Vathek

 As I felt a bit under the weather (man flu) I decided to open up a copy of William Beckford’s Vathek which I had bought a few months previously. Beckford who was an independent man of means (his father had made a fortune in the slave trade) wrote this gothic novel in 1782. Set in the Middle East the novel tells the story of the Caliph Vathek who despite having every luxury at hand is unsatisfied with his lot and makes a deal with a demon who offers him ancient treasures and esoteric knowledge.

                The novel represents a fusion of the emerging gothic genre and the late eighteenth century obsession with all things oriental.  I had mixed feelings about the novel at times I felt it was a bit slow and plodding while at others it was captivating and in parts it was downright terrifying. At first I was unsure on whether merging the gothic story with the oriental tale was a good idea: when I thought of the gothic my mind instantly turned to images of medieval castles and European landscapes. However, as I read through Vathek I being to appreciate why the Middle East would be a good setting for a gothic novel. To the eighteenth century reader descriptions of Mesopotamian courts would be as foreign descriptions of alien civilisations in modern sci-fi novels. Indeed even today the Middle East is viewed as a foreign and dangerous place. This sense of ‘otherness’ summoned up by the Middle Eastern setting adds strongly to the sense of the uncanny.

                The tale bears a stark resemblance to the Faustus myths. Like the German doctor the Caliph’s tragic flaw is his vanity and his thirst for esoteric lore and riches. However in many ways this is a much darker tale than the Faustus stories. Valthek’s pact with his ‘Mephistopheles’  is a much more grisly affair for it includes human sacrifice on a huge scale. Indeed it is these dark episodes that supply much of terror. Another notably scary section is the descriptions of halls of Hell, this section is full of a dark suffocating sense of dread which reaches a horrible conclusion when we discover the fate of Hell’s denizens. The tale is highly pessimistic about the human condition: tragic loss, exile or perdition seems to be the fate of the novel’s protagonists.

                Some aspects of the novel might cause modern readers to recoil. The novel’s treatment of Muslim as unthinking serfs to their caliph and the general ridicule in which their holy men are held might not site well to modern tastes. The description of Valthek’s black servants might induce some cringes and the description of the fifty most handsome young boys in the Caliphate to my ear hint strongly at Beckford’s darker predilections.

                Initially Vathek could be a struggle but as the novel advanced I found it to be highly captivating especially in the final scenes which build to an ominous crescendo. All in all I think Vathek is well worth a read.

2012Wipe 

               

                By this point Charlie Brooker’s yearly review show has become a bit of an annual tradition.  The program, this year called 2112Wipe, is the latest instalment of Brooker’s popular Screenwipe series. Beginning in 2006 Brooker reviewed TV programs and explained the inner workings of the television business in a sardonic and pessimistic style which was as hilarious as it was cutting. From 2009 Screenwipe was reduced from a six episode series to an end-of-year review show.  In many ways these review shows were just as good as the regular series however Brooker’s latest installation falls short of its predecessors’ high standards.

                While there are some generally funny parts in the show (the title sequence is particularly brilliant) I cannot shrug the feeling that this is not Brooker’s finest performance. His sarcastic snarks are not as sharp as there were and his Shitverts section just seems like a rehash of his Biggest Cocks in Advertising routine.  The show is also hamstrung by its format where Brooker lists off the major television events of the year month-by-month. Originally a Screenwipe episode worked around a theme which allowed Brooker to go into depth on his subjects and build some narrative coherence and this allowed the jokes to build up on top of each other. This thematic unity also allowed Brooker to describe the inner workings of television production which added depth to the program: it was educational as well as funny.  However in 2012Wipe the focus was on the major television item of each month and this causes the show to be disjointed and gives it a somewhat rushed feel as Brooker tries to get through twelve months of television in one hour.  The section of the Olympics I felt was a particularly bad lull in the episode because the Games’ success left so little for Brooker to be sarcastic about.  These format restrictions existed in the previous three yearly reviews but that did not prevent them from being very funny which leads one to suspect that this year’s comedy material was below par.  

                In general 2012Wipe was not a bad program however it pales in comparisons to Brooker’s previous outings and I hold out hope that 2013Wipe will see a return to form.