Despite being an abridgment of Burton’s translation of the Arabian Nights this is still a chunky doorstop. The translator’s flowery style and archaic language is likely off putting for someone reading for pleasure but suitable if you are looking at it from a scholarly perspective. Caveats include misogyny and racism which is hard to determine whether it arises from the original text or Burton’s imperialist Victorian perspective. All wives were considered unfaithful and likely to be frolicking with ‘blackamoors’ when the husband is away therefore they all deserve to be murdered. Some of the stories are pretty hard to take. This reviewer would recommend a more modern translation with lots of annotations. ( )

The "first night" was a bit of a slog to get through, but it provided all the story set-up, so that's forgivable. The first volume has a good mixture of comedy, adventure, and drama. Much of the comedy is farcical and would lend itself well to a visual performance. The adventure is more or less middling at this point, but the book hasn't yet gotten to its most famous tales of adventure (Ali Baba, Sinbad, etc). The drama is, of course, dramatic, and usual winds up with a humorous or astounding ending. I could do without all the poetry, but what are you gonna do about it? Not like I can complain to the author! ( )