I like your ball of string imagery.
The Dawood translation is pretty straight-forward and not too convoluted. It has section breaks and story headings for the stories within the stories which makes it easier to follow.
I also have been progressing slowly and alternating with other books to make it more enjoyable. For example, I split the story of "Sinbad the Sailor and Sinbad the Porter" over 3 days. I felt that the framework of the seven journeys were too repetitious to absorb in one sitting without fatigue. I am at 38% read.