Stranger Magic: Charmed States & the Arabian Nights

Magic is not simply a matter of the occult arts, but a whole way of thinking, of dreaming the impossible. As such it has tremendous force in opening the mind to newrealms of achievement- imagination precedes the fact. It used to be associated with wisdom, understanding the powers of nature, and with technical ingenuity that could let men do things they had never dreamed of before. The supreme fiction of this magical thinking is The Arabian Nights, with its flying carpets, hidden treasure and sudden revelations. Translated into French and English in the early days of the Enlightenment, this became a best-seller among intellectuals, when it was still thought of in the Arab world as a mere collection of folk tales. For thinkers of the West the book s strangeness opened visions of transformation- dreams of flight, speaking objects,virtual money, and the power of the word to bring about change.Its tales create a poetic image of the impossible, a parable of secret knowledge and power. Above all they have the fascination ofthe strange -- the belief that true knowledge lies elsewhere, in a mysterious realm of wonder. As part of her exploration into the prophetic enchantments of the Nig

About the Author :
Marina Warner spent her early years in Cairo, and was educated at a convent in Berkshire, and then in Brussels and London, before studying modern languages at Oxford. She is an internationally acclaimed cultural historian, critic, novelist and short story writer. From her early books on the Virgin Mary and Joan of Arc, to her bestselling studies of fairy tales and folk stories, From the Beast to the Blonde and No Go the Bogeyman, her work has explored different figures in myth and fairy tale and the art and literature they have inspired. She lectures widely in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, and is currently Professor in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex. She was appointed CBE in 2008. www.marinawarner.com

Review :
An epic study of the Arabian Nights...a dissection of the myths in these enduring classics that promises to throw light on the countries from which the stories spring and the lives of women in them Wide-ranging, erudite, wondrously polymathic exploration of the tales of magic... Warner, too is a beguiling storyteller: her fascination with true knowledge embedded in realms of wonder Her mind is as rich and fascinating as the stories themselves, taking us on a magic carpet from Borges and Goethe, to Edward Said and the movies Warner's book makes reading The Arabian Nights seem as essential to understanding the Western literary cannon as the King James Bible, and a lot more fun 436 densely erudite and eclectic pages... Stranger Magic is a scholarly work that often reads like a fireside conversation