Synopses & Reviews
Vathek (1786), originally written in French, remains one of the strangest eighteenth-century novels and one of the most difficult to classify. Perverse and grotesque comedy alternates with scenes of 'oriental' magnificence and evocative beauty in the story of the ruthless Caliph Vathek's journey to superb damnation among the subterranean treasures of Eblis. 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, Mallarm, and Swinburne are some of the literary figures who have admired Vathek's imaginative power. The text follows that of the 'Third Edition' of 1816, in which Beckford extensively revised and corrected Samuel Henley's original English translations from the French. The elaborate notes retained by Beckford in 1816 are also included.
Synopsis
The first comprehensive study of St. John's Gospel in forty years, this book provides new and coherent answers to what Rudolf Baltmann regarded as the two great riddles of the Gospel: its position in the history of Christian thought, and its central or governing idea. Ashton provides
translations of all non-English quotations, and confines detailed exegetical arguments and intricate questions of specialized concern to the footnotes, therein making Understanding the Fourth Gospel an accessible study of the Gospel for the general reader.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [xxxvii]-xl).