Title: Tales from the Arabian Nights

Author: Anonymous, Translated by Richard Francis Burton   

Genre: Classics  

Publisher: Fall River Press

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 661

Rating: 2/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

The tales told by Shahrazad over a thousand and one nights to delay her execution by the vengeful King Shahriyar have become among the most popular in both Eastern and Western literature. From the epic adventures of “Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp” to the farcical “Young Woman and her Five Lovers” and the social criticism of “The Tale of the Hunchback”, the stories depict a fabulous world of all-powerful sorcerers, jinns imprisoned in bottles and enchanting princesses. But despite their imaginative extravagance, the Tales are anchored to everyday life by their realism, providing a full and intimate record of medieval Islam.

Review:

So I started reading these stories about over a year ago and I read a few and I just couldn’t get into them. So I put them aside until at the end of January I was like “wow, I am on a reading roll!! This would be an excellent time to try and finish these stories.” So I did it. And honestly, this just wasn’t my jam. I’m not sure what it is, but I just found the stories so similar and repetitive that I was bored most of the time.

The one cool thing was seeing the tale of Aladdin and how different it is from the Disney version. I also enjoyed reading about Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, but that was it. Even the tale of Sinbad was boring. He goes on seven adventures that are practically the same.

I’m glad I’ve finished these stories and I can say I’ve read them. I can also safely say I will never read them again. Oh well.

Happy reading!