Even though some of the sex scenes are fairly graphic, I would call them sensual rather than sensational. The framework for the stories is a ruler who so distrusts women that immediately after consummating his marriage he has his wives killed. His new bride, Shahrazad, prolongs her life by telling him a fascinating story after their lovemaking, but falling asleep before the story is finished, allowing her to live yet another day. And for a thousand and one nights the scene is repeated. Shahrazad's stories cover a vast array of subjects and styles. Some are moralistic stories about animals (similar to Aesop's Fables), some are comic sketches, and some are multigenerational sagas. There's high-flown poetry juxtaposed with lowbrow comedy. (Inopportune flatulence is a big laugh-getter.)

    But what this 21st Century reader found interesting were the gender roles of the two sexes. In these stories the women are far more likely to be consumed with lust than men are and men are just as apt to swoon from emotion as any damsel. Several of the female characters disguise themselves as men in order to lead armies and win contests of swordsmanship. Everyone oohs and ahs over the beauty of both males and females. Several of the characters are homosexual (but they are invariably villainous). This is really provocative material.

    This is only volume one and it's 960 pages that I read very quickly. The translation by Malcolm C. Lyons is a masterpiece. Both intellectually and sensually thrilling, ARABIAN NIGHTS is engrossing reading and I look forward to reading the other two volumes. Shahrazad lives. Five stars.
    108 people found this helpful
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  • VIRAG MISHRA
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in India on August 31, 2023
    Very good translation, nice collections of stories, must read…
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    VIRAG MISHRA
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in India on August 31, 2023
    Very good translation, nice collections of stories, must read…
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  • R. Moonilall
    5.0 out of 5 stars Todo perfecto
    Reviewed in Spain on October 3, 2021
    Llego en plazo y los tres tomos suman tres mil páginas, o sea la obra completa
  • I. Jones
    5.0 out of 5 stars Epic escapist entertainment
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2021
    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.
  • Tim Gordon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great and only complete edition currently in publication
    Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2014
    This is volume 1 of a 3 volume set. The introduction is split across the three volumes each dealing with a different thematic topic. The intro to this volume is well written and informative and deals with some of the more mysterious aspects of the Nights.

    The edition is made to the usual Penguin production standards and being a large volume I would handle with a little extra care (I am hard on my books and occasionally reinforce the spine with a little Duct tape to strengthen it).

    The translation is good and very readable and the index/notes can be helpful.

    The story itself is a trememndous amount of fun to read and the structure of the stories itself is interesting for the scholarly type.

    I highly recommend these three volumes, they are affordable, well translated with supporting material and very inexpensive for what they offer. Thank you to Penguin for bringing back a complete set of the Nights - I believe the first in English since Burton 19th Century edition.
  • Emiliano Fortes Soplanes
    1.0 out of 5 stars Its bad print
    Reviewed in Spain on December 4, 2022
    The media could not be loaded.
    The book is amazing, we love it so much.

    Although not a problem to me I have to give a bad review however because it came visible damaged, and seems like nobody even cared, just sent it.