Aladdin And Other Tales From The Arabian Nights (1997) - Plot & Excerpts
The Arabian Nights are famous for their magnificent storytelling, and their illumination of the Eastern world. This translation is simple and literal while maintaining some of the poetry and mystery of the stories, as accomplishment to be sure. However, the brutality of stories, even when told in such a matter-of-fact manner, cannot be hidden. Certainly, much of the literature of the middle ages is considered violent or carnal by the contemporary reader, but the values system of Arabia is disconcerting, especially when read to children.The first chapter recounts the setting of the 1001 nights. The King, whose heart has been wounded by an unfaithful woman, decides he will marry a new maiden each day and then kill her in the morning. The brave Shahrazad tells the King one story each night, and his desire to hear the story continue causes him to spare her life. After 3 children and 1001 stories, Shahrazad requests of the King her life, and he grants her request (this is recounted in the Epilogue). This context alone took quite a while to explain and discuss with our students.The stories throughout are filled with cleverness, adventure many reversals (the rich are brought down and the poor rise), and trickery. Slaves feature prominently in many stories (which is historically accurate as Arabia was the largest slave market in the world throughout the middle ages, only to be surpassed in the 1800s by the trans-Atlantic slave trade), and black slaves are particularly singled out for the lowest stations. Women are often killed, and men are routinely whipped, often for no reason at all. Faithfulness seems to be a virtue only important in a woman, and the jinnee (our genie) will need explanation as well. Particularly brutal is the chapter "Kalifah and the Fisherman" (which we skipped entirely), with Aladdin (not surprisingly) the most palatable.So why read them? There is adventure and mystery! The stories do give insight into an entirely different culture. The discussions we had with our students were excellent, and served to highlight our own cultural tendencies, as well as the need for a cultural standard of "righteous" behavior. Islam and the Arab world being such a definitive part of our experience, and likely our children's, I think such exposure is beneficial. Teaching this was a daunting task. For those who want something a little easier, that you do not need to preview as carefully, Jim Weiss' A Storytellers Version of the Arabian Nights CD was well done. Link:http://www.amazon.com/Storytellers-Ve... Also, we read this alongside http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67...King Arthur which provided an excellent contrast for discussion of different cultures and worldviews.In conclusion, I cannot say this was "pleasant" or "enjoyable", and I was very happy when the day came in studying Arabian culture that we got to watch Disney's Aladdin and discuss art, architecture, speech/phrasing, references to Allah, clothing, and the role of Jinnee.
This collection includes several folk tales from India, Persia and Arabia, told within the framework of the Arabian Nights story, was translated directly from the original Arabic and intended for a younger audience, ages 10 and up. The familiar story of Aladdin is just one of many tales the beautiful and accomplished Shahrazad tells her husband, a king who has been marrying – and killing – a new wife everyday. But by keeping him entertained with stories of genies and kings, magicians and maidens, treasures and thieves, Shahrazad makes it through 1,001 nights, ultimately saving herself and the rest of the women in the kingdom from a gruesome fate.
What do You think about Aladdin And Other Tales From The Arabian Nights (1997)?
A book filled with enchanted tales from the far east. This is one I love to read. Even as an adult I see myself not putting the book down and diving into the sandy deserts of Arabia. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to loose themselves in another land, with culture so strong the words that come off the pages makes you feel like you have went back in time. The story orientates around a kings anger at his former queen; who he had beheaded for not keeping her marital vows. The king marry's a new girl everyday and has her beheaded in the morning. Until mothers and fathers had left his kingdom in fear of his ongoing madness. A advisor to the king had a daughter who he loved and believed had no choice but to give away. His daughter accepted the kings hand, however had a plan to stop the kings wrath and began telling him stories, which would be in triad of another night of her life.The children would love it. I would say anyone over the age of 7. The layout of the book is brilliant. How one story intertwines with another is ingenious.
—Mohammed Abdul Rob
My review of this is colored by the fact that my school chose this as one of my literature books to read and discuss with my 3rd grade class this year. The stories in themselves were interesting; some even fascinating. To see the different elements that another culture includes in their fairy tales was a lot of fun.These stories are VIOLENT though! In the Ali Baba story itself, a man gets quartered and the pieces hung around the door to the cave to discourage other potential thieves. His brother takes the pieces down and takes them to a cobbler to sew them together so he can be buried. Later, when the thieves break into a house and are hiding in baskets to wait until night, a young woman pours boiling oil into each of the baskets to kill them. The grand finale is the same young woman disemboweling the leader of the thieves at dinner. Another story has Sindbad bashing in an old man's skull with a rock.Yes, and I had to read these with 8 and 9 year olds. If it weren't for that, I might have enjoyed these stories more.
—Julesmarie
Well, I can't say that this book was the best that i had read. I enjoyed reading about the fables and the tales that taught something. Eventhough this boook didn't grab my attention in the beginning, some of the strategies Shahrazad used to expressed the morals of the tales did surprise me. I had thought that she was going to tales some individual tales with a few basic lessons to tell Shariyar. The difficult part in reading this book was that it was sort of hard to NOT reading on and understanding the frame story part. Overall I did enjoy reading the book.
—Wendy
