March Meetup - Vathek by William Beckford
Details
1786 Gothic classic, 180 pages.
Blurb:
Vathek is a Gothic novel by William Beckford about a decadent Arabian caliph who seeks forbidden knowledge and supernatural power, leading him to a pact with the demon Eblis and eternal damnation in a subterranean hell. Originally written in French, it remains one of the strangest eighteenth-century novels and one of the most difficult to classify. Underlying the elegant prose is a strong element of self-indulgent personal fantasy on the part of Beckford, youthful millionaire, dreamer, and eventually social outcast. Byron, Poe, Mallarmé, and Swinburne are some of the literary figures who have admired Vathek's imaginative power.
Online text:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42401/42401-h/42401-h.htm