The Shah Nameh (The Book of Kings), The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan (The Flower Garden) are amongst the greatest works of Persia, containing some of the most beautiful, rich and diverse language in the literary world. They rival Dante's Divine Comedy, India's Mahabharata, Sumeria's Epic of Gilgamesh and China's Dream of Red Mansions in their cultural impact, bringing to life the tales, myths and philosophy of ancient and high-medieval Persia. A fabulous concoction of verse and prose, these classical Persian texts offer stories of creation, love, conquest and the simple joy of life.
The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.
Some time ago, I came across a post that likened reading translated poetry to being in the middle of a rainstorm while wearing a coat.
I’m sure the translators did the best they could in trying to carry over these stories into English and while I was able to understand the significance of the stories and why they were so beloved, it took me such great difficulty to read through some stories that it felt like I would’ve been better off reading them in their original language. A lot of the meaning was lost on me and I feel as though I came out of the experience retaining only a fraction of the lessons that I expected.
The three stars are for the stories themselves, which should absolutely be treasured. While I haven’t had the best experience with this book, encountering these poems does inspire me to learn Farsi and try again from the source.
Persian Myths and Tales is a collection of stories from what is now Iraq. The area underwent several leadership changes, so many classic stories were lost in those transitions. Unfortunately, humans are like that sometimes. The written records of these stories were mostly lost, so a lot of them came from Oral Transmission. We get the tales of Gods and Heroes, fantastic beasts, and other mythological things.
I don't know much about Persia. I played The Prince of Persia Trilogy with the time travel mechanic. The first one, Sands of Time, was a wonderful game. The second one, Warrior Within, was fun but not as good. It got a bit darker. I didn't get far in the third one because it started using a control mechanic that I couldn't get past.
I played Civilization 4 as well, but I am not good at that game.
Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.