For some reason, there are very few works dealing with the Arabian Nights that are written with the non-specialist in mind, although you might think that the longevity and impact of the book on global culture would lend itself to something designed as a general history. The enormous number of scholarly studies published in the past generation has helped some, but most of these studies are written, understandably, both by and for the academic community, and are unlikely to provide the general reader with an overall picture of an admittedly complicated subject.
Nevertheless, there are some texts and related material that can be recommended for readers wanting to delve deeper into the history and themes of the Nights. Foremost among these are three books that are essential reading, and without which this present volume could not have been written. Although all are written by scholars, each can be recommended to the non-specialist wanting to probe into the labyrinthine world of The Thousand and One Nights and not lose his or her way.
Robert Irwin published his invaluable The Arabian Nights: A Companion in 1994 to wide acclaim. Since reprinted, it has become the standard text for examining various aspects of the Nights—its history and translators, its sources and texts, influence and thematic concerns. Although Irwin divides his text into themed chapters touching on specific subjects such as the various translations, sexuality and literature influenced by the Nights, his work is the closest thing available in English to a general overview, incorporating sundry related aspects into a true “companion” to any edition of the Tales.
Muhsin Mahdi published his English-language The Thousand and One Nights fifteen years ago, to accompany his Arabic recension of Alf Laila wa Laila. In this focused work Professor Mahdi concentrates on presenting—in remarkable detail—the early history of the Nights in the West from the details surrounding the construction of the Antoine Galland translation, Galland’s “successors” (including Dom Denis Chavis, Jacques Cazotte and Duncan Black MacDonald), and ending with an examination of the four printed Arabic texts that appeared in the nineteenth century.
The best sourcebook for all things Nights is The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia in two volumes, published in 2004 and easily something to get lost in. With many short articles on the work by various researchers and pundits, its crowning glory is the hundreds of short commentaries on the individual stories making up the different manuscripts and editions—a prime example of creating order out of something that at times appears the very essence of literary chaos.
Many other works provide material or important information. Biographies of Galland (all, alas, in French) and other translators such as Richard Francis Burton and John Payne contain information on how their translations came to be made, while quarrying among some of the textural studies of the Nights can provide valuable and unexpected insights. Both Peter L. Carracciolo’s (ed.) The Arabian Nights in English Literature (1988) and Daniel Beaumont’s Slave of Desire: Sex, Love, and Death in The 1001 Nights (2002) contain fine introductions on the Nights and its history along with their respective titular thematic concerns, while Eva Sallis’s Scheherazade Through the Looking Glass (1999) examines the concept of changefulness as it applies to the Nights’ history and cultural perspective in both the Middle East and the West. A more recent work, The Arabian Nights Reader (ed. Ulrich Marzolph), is a collection of essays examining various aspects of the work, and is also very worthwhile.
The problem with recommending actual editions of the Nights is exactly the reverse: there aren’t too few; there are too many. In English, the Richard Burton edition remained the longest and most famous unexpurgated version for 120 years until Malcolm Lyons’s marvellous new translation appeared to acclaim in 2008. Burton remains valuable, but be warned: the great explorer’s eccentric style and Victorian prejudices take some getting use to. That said, he captures the earthy romance of the Nights as perhaps no other English writer has before or since. The John Payne version that preceded Burton’s is written in a more graceful style, and Payne has an ear for poetry that Burton frankly doesn’t possess, but for all that it lacks the bawdy virility of “Ruffian Dick” Burton’s Arabian Nights. If Burton proves too much, the reader can do no better in English than Malcolm Lyons.
One of the most readable abridged editions to appear in English is N.J. Dawood’s Tales from the Thousand and One Nights. Dawood, most famous for his English translation of the Koran, cleverly alternates short and long stories. His edition, first published by Penguin Books in 1954 as-—playfully—number 1001 in their catalogue, has seen at least twenty editions and is perhaps the easiest-to-digest English version of a selection of Nights stories for general readers. Of contemporary works, Husain Haddawy’s English translation of Mahdi’s Alf Laila wa Laila is graceful and pleasingly accurate; his sequel of orphan stories, Arabian Nights II, is also eminently worthwhile.
Films to See
As stated earlier, most “Arabian Nights” films are barely worth viewers’ time and trouble, unless they’re looking for camp. But as with books on the Nights, there are a handful of motion pictures that stand out as intelligent or charming renditions of actual stories or tales inspired by the work. All are available in various video formats.
Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 Adventures of Prince Achmed is for both animation buffs as well as Arabian Nights’ aficionados, and after some eighty-plus years still astounds by its technique of moving silhouette cut-outs. Both the Douglas Fairbanks silent The Thief of Bagdad and the 1940 Alexander Korda remake can be recommended to children and adults alike, and despite the genie-like advances in special effects since their respective releases, both versions retain a charm and magic lacking in many of today’s fantasy films. On the other hand, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Flower of the Arabian Nights (a.k.a. Arabian Nights) can definitely not be recommended to children or sensitive adults, but all others are likely to be mesmerized by the great director’s evocation of the dreamy, erotic qualities found in the original Alf Laila wa Laila. Difficult to find in an unedited version, it is still well worth the discriminating cineaste’s effort.
I must confess to one guilty pleasure. The Golden Voyage of Sinbad [sic] (1974) remains among the juvenile sub- Nights genre of the Sindbad adventure film, but with a fine score by Miklos Roza, brilliant stop-motion effects by the legendary Ray Harryhausen and plenty of action and romance, it sneaks into the viewer’s affections quite effectively. As an added bonus, it is also one of the few Nights films—and the only Sindbad picture—where the lead actor (John Philip Law) actually bothers speaking with an Arabian accent.
The emergence of the wired world has transformed the modern age of information almost beyond recognition. If general books on the Nights for mainstream readers are as rare as roc’s eggs, the internet boasts a number of sites devoted either entirely or partly to the work, although the open nature of the web and the lack of vetting makes it hard to differentiate among levels of accuracy. For those wanting to read the various “adult” versions of the Nights in English, the Arabian Nights Project at www.wollamshram.ca/1001/index.htm offers not only the complete text to Sir Richard Burton’s entire sixteen volumes but also the whole of the John Payne translation, including Payne’s supplementary stories, and even the Jonathan Scott and Andrew Lang abridged editions. Wikipedia has a long-standing and quite fine article on the Nights, while Michael Lundell’s blog at http://journalofthenights.blogspot.com is at once informative and wide-ranging. These sites deserve unqualified support and frequent visitation from anyone with even the slightest interest in this lovely, fascinating book.