I feel the need to quote Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes to begin this review: “I bet you think you know this story. You don’t, the real one’s much more gory…”

Like so many other myths, legends and fairytales, you may not be surprised to learn that the ‘original’ stories from Arabian Nights are tad more violent than the Disney-fied versions we’ve come to know and perhaps love.

This edition includes three of the stories commonly associated with the 1001 Arabian Nights collection. On a related note, it’s worth looking into the history of the collection - not quite as straightforward as Western cannon might have us believe…

We begin with the narrative framing of Shahrazad, spinning stories to stay alive for 1001 nights. The three stories included in this pocket sized version are then “Judar and his Brothers”, “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves” and “Ma’rus the Cobbler”. All three stories are unashamedly violent, sometimes erotic and set against the rich backdrop of the Middle East and its cultures and folklore. There’s magic, murder, treasure, likeable and unlikeable heroes, adventure and horror. Everything you’d look for in a classic fairytale, really!

What most caught my attention though, was Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. As I read the familiar tale, it struck me that really, Ali Baba isn’t the hero of this story. The slave girl Marjana/Morgiana (depending on how her name is translated from Arabic), does all of the thinking and the hard work, and yet she barely gets any of the credit.

And so I was pretty excited to feature her in the Classic parcels - how cute is that magnetic bookmark?!

I highly recommend you check out these tales, and also spend a little bit of time researching the history of the ‘translation’ and collection of the stories in the first place. I found this book a fascinating and educational classic to feature in a NovelTea Book Club parcel!

Don’t forget to check out the Past Parcels section of the shop to see if we have any ‘Shahrazad’ parcels left in stock.