Vathek
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
Ruthless and hungry for knowledge, Caliph Vathek renounces Islam and begins committing a series of deplorable acts in order to gain supernatural powers. But his search ends in his own damnation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
First published in 1782, this ornate, orientalist work of supernatural horror from Beckford (1759 1840) is a fever dream for the senses. The evil Caliph Vathek is a glutton for all things worldly. He already has five palaces devoted to the senses (each given flowery names, including "The Palace of Perfumes or The Incentive to Pleasure" and "The Eternal or Unsatiating Banquet"), but when a giaour arrives with treasures unimaginable, Vathek wants more. Prodded by his mother, Carathis, a woman more lustful and despicable than her son, Vathek undertakes a journey to the fabled Palace of Subterranean Fire, hoping to gain supernatural powers. Along the way there are human sacrifices, spells, debauchery, and villainy. The emphasis on how evil every element of Vathek's life is (even his camel is nefarious) gives rise to some darkly comic moments. The protracted descriptions of riches and feasts are slow going, but in the stirring finale Beckford's gothic prose shines, and it's easy to see how this overlooked classic influenced the writing of Byron, Lovecraft, and Poe. This fantastical, over-the-top story will appeal to devotees of early horror.
