Vathek – William Beckford

I had thought this was going to be another classic gothic novel but in fact it’s more of an exotic Faust/Paradise Lost tale. Once I had got over this disappointment, I got a quick if average read about the fall of an over-ambitious Caliph. There was one funny moment towards the end when, with a trail of gruesome slaughter and untrammelled decadence in his wake, the Caliph understates “I am not over-fond of resisting temptation”.