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by William Beckford

William Beckford World Literature English

ISBN 1845880609
ISBN13 978-1845880606
Language English
Author William Beckford
Publisher Nonsuch Publishing; Translation edition (July 1, 2005)
Pages 192
Formats lrf docx lrf docx
Category Fiction
Subcategory World Literature
Size ePub 1737 kb
Size Fb2 1576 kb
Rating: 4.3
Votes: 114

Written in 1782 by the near-legendary hedonist William Beckford, Vathek was the first Oriental-Gothic horror novel in English literature. It tells the story of Vathek, the debauched and pleasure-seeking ninth Caliph of the Abassides, who decides to build a great tower to "penetrate the secrets of heaven." The appearance of an Indian magician arouses Vathek’s thirst for knowledge and he is willing to go to any lengths, including the sacrifice of 50 of the most beautiful boys in his kingdom, to gain access to the "Palace of Subterranean Fire," where the magician promises he will find treasures, intelligences and talismans that control the world. A rousing novel, Vathek is a classic tale of greed and lust for power containing magic, trickery, and betrayal all culminating in an age-old showdown between good and evil.

Vathek (The World's Classics) Paperback – July 21, 1983. VATHEK is considered a gothic novel, but there it little gothic about it. There are no churches or castles, and the maiden does not run from the caliph for long.

Vathek (The World's Classics) Paperback – July 21, 1983. by. William Beckford (Author). Find all the books, read about the author, and more. However, there are a great many supernatural elements taken from Arab mythology, at least as they were understood by William Beckford. These elements may make this tale worth reading some 230 or so years after it was written.

William Beckford, ostracized from high society for his homosexual affair with young & Courtenay, was one of the . A brief note on translations: VATHEK was originally written, despite Beckford's English heritage, in French. Quite fitting, really

William Beckford, ostracized from high society for his homosexual affair with young & Courtenay, was one of the wealthiest men of his generation. Quite fitting, really. As it stands, this is not LES MISERABLES, and translations of VATHEK are not dramatically varying in terms of quality.

William Beckford - Vathek conte arabe - Club français du Livre (1962). Vathek (Nonsuch Classics) By William Beckford.

WILLIAM BECKFORD was born in 1760, the son of the famous Lord Mayor of London and the granddaughter of the Earl of Abercorn. Brought up at his father’s country seat at Fonthill in Wiltshire, he received his education at home, where he was often alone and free to indulge his vivid imagination. In 1777 he travelled abroad for the first time, visiting first Switzerland and then Italy, where he stayed with Sir William and Lady Catherine Hamilton, who became a trusted friend and adviser.

First published in 1786, William Beckford's Vathek was apparently written in the span of 3 days, which while it is not an extremely long book, is still incredible given its sheer imagination

First published in 1786, William Beckford's Vathek was apparently written in the span of 3 days, which while it is not an extremely long book, is still incredible given its sheer imagination. It makes me wonder what else Beckford could have accomplished, if his greatest novel was put down on paper in a mere 3 days. He was very talented, as evidenced by his writing, yet apparently was never truly able to harness his talents. One may only wonder if he could have This was quite an enjoyable read.

This novel chronicles the fall from power of the Caliph Vathek, who renounces Islam and engages in a series of licentious and deplorable activities designed to gain him supernatural powers. At the end of the novel, instead of attaining these powers, Vathek descends into a hell ruled by the demon Eblis where he is doomed to wander endlessly and speechlessly.

Vathek: by. Beckford, William, 1760-1844.

Top. American Libraries Canadian Libraries Universal Library Community Texts Project Gutenberg Biodiversity Heritage Library Children's Library. Vathek: by. London : Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent.

Find nearly any book by William Beckford (page 6). Get the best deal by comparing prices from over 100,000 . Get the best deal by comparing prices from over 100,000 booksellers. The History of the Caliph Vathek. by Horace Walpole, William Beckford, Matthew Lewis, Mary Shelley. ISBN 9781434425966 (978-1-4344-2596-6) Softcover, Wildside Press, 2010.

Talk about Vathek (Nonsuch Classics)

Raniconne

First off... THIS IS A SATIRE, PEOPLE.

Vathek is such an anachronistic disaster that it barely makes sense, but worth reading for its historical significance. I cannot believe the number of negative reviews from people who obviously couldn't grasp the fact that Vathek is a satire. You the reader are not supposed to sympathize with Vathek or approve of his actions; you're supposed to chuckle and think "what an idiot" and then laugh some more at the horrible cultural mockery on almost every page.

Here's what your in for: An overdone parody of a muslim Caliph who resides in ancient Babylon goes on a vaguely Faustian escapade, following an Indian demon-thing to Hell in his quest to acquire King Solomon's talismans. King Solomon has a permanent residence in Hell as punishment for chasing after forbidden knowledge. Vathek's mother is an evil Magus who doesn't need to eat or sleep, who erected the Tower of Babel as an extension of their palace in Babylon, and she can use astrology to spy on people. Of course all the names are changed, muslims are "musselmans," Solomon is "Soliman," the tower of Babel is simply called "The Tower," etc., so someone who isn't very bright may not make the connections. The sum of all parts is comically bad, and it ends with a painful paragraph of moralizing drivel using a lot of words to say that hedonists go to hell when they die.

In order to "get" the humor, you need to have functional background knowledge of ancient Babylon, Solomonic lore, what real muslims do, etc, etc. It probably would seem like an awful book full of pointless violence if you don't understand any of the references. Also worth noting that Goethe was one of Beckford's contemporaries and competitors, hence his writing of a Faustian tale that, on the surface, seems like it couldn't be more different than Faust.

Mightsinger

Vathek is a Caliph who didn't learn to rule his kingdom well, or how to behave correctly. He is primarily concerned with indulging his five senses. He is a sybarite. Extravagance being his native way, he builds five palaces onto the existing palace - one to over indulge each of his five senses to the point of satisfaction. Only Vathek is never really satisfied by anything. He always wants more power, a lovelier girl, more exotic food, a more sophisticated fragrance or a strange gift from a remote country. The fact is that Vathek is very self absorbed and when you are the Caliph, people let you get away with just about anything. It doesn't help that his mother is an evil sorceress and she enables all his bad behaviour.

Vathek builds a tower onto his palaces that gets close to heaven where supernatural forces are watching him, deciding what to do. A servant of evil disguised as a beggar comes to the palace with wondrous things Vathek has never seen before. When Vathek beholds them he is shocked. He asks the beggar many times what his name is and where the items came from. The beggar never replies. They kick the beggar repeatedly and throw him in jail. The next morning, the guards are dead and the beggar is gone. Mom does a divination and determines the beggar was more than he seems, and must be the key to power and riches of the preadimite kings. This is the path to evil, but the rewards are extravagantly outrageous. So, Mom pushes Junior to do some really rotten deeds, but he wasn't complaining. He does every rotten thing she asks.

The body of the story consists of Vathek at home and on the road indulging himself, repenting, indulging, repenting, etc. Until finally, well you will have to read the book to find out. I really enjoyed the ending. It was very creative in a cruel, everlasting way.

If you like fairytales and want a HEA, skip this one. This is more a Grimm type fairytale. Death, burned beards, lots of kicking and everlasting torment are not your average happenings for a Disney story, so don't read it to younger kids, unless you want to give them nightmares. You do get two dwarves, some geniis afrits and evil Dives(?) I'm not quite sure what an evil Dive is, but they cause untold amounts of evil, so leave them alone.

The moral of the story: be humble, be frugal, think of others before yourself.

Abandoned Electrical

VATHEK is considered a gothic novel, but there it little gothic about it. There are no churches or castles, and the maiden does not run from the caliph for long. However, there are a great many supernatural elements taken from Arab mythology, at least as they were understood by William Beckford. These elements may make this tale worth reading some 230 or so years after it was written. Indeed, I found it delightful despite the digressions from the main narrative involving Vathek and his mother's quest for hidden knowledge and power in the hands of the forces of evil. This is a very orientalist tale envisioning a Middle East that was once rich in culture and empire, and for that it is also worth reading today.

Ndav

With a predictably four ending, this gothic tape is one of the originals, having been published in 1786. It gives firm evidence that the dark impulse has always been part of humanity. The language is charming, the settings suitably foreboding and dangerous, and the supernatural suitably creepy. Excellent!

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