One of my main goals this year for my reading list is to finish all the books that I own that I’ve never read. Unfortunately, after 20-something years of collecting, multiple moves across the country (in which my books stayed at the Kamloops home-base), and spending more energy reading library books my unread collection has grown to well over 100 items of varying genre, format, and length and become unsurprisingly daunting. Which is why when I was attempting to pick one to read I gave up and told my boyfriend to pick one for me (as long as it wasn’t Tolkien or Edward Rutherfurd). This could have backfired, but he picked my collection of tales from the Arabian Nights, which actually ended up being a perfect book to read before bed over the Dead Days between Christmas and New Years. My collection was compiled by Andrew Lang, the classic fairytale collector, and while he may have rewritten the stories to soften them for a younger audience I found that this collection was one of his stronger that I’ve read. The tone was very whimsical (but still no nonsense and realistic) and the stories that Scheherazade tells to the Sultan to save her life (and that of all the women in her country) definitely have a magical intrigue that drew me into them. I definitely have to find a more comprehensive collection of the Arabian Nights stories though, since clearly 300 pages does not capture them all and Andrew Lang is not what we would call a top fairytale scholar in reproducing the tales in a more traditional and complete manner. But regardless we’re one book closer to reading my entire collection, and Tales from the Arabian Nights set the quest off on a very positive note! ( )

Masterfully written!
The Sultan Schahriar had the most beautiful wife. But when he found her dishonoring him in the worst way he has no choice but to put her to death. To ensure that this blasphemy will never happen to him again every night he takes on a new bride and every morning the bride is ordered killed by the grand vizier. But one day the grand vizier's eldest daughter comes to him and tells him that she has a plan to get the sultan to stop murdering young women. But the catch is she has to marry him first. with much reluctance the grand vizier finally agrees to her plan knowing that if she fails he will have to murder her himself. With the help of her younger sister they weave a web of stories to enchant the sultan. Every night a new story takes place and every night they are spared their lives.
Stories within stories with in stories are interweave so cleverly and beautifully that they flow into the readers very soul. Vaguely reminiscent of Aesop's Fables, these stories are magnificent and hold their own life lessons within timeless moral confines.
I enjoyed this book immensely! The illustrations are amazingly gorgeous and add to the feel of the book and the stories themselves and in a way even make the stories come to life. I feel that everyone should read this book of stories at least once in their lives. It's well worth it! ❤️ ( )

A magnificent collection of stories. I wonder how much has been edited. A great introduction to the tales. ( )

The Sultan Schahriar had a wife who he loved very much, but she betrayed him and it made him hate all women. So he decided that every day he would get a new wife and kill her the following morning. The grand-vizir had a daughter named Scheherazade that was very smart and wanted to help the people of her village. So she asked her father to offer her as the next bride because she had a plan. When she married the Sultan she managed to stay alive day after day by telling him stories but not finishing them so that he would let her live the next day to hear the rest of the story. She lasted 1000 nights and had three children with him, and then he realized that Scheherazed was trustworthy enough to stay his wife.

http://speculiction.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/review-of-tales-from-arabian-nights-e... ( )