The Arabian Nights: A Companion - Hardcover

Irwin, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713991054 ISBN 13: 9780713991055

Publisher: Allen Lane, 1994

Synopsis

Widely held in contempt in the Middle East for their frivolity and occasional obscenity, "The Arabian Nights" have nevertheless had a major influence on European and American culture, to the extent that the story collection must be considered as a key work in Western literature. This book guides the reader into this labyrinth of storytelling. It traces the development of the stories, their translation and the ways in which they have been added to, plagiarized and imitated. Above all, it uses the stories as a guide to the social history and the counter-culture of the medieval Near East. The author also wrote "The Limits of Vision", "The Arabian Nightmare", "The Mysteries of Algiers" and "The Middle East in the Middle Ages".

About this title

Product Description:

Used book

Review:

'A generous and erudite book...We're in the company of someone who loves 'The Arabian Nights', and who has generously shared that love with us through this companion.' --Michele Roberts, Independent on Sunday

'Superlative...just the sort of relaxed, informative book that Edmund Wilson might have written had he grown interested in the Middle East and its early literature.' --Michael Dirda, Washington Post

'Irwin organizes his material like a good storyteller...he gives us the crystallized sum of The Nights: ancedote, history, moral fable, aphorism, story after story, wonder upon wonder. This monumental, infinitely faceted gem should be every writer's bedtime sampler.' --Michael Moorcock, New Statesman & Society

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0713991054
• ISBN 13: 9780713991055
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352