Yasmine Seale (translation)
Arabian Nights (annotated) : Tales from 1001 Nights
Wonderful stories from the Middle East set in a fairly macabre "frame" story. They are varied and all interesting and brilliantly told by the translator. The introduction, notes along the way and analysis at the end are all very interesting too. So many modern stories take their lead from these stories. I got lost in this for hours on end. A big book which I probably wouldn't've bought but I had a book voucher from Becky for my 60th and thought I'd always wanted to read 1001 Nights and this new edition was highly recommended. As it's so many stories I've been reading for a year having really got into it during that scorching time in June 2023 when we were holidaying in an old thatched two room farmhouse in the north of Eire. One of those books I would hate to part with but will I ever really tackle again? Maybe dip into one or two of the stories. Interesting that I finished it just after finishing Nomads. The 1001 Nights, as explained by Horta, are a lot about traders as the stories would have been told in the equivalent of coffee shops and inns by and / or for those traders either with market stalls, wholesalers or travelling merchants.
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