Las mil y una noches

A cornerstone of universal literature, the Arabian Nights have inspired numerous authors, from Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe to Naguib Mahfouz, Clarice Lispector and Angela Carter. In this lavish illustrated and annotated edition, literary historian Paulo Lemos Horta and poet and translator Yasmine Seale present a rare new selection of tales from the Nights, including beloved original stories as well as famous add-ons. later, as "Aladdin and the wonderful lamp" or "Ali Babá and the forty thieves", rescuing the Nights from the dusty nineteenth-century showcases and making them look vibrant and current for the modern reader. For centuries, readers have watched in dismay at King Shahriyar's bloody revenge, enjoyed Sinbad's thrilling seafaring adventures, and been completely and utterly enraptured by Shahrazad's tales of passionate romances and voyages to fantastical places. But for a long time, the shadow of nineteenth-century translations has tarnished the appeal of the collection. This new translation that we present here, absolutely contemporary as well as lyrical, breaks with the dynastic line of male translators, eliminating any trace of orientalism from the stories but maintaining their vitality and charm.