I recently finished reading The Arabian Nights. (Yes, there are so many versions and translations – this one was the "Aldine" edition as translated by Dr. Jonathan Scott – available in paper form or electronic.) It took a few months to get through this work, partly because I was busy some of the time and partly because of its sheer length.

The book begins with the story of two brothers, Shahrayar & Shahzaman, who are Sultans. Through a series of events, both learn that their wives have been unfaithful to them. After having his wife executed, Shahrayar takes a vow that he will marry a new bride each evening and have her killed the following morning, thus ensuring that his bride will always be faithful.

Shahrazad, the daughter of the Vizier responsible for procuring (and later executing) the wives of the Sultan, asks her father if she may marry the Sultan. After trying to dissuade her, he sees that her mind is made up and sadly presents her to the Sultan. On their wedding night, she begs the Sultan to allow her sister to stay with them since she is to be killed in the morning. He consents to this request, and her sister asks Shahrazad for a story to help pass the night.

In the morning, the story is not finished and the Sultan puts off her execution until the following day so she can finish the story the following evening. She completes that story but immediately begins a new one which is also left unfinished by morning. 1001 nights and 90 plus stories later, the Sultan decrees that Shahrazad will not be executed and the women of the kingdom are saved.

What makes this work so entertaining? For starters, the story within a story motif is entertaining, almost to excess. There are points where the reader is taken an amusing (and sometimes confusing) four or five stories deep. Another key factor is that the stories are fairy tales – where fantastic things like love, fame and riches happen to very ordinary people. Who hasn't considered what they would choose should a Genii offer three wishes?

Finally, the sheer quality of the work is amazing. Of all the stories I read, each was creative and enjoyable original in plot save one or two - which were notably bad due to their contrasting lack of detail and plagiarism of events from other stories within the collection.

In so many of the stories, the plots are centered around love and, as often as not, adultery. A tremendous amount of energy is spent to either preserve the honor of a maiden, or to take it from her. Love at first sight is a theme that also appears repeatedly, as is the power of a love so strong that those so stricken by the effects of love that they waste away and even die as they pine for the target of their affections. Another very common theme is the inability of men and women within the stories to resist either fate or curiosity.

As I read through the stories, it was interesting to see how different people groups were portrayed. It is no surprise that with the story centered in Arabia (and to a lesser extent China), Moslems were given a very positive billing. However, I was surprised to only find one story which was explicitly Islamic in nature; that one made up for it by quoting extensively from the Koran.

Christians were often represented in a negative light, but the worst characterizations were saved for Jews, who regularly play the role of the antagonist. They also have many side roles as magicians, corrupt bankers or conniving jewelers; yet ironically there is a tremendous deference and respect for King Solomon. Some have dated this work at around 1000 AD, which simply demonstrates how long the Arab/Jewish hostilities have been going on.

One very surprising characterization was that of women. Today's Arab world is male dominated – there remain some countries where the fair sex is not even allowed to drive. Yet a great many of these stories have women as the heroine, constantly outsmarting men, defeating enemies and even serving as rulers (although usually in disguise).

The final attitude I noticed was that towards blacks. Every black man within the stories served as the most heinous villains and the worst of the Geniis were also black in color. This was something I found very surprising. Some claim that the early translators are to blame for stereotyping blacks as evil and that the stories didn't actually convey that. Since I'm unable to read Arabic, I'm not able to confirm or deny this claim.

I'm not noting these kinds of characterizations because I find them offensive, they are simply observations I made as I read the stories. I think they help to illuminate the culture and era from which the work is taken. In the same vein, I still find Huckleberry Finn an essential piece of literature, even though it has been banned from our schools because it contains language that was legitimate within the setting of the book, yet is offensive today.

In closing, what would a review of the Arabian Nights be without mentioning a few favorites? Growing up, I had a book with the Seven Voyages of Sinbad, along with a few other stories from the Arabian Nights. While Sinbad doesn't thrill me like he used to, I'm still quite partial toward Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves as well as The Story of Alla ad Deen (which you might better know if we called him Aladdin – although the original is much richer than the Disney version). Aside from those two, three other stories captured my attention and my imagination: The Little Hunchback (and its associated stories), The Three Calenders, the Sons of Sultans and the Five Sisters and my favorite: The Story of Khaujeh Hassan al Hubbaul, which is buried within the Adventure of the Caliph Haroon Al Rusheed.

This review is also posted at Blogcritics.org.