Customer Reviews

Arabian Nights Entertainments

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a sanitized childrens version of the classic novel made famous many decades ago. It is missing the critical "adult" thread of why the stories are being told; the woman telling erotic and exotic stories to the king to entertain him and entice him with wanting to hear more so she may live... Without this element, this merely becomes is a nice collection of fairy tails randomly sited.

I recently purchased this CD set for my daughters to listen to in the car and at bed time. I was impressed with how much they enjoyed it. Several times we have had to sit in the car for a few minute after getting home so that they could hear the end of a chapter.

Now, as for the stories themselves, be warned. These are NOT polished up, dumbed-down, sanitized disney versions. The language used is age appropriate for young listeners. However, there is a body count, and there is a scene where somebody dumps boiling oil in the jars with the murdering thieves. It is not particularly graphic, but if you have concerns about that kind of thing, you really should listen to the stories yourself before letting your kids hear them. Also, these are stories from the middle east, so there are several mentions throughout the stories to Allah. They are handled in a religiously neutral fashion, and only serve to remind the listener that the stories are from another culture. It is not some back door attempt to convert kids to Islam. All that being said, these are relatively good versions of the traditional stories. They are fun to listen to. I probably enjoyed them as much as the kids did. The narrator is engaging, and his delivery is excellent. I would recommend these CDs to anybody who is interested in introducing kids to the stories of Arabian Nights.

-CR

The Arabian Nights / 0-486-22289-6

This is not a complete compilation of the classic 'Arabian Nights' tales, but rather several select tales, and has been heavily abridged for children readers. Much of the sexual and bawdy content has been taken out (although there's still a pretty hefty dead body count), largely by heavily editing chunks of the story out of existence. This can be rather baffling, as some of the stories haven't been "edited" so much as left with huge gaps. As such, when I read these stories as I child, I was fascinated but deeply confused at the lack of any kind of resolution in several of the stories. Having read the "adult" 'Arabian Nights' tales since then, that confusion has been cleared up.

This is not a bad adaptation for children, but I would have preferred a more carefully edited version, rather than one with somewhat sloppy cuts that left me, even as a child, aware that something was missing. Still, this is a good introduction to children of the magic of the Arabian Nights tales, and this book will be a well-loved addition to any child's library.

~ Ana Mardoll

My four children and I loved reading this collection of stories from Arabia. Though I highly recommend any book by Mr. Lang, The Arabian Nights Entertainments is my favorite. Happy reading!

This was a very good book. However, it is missing some of the stories. I do not know which, but I do know that it is missing at least a few.

This is a free title, so it's not as if you're wasting money here, only time. Presented here are a handful of edited stories, a mere sampling of the complete whole, which, admittedly, is near-impossible to find. Instead of downloading and reading this digital sadness, find a more complete edition and enjoy that. The One Thousand and One Nights are worth reading, but you need to read a version that actually includes Scheherezhade at least, also The Three Princes, and The Prince and the Fairy, and many, many more. This has none of them. Find a good version, do not waste your time here.

This version is missing key events in the main story line, as well as "less" important pieces of the story. This version is also toned down for less mature readers as most of the adult pieces of this book are left out. I would recommend reading the full version of the book, which I found for free in the kindle store although it comes in two parts.

I had the idea it would blissful to ride to work with Toby Stephens reading stories to me. I was right. These are charming and sometimes hair-raising tales told with all the variety he can bring to his voice to mesmerize and enthrall. I have heard other books on tape where the reader falters at the woman's lines or sounds too much the same to distinguish between characters. Toby can go from growl to light-as-air with the greatest of ease. These stories have far too much violence for the smallest of children but, otherwise, offer a delicious trip to fantasy land courtesy of a master storyteller.

I've heard that many book collectors (as a relative term - I collect books but not "collectible" editions) don't like Reader's Digest editions, mostly because they are a dime-a-dozen. But this edition of Arabian Nights is BEAUTIFUL! It's far better than many other editions I've seen, especially young reader paperbacks that visually seem to dumb-down the content.

I know book structure because I build them by hand. The outside has coated bookcloth, a leather spine with gold foil stamping, and screen-printed graphics with embossed foil. Inside pages are text-weight acid-free paper (which means the pages could last for centuries without crumbling - cheaper paperback editions may use newsprint or acidic paper that causes the pages to yellow and turn brittle quickly). The quality paper produces crisp type and sharp, bright images: eighteen color plates and thirteen black plates enhance the groups of short stories.

I recommend this edition as a keeper to read for years to come and to pass down to other new readers who haven't discovered these delightful tales yet. I hope you are lucky enough to also get the one page folded insert that was originally sold with this book that gives a content overview plus information on the author and illustrators.

The original Arabian Nights is long and full of various stories. Some bloody and adult rated not suited for children. This is unfortunately not the great original version. It is a sanitized abridged version. Regardless, it still has some great stories in it and for the price of free, I can't complain. If you don't like it, you can always delete it and buy the full version for a few bucks. You have nothing to lose by reading this version. It's like a trial for you to test and if you love it and want to read more [as in the full version] you can buy it.

Well worth the price I did not pay! :)