William Beckford
1786
Around 170 pages
I am on a real roll here; we only have about ten more books until we are finished with the 1700s. My goal is to finish them before August. Is that ridiculously unachievable? Maybe, but then again, so is this list.
All right, so after reading the most horrifying book in literature, I picked up this novel, eager for relief. However, this book is one of those novels that is really hard to have an opinion of. It is not especially bad or good. It is also not really entertaining but not completely boring. I think we have all read books like this; the ones you will forget about in a month. Unless of course, you write a post that doesn't have a point at all and can look back at in a month and remember.
This novel follows the fall from power of Vathek who is obsessed with sex and has a terrible temper. It is very similar to an Arabian Nights tale, which I reviewed many moons ago. Utterly forgettable.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Capitalized on the success of the translation of A Thousand And One Nights in Europe at the time.
One of the first gothic novels.
3 comments:
I thought the background of this novel was more interesting than the book! Beckford was an eccentric and he built a fantastic gothic mansion (Fonthill Abbey) and then he sold it and went on to build towers. Valthek was printed without his permission ... at least that is what I read in the introduction to the novel (I always read introductions last because they have spoilers).
Hey thanks for stopping by.
Ugh, I don't like looking at my earlier posts haha. Some of the writing makes me cringe. That is really interesting! You are so cool that you read introductions; I always just skip them.
I would really liked to have seen his mansion at Fonthill. It should have been quite spectacular. Unfortunately it was poorly designed and caved in on itself before he died. Castles in the air...
Btw. I do read those introductions. They are such a font of information, except when the commentator gets too impressed with his own academic erudition, in which case I skip forward real fast.
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