|
Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange 1st English Translation of the Medieval Arab Fantasy Collection by Malcolm C. Lyons
Item specificsCondition Pre-owned book in very good condition. Please see the photos of the book to see its condition. ISBN 9780141395036 EAN 9780141395036 Book Title Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange Item Length 9.4in. Original Language Arabic Publisher Penguin Publishing Group Publication Year 2015 Format Hardcover Language English Item Height 1.8in. Author Malcolm C. Lyons Genre Fiction Topic Classics, Anthologies (Multiple Authors), Short Stories (Single Author), Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology Item Width 6.2in. Item Weight 30.7 Oz Number of Pages 496 Pages About this productProduct InformationOn the shrouded corpse hung a tablet of green topaz with the inscription- 'I am Shaddad the Great. I conquered a thousand cities; a thousand white elephants were collected for me; I lived for a thousand years and my kingdom covered both east and west, but when death came to me nothing of all that I had gathered was of any avail. You who see me take heed, for Time is not to be trusted.' Dating from at least a millennium ago, this is the earliest known collection of Arabic stories, surviving in a single, ragged manuscript in a library in Istanbul. Some found their way into The Arabian Nights but most have never been read in English before. Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange has monsters, lost princes, jewels beyond price, a princess turned into a gazelle, sword-wielding statues and shocking reversals of fortune. To read these stories today is an extraordinary experience - they were designed to enchant and delight a society almost fantastically distant from our own and now, centuries later, they can be marvelled at in all their strangeness. 'Superb translation . . . erudite introduction . . . a revelation - a real classic of popular literature . . . endlessly diverting and inventive, (giving) a unique insight into a now-lost elegant, courtly and tolerant Arab world.' William Dalrymple Sunday Times 'Offers a gateway to a different world of language and ideas, florid, wildly descriptive and are a powerful reminder of the human need for story . . . irresistible.' Independent 'This book is an astonishment . . . a profound oddity, but an absolutely intriguing one.' Scotland on Sunday 'Instantly appealing (with) headlong narrative drive . . . like a Medieval Fifty Shades of Grey . . . above all, fun.' Guardian Product IdentifiersPublisher Penguin Publishing Group ISBN-10 0141395036 ISBN-13 9780141395036 Product ID (ePID) 201630636 Product Key FeaturesBook Title Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange Original Language Arabic Format Hardcover Language English Topic Classics, Anthologies (Multiple Authors), Short Stories (Single Author), Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology Publication Year 2015 Genre Fiction Number of Pages 496 Pages DimensionsItem Length 9.4in. Item Height 1.8in. Item Width 6.2in. Item Weight 30.7 Oz Additional Product FeaturesAge Range 18 Lc Classification Number Pj7694.E8t35 2014 Grade from Twelfth Grade |