Land of Enchanters: Egyptian Short Stories from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

by Bernard Lewis PH D, Stanley Burstein

Overview

Several civilizations have risen, flourished and fallen in the valley of the Nile, each with its own religion, language, culture, institutions and style of life. Yet beneath them all a certain basic unity persisted. In few fields can this continuity of social life be seen more clearly than in the love of tales and in the manner of telling them. One of the oldest stories known to humanity, that of Sinuhe, an official who struggles with patriotism in the face of betrayal, shows a subtlety, a self-consciousness and an artificiality that mark it as the product of a highly developed literary tradition. The Greek literature produced in Egypt includes the most famous of all stories, "The Romance of Alexander," later translated and adapted into countless languages, while the literature of the Copts is largely church literature. The Arab invasion at the beginning of the 7th century brought a new language, religion and culture to Egypt. Some of the tales in the Thousand and One Nights are also of Egyptian provenance. In the 20th century, the Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arab to receive a Nobel prize. The Egyptian has always loved a good story, and told it well. It is by the limitless wealth of imagination that Egyptian literature is chiefly distinguished, and it is thanks to this quality in its literature, religion and monuments that the country impress Hebrew, Greek, Arab and Western European alike as a land of magic and wonder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558762671
Publisher:	Wiener, Markus Publishers, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/14/2017
Edition description:	REVISED
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	6.92(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.61(d)

Editorial Reviews

The revised edition of Land of Enchanters, edited by Bernard Lewis and Stanley Burstein, is well defined by its subtitle: "Egyptian Short Stories from the Earliest Time to the Present Day." The preface is informative, as are the brief introductions to the stories, which describe the travails and triumphs of royals, heroes, spirits and monsters. Typical are "The Story of Dalal," in which a princess wedded to an ogre plans an escape, and "The Island of the Serpent," wherein a shipwrecked sailor is aided by a giant serpent "plated with gold." Sales of this slim volume could get a boost if it is assigned to high schoolers and undergraduates. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Lewis (Princeton; The Arabs in History) and Burstein (California State Univ.; ed., Ancient African Civilization: Kush and Axum) have produced a fascinating collection of Egyptian stories that span 4000 years from writers of the Middle Kingdom period (2133-1786 B.C.E.) to Nobel prize winner Naguib Mahfouz and embrace ancient, Greco-Roman, Christian, and Muslim Egypt. These stories show not only the continuity of idea and spirit in Egyptian literature but also its influence; many of the motifs of wonder and cleverness appear repeatedly in the literature of other cultures. This volume has a long history; Lewis first edited it in 1948, and Burstein has revised the introductions. Especially noteworthy are the "The Tale of the Brothers" (New Kingdom), "The Story of Khamwise" (Greco-Roman), "Of Queen Charoba of Egypt and Gebirus the Metapheguian" (Murtada ibn al-Khafif, c.1200), and "Amm Mitwalli" (Mahmud Taimur, 1894-1973). A feast of literature; highly recommended. Gene Shaw, NYPL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The 1948 first edition, published by Harvill Press, was among the first to translate Egyptian stories into modern English without ye olde archaic affectation. In this second edition, four stories have been added and some revisions in translation have been made. The 22 stories are from ancient, Greco-Roman, Coptic, and Muslim Egypt. Names and allusions are explained in footnotes. There is no index or bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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