Tales from the Kathasaritsagara

Arshia Sattar’s wonderful translation in a language of our times lets us experience the worldliness of the Kathasaritsagara whose framed tales invite us to re-imagine Indian pasts through a breathless and breathtaking diversity of beings and creatures, castes, religions, pursuits, and outcomes. Sattar’s seasoned introduction, in her characteristically fresh voice, engages tantalizing questions of authorship, textuality, genre, and transmission, and draws both the connoisseur and the newcomer into the complex, interwoven, and sensuous world of Indian storytelling. An eclipsed classic can now be relished anew. -- Leela Prasad, author of The Audacious Racounteur and Poetics of Conduct, Duke University
Arshia Sattar’s artful translation of Somadeva Bhatta’s Tales From the Kathasaritsagara brings this 11th century Sanskrit classic to life for today’s readers. The original Sanskrit verse is often described as “simple but elegant.” This would also describe Sattar’s wonderful translation. These highly entertaining tales of princes, kings, celestial beings, courtesans, and everyday men and women provide the reader with a compelling picture of life in South Asia during the time in which they were written. -- Ed Yazijian, Furman University