The Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings [Box set] [Hardcover]

Abolqasem Ferdowsi (Author), Dick Davis (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2004

Among the great works of world literature, perhaps one of the least familiar to English readers is the Shahnameh: ThePersian Book of Kings, the national epic of Persia. This prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi between the years 980 and 1010, tells the story of pre- Islamic Iran, beginning in the mythic time of Creation and continuing forward to the Arab invasion in the seventh century.

As a window on the world, Shahnameh belongs in the company of such literary masterpieces as Dante’s Divine Comedy, the plays of Shakespeare, the epics of Homer— classics whose reach and range bring whole cultures into view. In its pages are unforgettable moments of national triumph and failure, human courage and cruelty, blissful love and bitter grief.

In tracing the roots of Iran, Shahnameh initially draws on the depths of legend and then carries its story into historical times, when ancient Persia was swept into an expanding Islamic empire. Now Dick Davis, the greatest modern translator of Persian poetry, has revisited that poem, turning the finest stories of FerdowsiÂ’s original into an elegant combination of prose and verse. For the first time in English, in the most complete form possible, readers can experience Shahnameh in the same way that Iranian storytellers have lovingly conveyed it in Persian for the past thousand years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Composed more than a thousand years ago, this national epic of Persia tells the story of Iran from the first "lord of the world," Kayumars, through the seventh-century Arab/Islamic conquest of the Sassanid dynasty. With a foreword by Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, and illustrated with Persian lithographs, Davis's translation of this epic poem is an accessible combination of poetry and prose.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This immense volume translates into clear, accessible prose the bedrock work of Iranian literature. Compiled and cast into verse by a tenth-century bard, Shahnameh contains the stories of the kings of ancient Iran before Islam overwhelmed the land in the seventh century. The first half deals primarily with mythical and semimythical figures, chief among them the great hero Rostam, while the latter half, beginning with the conquest of Sekandar--that is, Alexander the Great--records historical persons and events. In the concise, informative introduction, Davis calls attention to the entire book's recurrent themes of father-son conflict and contrast between kings and heroes, the latter of whom are nobler in character than the former; indeed, so noble that they invariably decline the throne when it is proffered to them. Davis encourages viewing both themes as reflections of a detached and critical attitude toward formal power and markers of a humane spirit that has allowed the epic to persist as the supreme classic of its nation. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1134 pages
• Publisher: Mage Publishers (August 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934211973
• ISBN-13: 978-0934211970
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 7.7 x 4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,273,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 136 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Answer to Previous Reviewer's Question about the Two Editions, April 30, 2006

By 

Gordyeh - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (Hardcover)

The translated text of the SHAHNAMEH in both the single-volume Viking edition and the three-volume Mage editions are exactly the same. The differences are that the single volume edition has a preface by Azar Nafisi, 30 black and white line art illustrations form 19th century Persian lithograph SHAHNAMEHs and a 25-page introduction by the translator. The three-volume set, on the other hand, has over 500 color illustrations from 15th to 17th-century SHAHNAMEH manuscripts, an introduction for each volume by the translator, and volume 1 (THE LION AND THE THRONE) includes a summary by the translator of the complete SHAHNAMEH.

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can finally read the stories of my childhood, April 19, 2006

By 

Bahram Farhangmehr - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (Hardcover)

I was born in the US to Iranian parents, so I grew up listening to the stories from the Shahnameh, told to me in Persian by my parents and grandparents. But since I couldn't read the stories in the original Persian, I was never able to pick up a book and follow the stories from start to finish, or really put them in context. When I heard that the Shahnameh was finally available in English I rushed to get a copy. And all the stories and characters I'd learned in childhood are here! The legends of Zal, Rostam, Sohrab, Eskandar, Bahram, Mazdak, Khosrow, and Anoushirvan, and even more that I never knew were part of the Shahnameh. Reading this book as an adult, I can see the Shahnameh not just as fable but what it really is: an epic poem, a mix of myth and history, and a still-living story of a people. Dick Davis is a genius for having translated this incredibly long poem so evenly and clearly. The drama, humor, and pathos of Ferdowsi is never lost in his translation. Reading this book, there is still the sense of excitement and of having gained some kind of wisdom as when I first heard the stories of the Shahnameh as a child.

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Breakthrough for Ferdowsi in English, March 31, 2006

By 

Christopher Eichler (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (Hardcover)

I am surprised at the reviews that mention only what is not in this edition of the Shahnameh, at the expense of what is in the book. It is well that it is not a complete, unabridged translation; the Shahnameh is one of the longest epic poems in the world, and a complete translation (which would always be a contentious claim) would run over a thousand pages. This edition is well-selected and wonderfully accessible for the modern reader of English, and contains in full most of the greatest narratives of the epic, from their beginnings to their conclusions. Dick Davis' translation into beautiful and sensitive English verse and prose is a breakthrough for Ferdowsi in the non-Persian-speaking world.