The Arabian Nights: Introduction by Wen-chin Ouyang (Everyman's Library Classics Series)

Really an awesome and interesting book. It’s pretty sturdy and the illustrations are pretty cool.

Everyman can do no wrong. The translation is fantastic and easy to read.

This is something I have wanted for my permanent library. Lovely book.

As soon as I saw this hard cover version offered on my Q it brought back a flood of memories. In 1955 my grandfather gave me The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature compiled with the original illustrations under the direction of P. Edward Ernest and edited and with an introduction by Margaret E. Martigoni, formerly Superintendent of Work with Children Brooklyn Public Library, New York. I still have that volume after 59 years because it was a treasure trove of magical stories. My favorite was The Story of Aladdin, or The Wonderful Lamp. This same story is told in a much expanded, more adult style in the Wen-chin Quyang anthology. I thought that The Arabian Nights (Everyman's Library (Cloth) would be my gift to my grandchildren in the same manner that my grandfather gave me the stories. After receiving this tome, I realize that it is geared more toward the adult reader. For two reasons, first the stores are not geared down for younger children and second because of the way the book is type set. The typeface if set in Ehrhardt, probably cut by the Hungarian punch-cutter in Leipzig around 1689. The Monotype modern version, while being easy on the eye is set too tiny, with such small margins on the pages, makes it difficult to hold the attention of a third or fourth grade reader. I can see it without reading glasses, but have to be very near a good source of light.I love the introduction in which Wen-chin Quyang describes his early connection to the stories and how he had to hunt down versions and read them in Chinese. I also never knew that there was a restriction on who was allowed to read the stories.My parents traveled to Istanbul on The Orient Express before it was remodeled for the tourist trade. On that trip my mother purchased a Persian rug from a vendor on top of a mountain. He was not happy with the deal he struck after he accepted the cash from my mother. In his anger, he put a curse on her. They found out later that their house in America was being robbed at the same time the curse was being spun. We still have the rug, I still have the 1955 book. I will be giving the original to my young grandkids and will be reading my new version while sitting on the rug and wondering at it all.

When I found Arabian Nights come up in my queue, I knew I just had to get it! Not only am I a huge fan of ancient folklore (mostly Eastern and African), but it's hard to find a good translation for Scheherazade's tales nowadays... at least, the ones I've come across are usually edited for cultural sensitivity. That's the beauty of Wen-chin Ouyang's translation. Wen-chin makes no bones about the harsh nature of tribal folktales in terms of violence, endemic misogyny, and the occasional unhappy ending.Be it the racial tensions between Arabs, Persians, and Africans, the capricious nature of both women and Djinn, or the many betrayals and cruelties that lead Scheherazade to stretch her stories over night after night to avoid the headsman's axe, The Arabian Nights tells the tales of an often brutal, yet still oddly kind and just culture. It's another culture... almost another world... both alien and familiar, and almost completely priceless. Every past civilization has their stories and every literate person should visit them all at least once.For the past month, I've been going through the tome night by night, stopping only when Scheherazade does at every dawn, herself, regaling both her sister and her vengeful and bitter husband with half of the previous night's tale and half the current, staying her execution just once more day. I'm barely through the book at all, but know it will keep me happy for quite some time.I heartily recommend that you do so with Wen-chin Ouyang's translation of The Arabian Nights, with the caveat that you're getting a rougher picture of the Middle-East of antiquity than most people expect in our Disney-fied folk-tale world.

I remember reading a couple stories from The Arabian Nights when I was a kid, usually ones that were included in other collections of children's stories. I remember finding them a little strange and foreign but enjoying them, nonetheless. After reading a few of the stories in this excellent (and lengthy) compilation, I suspect the stories I read as a child were shortened and modified to be more appropriate for children. As such, this book seems to be written for inclusion in higher education curriculums (and a mention along those lines is made in the introduction), but I still found the stories to be fascinating and fun to read. They have been taken from a number of different translations, based on which ones the editors thought were best. The book itself is nicely made - hardcover, with several nice illustrations, and a place-keeping ribbon in the binding. It's not a children's collection, but is certainly fun and interesting to read.

I am a storyteller and enjoyed reading these tales.

Just received. Very poor packaging. It is an expensive book and deserves better packaging. Lucky the book is not that damaged, little bruise that I will accept as the next, re-ordered one may come in a much worse state. Will talk about the book later.

Most amazing tales. The book has been edited very well. Book is for Adults. Please make sure you dont give it to your kids. Adults can read the stories and tell the tales to the kids appropriately

It's a nice book but I would suggest for adult readers only as there are many sexual innuendos and references. I wouldn't recommend it for children. Just check for kids version or other publisher if you're planning to buy for them.

I got this book at rs. 825