Vathek; An Arabian Tale William Beckford - Vathek; An Arabian Tale is a Gothic novel written by William Beckford, and first published in 1786. It tells the story of Caliph Vathek, the ninth caliph of the Abassides, who buys some glowing swords from a travelling merchant. Wanting to decipher the messages on them, he invites the merchant to dinner. However, he gets no answers and locks up the merchant, who somehow disappears in the night. Finally he finds a scholar who translates the lettering, but the next morning, the message on the swords changes. Led by an insatiable thirst, Vathek goes to a fountain to drink and comes across the merchant again, who goes back to the Court with him. Afer this, things get weirder, with the merchant being transformed into a ball and being kicked by all the townspeople, child sacrifices, and Islamic dwarfs - all in the name of Vathek trying to gain supernatural powers.
THE VISION is a most unusual book by a most unusual young man. William Beckford was about seventeen when he wrote this strange, surreal tale of mystic revelation. He may have written it to impress a tutor, the St. Petersburg born Alexander Cozens, who encouraged Beckford's delvings into the weird and fantastic.
The exotic tale of one man’s unquenchable thirst for power Vathek, the ninth Caliph of the Abassides, took the throne at a young age. He debates the most knowledgeable scholars of the day, jailing them if they disagree with him. He possesses an evil eye that can kill lesser men with a single look. He is proud, and he is powerful. Still, he wants more—more knowledge, more power, more women. When a hideous merchant from India arrives in his court bearing glowing swords, Vathek sees an opportunity to take everything he’s ever wanted. So begins his journey east in search of ultimate sovereignty. Vathek is a feverish account of debauchery and ambition that has inspired the likes of Lord Byron, H. P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Beckford, well read in Eastern romance, caught the atmosphere with unusual receptivity." -- H.P. Lovecraft THE VISION is a most unusual book by a most unusual young man. William Beckford (1760-1844) was about seventeen when he wrote this strange, surreal tale of mystic revelation. He may have written it to impress a tutor, the St. Petersburg born Alexander Cozens, who encouraged Beckford's delvings into the weird and fantastic. Five years later, Beckford was to pen his Oriental romance VATHEK, which has made his name immortal. From his earliest years he had shown himself to be an amazing prodigy, writing and speaking French at age three, learning Latin and Greek by the time he was seven. He was also the richest commoner in Britain, who, in the course of his tour of the Continent to complete his education (the tour during which THE VISION was written) moved in such state that he was mistaken for the Holy Roman emperor traveling incognito. He became, ultimately, one of the most spectacular and eccentric aesthetes of all time, and a great connoisseur of all that is rare and beautiful.
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