Painstakingly translated by Richard Burton in the late nineteenth century, the colourful prose in this book lends readers a glimpse of often little known Arabian life of yore. Full of subtle social nuances, rich in description, the reader is transported into a strange and wonderul world. The extensive explanatory notes only add to this delightful read. It may take a bit of effort to plough through the antiquated phraseology, but such effort will leave the reader deeply compensated and satisfied. I would highly recommend this to everyone. My only regret is not to have been able to read this in its original Arabic form!


This review deals with translation issues   June 18, 2000
 41 out of 50 found this review helpful

The editor of this book seems to have taken Burton's translation and tried to translate it into a modern idiom. He fails to do this in no uncertain fashion. The translation is awkward, and manages to lose almost all the romanticism found in better translations. The stories are set in mediaeval Persia, but the author uses words like "mommy" and phrases like "that's fine by me" which are completely out of place and clash with his poor attempts at flowery prose.

Anyone vaguely intelligent who likes good writing should certainly not buy this book.


Hauntingly beautiful   June 2, 1999
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

A hauntingly beautiful book; I fell in love with the wild, strange, exotic prose style. To the reader who was bored at having to look up so many words, I recommend _See Spot Run_.