The Arabian Nights by Anonymous

I recently came across this book in my local Half Price Books.  As I was giving the book a quick look over (as you often do in bookstores when trying to decide whether to buy a book or not), I couldn't remember whether this was another one of those books that I actually read or simply read about.  I'm still not sure as the stories were familiar yet not familiar.  Or perhaps my only recollection is from childhood memories of watching Bugs Bunny's 1001 Arabian Nights.  Can't be sure.



That Wascally Wabbit

Regardless, The Arabian Nights (or sometimes also referred to as 1001 Arabian Nights) is a collection of folk tales and fables set in the Middle East.  Think Grimm's Fairy Tale only set in the desert with genies and sultans.  It appears the fables have been passed down orally from generation to generation and eventually recorded for posterity, hence the Anonymous author.

We begin with the story of Scheherazade and the Sultan Shahriar.  The Sultan's first wife conspired against him making the Sultan distrustful of all women.  He vowed to marry a new woman every day and then have that wife strangled first thing the next morning.  It is unclear whether she got to have her Cheerios first or not.  This was the Sultan's solution for keeping his wife from committing treason against him.

It was the Sultan's right-hand-man, the Grand Vizier's, responsibility to bring the Sultan a new wife daily.  One day the grand Vizier's daughter, Scheherazade, presumably tired of losing all her friends to the Sultan, went to her father and asked to be submitted to the Sultan as a wife.  Understandably, the Grand Vizier was reluctant to hand his beautiful and intelligent daughter over to the Sultan to kill after one night of marriage.  But fear not.  Scheherazade had a plan.  The next morning, Scheherazade began telling the Sultan elaborate and interwoven stories in the hopes that she would entertain him enough that he would want to keep her around.  The stories she tells the Sultan are the stories of The Arabian Nights.

The stories are beautiful and exotic, like nothing I've ever read before, with flowery language and turns of phrase.  Although it does have a bit of a formal and stilted cadence that can become tiresome.  The stories are all different with different characters, and it sometimes becomes difficult to keep track of who's telling the story since there are quite a few stories within stories.  But they bring it back around to Scheherazade at the end to tie it up nicely.

On the other hand, the stories are quite sexist and violent.  The characters are quick to murder those who wrong or hinder them, as evidenced by the above story.  And the women are often portrayed as deceitful and evil.  Right out of the gate on page 8, the Sultan Shahriar says he "believed all women to be naturally treacherous" and therefore not to be trusted.  Sheesh.  One woman conspires against him and all of sudden we're all branded as traitors.  Yet, nobody ever said fairy tales (wherever they come from) are politically correct.  People are always conspiring and killing and doing all manner of evil.    Truthfully, none of them should be told to children.

I think I will give The Arabian Nights three bows.

It was a fun read yet not memorable.  Due to the short story form, it would be good for those times when your attention span isn't that long and you can put it down and pick it back up at any time without having to remember the storyline or plot.

Until next time fellow book nerds, happy reading!