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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Golden sands & marble minarets under a rose-tinted sky,
This review is from: The Shaving of Shagpat (Paperback)
Here's a truly charming 19th Century fantasy from the acclaimed Victorian novelist & poet George Meredith, written in his youth. In what was obviously a labor of love, Meredith pours his considerable childhood affection for the Arabian Nights into this tale of a humble but heroic Persian barber, Shibli Bagarag, who finds himself charged with the quest of shaving the impressive beard of the powerful clothier Shagpat ... but let Meredith's own words introduce the story:
"Now the story of Shibli Bagarag, and of the ball he followed, and of the subterranean kingdom he came to, and of the enchanted palace he entered, and of the sleeping king he shaved, and of the two princesses he released, and of the Afrite held in subjection by the arts of one and bottled by her, is it not known as 'twere written on the finger-nails of men and traced in their corner robes?" With the aid of the enchantress Noorna, Shibli Bagarag sets out on his journey, all related in the faux-Orientalist prose of the above excerpt. Those looking for even a tenuous relationship to the reality of the Middle East will look in vain; this is an Arabia of Western fancy, an Antipodes of the Western psyche. Clearly this won't appeal to everyone, so be warned. But when taken on its own terms, it's no less enjoyable & convincing than any faux-Medieval fantasy of today. And frankly, it's a lot more fun! Returned to print by the legendary Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series some 40 years ago, this particular edition features the typically lush & vibrant cover art of those volumes, in this case by Ray Cruz, along with a short & enthusiastic introduction by editor Lin Carter. It's a perfect example of the possibilities of the heroic (or mock-heroic) fantasy, before the genre became so bogged down in overly-detailed literalism & poor mimicry of Tolkien, many times removed from the original source. If you can find a copy, you may be in for a delightful surprise -- recommended!
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