Publisher Description
Vathek (1786) is a novel by William Beckford. Inspired by his travels, Beckford wrote Vathek in French before supervising its translation into English by Reverend Samuel Henley. Recognized as an instrumental work in the popularization of Orientalist fiction, Vathek is an early Gothic novel that influenced such writers as Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron, Robert Southey, and H. P. Lovecraft. Born into a royal family, Vathek is appointed the ninth caliph of the Abassides as a boy. Spoiled and enabled at every turn, he grows to be an insufferably vain and vindictive ruler, unschooled in diplomacy and always quick to anger. When a deformed stranger arrives at his palace claiming to be a merchant from India, Vathek purchases a set of inscribed sabers. At dinner that night, the merchant insults the caliph with his silence and is sentenced to prison. The next morning, the merchant escapes, killing every guard in his path. As Vathek examines the glowing blades, he sees that the messages inscribed on them have changed—he has been cursed, and the only way to reverse his fate is to find the man he mistreated. Determined to remain his own master, he sets out for the mountain to clear his head, beginning a journey from which few return. Immersed in Islamic mythology, Vathek is a cautionary tale of power, faith, and desire that earned its author a reputation as a leading young artist with a gift for fantasy. This edition of William Beckford’s Vathek is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
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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.
