by Marina Warner - £30.00 Vintage (2012)
paperback
ISBN 13: 9780099437697 | ISBN 10: 0099437694
A dazzling history of magical thinking, exploring the power of the Arabian Nights and its impact in the West, and retelling some of its wondrous tales. Lavishly illustrated throughout.
Magic is not simply a matter of the occult arts, but a whole way of thinking, of dreaming the impossible. The supreme fiction of magical thinking is the Arabian Nights, with its flying carpets, hidden treasure and sudden revelations.
As part of her exploration into the prophetic enchantments of the Nights, Marina Warner retells some of the most wonderful and lesser-known stories. She explores the figure of the dark magician or magus, from Solomon to the wicked uncle in 'Aladdin'; the complex vitality of the genies or jinn; and animal metamorphoses.
With startling originality and impeccable research, this groundbreaking book shows how magic, in the deepest sense, helped to create the modern world, and how profoundly it is still inscribed in the way we think today.
(Price & availability last checked: September 2019)
In booklists: Mythology, Folklore, Fairy Tales and Legends, Books About Books!,
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