June 28, 2013 -- The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights (Volume 1)

[Clif, moderator]

I plan to issue in the near future a list of selected stories for members of our group to give reading priority in case there isn't sufficient time to read all 1,001 tales plus 3 more stories. I plan to select only those stories that are included in the Sir Richard Francis Burton translation for reading priority since there aren't many copies available at the libraries of the unabridged Penguin edition (and I don't want to force purchase of three big volumes). You are invited to send me your suggestions of which stories to select for my list. I presume that I will include "Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp", "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor" which strictly speaking are not included among the 1,001 stories.

[Clif, moderator]

I could use some help selecting matching stories from the Burton and the Lyons (Penguin) translations. In the following two comments are links to the table of contents of the two translations.

I'm currently working on the selection of stories for our first meeting so I want to restrict the selection to those stories found in Volume One of the Lyons (Penguin) translation.

Table of Contents, Translation by Lyons, Penguin Classics, Volume 1 -- Nights 1 to 294

Burton Translation of Arabian Nights, Unabridged (Unexpurgated Edition)(Halcyon Classics)

[Clif, moderator]

Clif Hostetler I've designated the beginning of Volume One through "Night 8" and "The Story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Killed by a Slave Girl" as the must read sections for our first meeting on this book scheduled for June 28. I have posted the text to "The Story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Killed by a Slave Girl" at http://greatpoemskc.blogspot.com/2013... I plan to post the beginning through night eight in a few days.

[Clif, moderator]

The following links may help you prepare for the June 28 meeting of Great Books KC if you haven't already been reading the "Arabian Nights."

Text to the first 8 nights of the Arabian Nights: (equiv. of 49 pages)
http://greatpoemskc.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-arabian-nights-tales-of-1001-nights.html

Text to Story of Ali Baba and Forty Thieves: (equiv. of 30 pages)
http://greatpoemskc.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-story-of-ali-baba-and-forty-thieves.html

[Clif, moderator]

Eleven people attended the June 28 meeting. We had a good time discussing The Arabian Nights. Here's a LINK to a photo of the group.