Discussion Prompt by Tony Groesbeck

One should know before beginning that any attempt to read 1001 Arabian Nights (Or Arabian Nights, or Tales from a Thousand Nights and a Night, etc.) is bound to be a profound test of the reader’s patience, determination, and virtue in general.

To begin with, there is no authoritative collection of the tales to “conquer” as a reader. Because it is essentially a collection of stories dating at least as far back as the 8th century with some stories having been added as recently as the 1800’s, and being sourced from various cultures and languages, there is no firm set of the tales. Choosing an “official” version for Ink and Stone was our first challenge, and upon reflection, perhaps we should have taken it as an ill omen and moved on to other material. As it stands, we chose to read the Modern Classics Library edition officially entitled The Arabian Nights; Tales from a Thousand and One Nights, which is a translation by the English explorer, linguist, and writer, Sir Richard Francis Burton (and if you think this introduction is too long and/or repetitive, then Arabian Nights is not the book for you.)

Weighing in at well over 1000 pages including the author’s end notes (which are often more entertaining and readable than the tales themselves), this tome is a demanding read. I freely admit that despite my best efforts, I was not able (or willing) to read every story in this collection- so take this review with that grain of salt.

The story begins with an extensive invocation of sorts to ALLAH, which along with the understanding of the time period in which most of these tales were sourced serves notice to the reader that this is not a product of “Western Civilization,” but of the Middle East. It is important to remember this distinction as we will invariably discuss the differences in worldview that are prevalent throughout this collection. Namely, in the cultural views on religion, sexuality, ethnic relations, the value of human life, and general morality, a western reader will struggle to find common ground with many of these stories, but struggle we must, if we are to venture forth into the story of Shahrazad and her tales.

Interestingly, the story employs the rather sophisticated device commonly known as a “frame narrative.” You can find examples of frame narratives in ancient works from Homer (The Odyssey) and Ovid (Metamorphoses), all the way to the Victorian masterpiece, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, and even in more modern films such as The Princess Bride, and (my favorite example) The Usual Suspects.

In Arabian Nights, a bawdy and violent series of events leads to the young, intelligent, and beautiful Shahrazade being introduced to readers as a teller of tales, and she uses this talent to delay her vicious murder by the man who has just taken her virginity and plans to DECAPITATE her in the morning because, you know, he is a king, and she is a woman and probably deserves it (please pick up on my sarcasm here.)

This brilliant young woman takes the frame narrative to Inception-level by placing story within story within story ad nauseum. In doing so, she is able to keep the king unsatisfied (at least his mind) until after nearly three years, and after giving the king THREE SONS, she finally askes the king if he wouldn’t mind NOT cutting her head off. Luckily for Shahrazad, the king says his version of “Silly girl, I decided not to kill you before you had any of my sons. I figured out after just a few months that you are worth keeping around, because I’m a good guy like that.” So as a result, Shahrazad got the added bonus of being able to raise her three kids AND marry the psychopath who had killed almost 1100 girls after taking their virginity. (It’s cool though… he apologized and threw a party to say he was sorry.)

Throughout the reading of this collection, I often found myself asking “What is going on!?!?” Many of the stories and the cultural expectations that made the stories somehow feasible to some audience somewhere were so foreign to me that it made me wonder if my own perspective, limited in certain regards, made me miss something special about these stories.

Is it possible that Shahrazade’s stories somehow “educated” the king and brought about a change in him? If so, the girl was subtle and patient, and I look forward to discussing this possibility, along with whichever of the stories we completed as a group. I think it is safe to assume that no one here finished all of these stories, but if you did, I raise a glass and say, let’s have at it!