Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Interview with the Vampire
Book Review: Tragic vampire life story.
Summary: 5 Stars
Several of my recent fiction purchases have been vampire related, such as Brian Lumley's Necroscope series, Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend", and of course, Anne Rice's vampire chronicles. Although the vampire concept works well in SF, as Matherson definitively demonstrated, it is refreshing to read vampires in a traditional setting. Anne Rice epitomises the classic style of vampires in her writing, with familiar idiosyncrasies, physical characteristics, and surroundings. Rice maintains credibility throughout the novel in terms of the direction of the narrative, and seldom if ever are concepts introduced that seem 'unlikely' in the credible setting built up. Without speculating too specifically, I understand that Rice underwent some family tragedies not long before this novel was written, (in 5 weeks!), and her extreme sentimental openness in the novel is surely justified, and the novel actually benefits from this emotional release. It would be a comfort to be able to express your feelings as cogently as Rice if one was overcoming a tragedy.
There is only one possible loophole in the story, (although my identification of this is very questionable as it is subjective, and I could probably be proven wrong and convinced of the proof). This is when Louis seems to have only just met Armand, and although Louis has been searching for another civilised vampire, (civilised apart from the fact that he kills countless innocent mortals), for years, I felt that he would need to know Armand for longer to warrant exchanging words of love. It seemed as Louis virtually walked up to Armand and said, 'ah, hello.. I love you!'. As I said, that is a purely subjective observation; (please note that the previous dialogue is not a quote). The other interesting factor about this novel, in my opinion, is that Anne describes predominantly male thoughts, (the narrator is male: Louis), when she is female, so for any male readers it is intriguing to see her perspective.
To conclude, IwtV is a wonderful tragic vampire biography, and is not too immensly melancholy to be unbearable to read.
Book Review: Dark, yet surprisingly colourful
Summary: 5 Stars
Read this book and you will never want to put it down again.It introduces a world of vampires - dark creatures of the night. Yet, the clever characterisation is such that at times one can't help feeling just a little bit sorry for even the vilest vamps!
The mood of New Orleans is captured in this wonderful novel.
Book Review: Was Anne Rice Trying to Scare Us?
Summary: 5 Stars
...because after reading this book, all I could think was- Man! I want to be a Vampire! I am just a novice when it comes to vampire tales or the horror genre, but even so, Interview is right at the top of my list of all-time favorite books.
Louis is an ancient vampire who is tired of living in secrecy. When a young journalist offers to interview him- we are given a tale we will never forget! Beginning in colonial New Orleans, Louis tells of his days as a plantation owner, how he met the vampire Lestat, and how his life was forever changed from then on.
Without a doubt, this is a monumental classic. It's immense popularity is well deserved! But although it is labeled 'horror', I would recommend it highly to any fan of fantasy as well, for it is truly one of the finest books you may ever get your hands on.
-There are several other books in this series as well, but from what I hear, they fail to hold a candle. I only tried The Vampire Lestat (2nd book), which didn't hold my interest for very long. But like Dune or Ender's Game- the first book of this series, at least, is a must read!
-Lysander
Book Review: Bloody Good Read
Summary: 4 Stars
I was given this book by a friend and told that it would not be as I expected. As its not at all my type of book it laid on a shelf until the moment when I had a flight to catch but nothing to read. So it came with me, and, I was so absorbed that I read and read until the last page turned. I'd expected white breasted women and blood - and crosses and lots of mumbo jumbo. Instead the book is a good piece of historical fiction describing the New Orleans of a hundred years ago as well as an attempt to express the fundamental drawbacks to vampire immortality. The vampires of Ann Rice can love but not express it physically, they can ponder on the world of mortal man but they cannot become a part of it, so in the end they have to fill their time with art and literature and the philosophical questions that haunt them, why are we here, are we evil, is there a god and the worst of all what to do with endless time. Not suprising then that most vampires apparently kill themselves due to simple and utter boredom.
I throughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it as simply a fascinating story of an individual at a moment in time trying to come to terms with existance.
Book Review: Not my cup of tea!
Summary: 1 Stars
As a major horror fan I've always enjoyed reading about vampires- Dracula is a masterful book. I brought Interview with a Vampire in 1998 but have only just read it. I feared reading it, having grown up with the likes of Stephen King, Richard Laymon and Graham Masterton, I thought I should really try some of Anne Rice, as her books always seem to be highly rated. And what can be more frightening and exciting than a vampire novel? But I'm afraid this book just didn't do anything for me. When I read about vampires I want to read about terrifying bloodthirsty creatures of the night, scaring the beejeezus out of everyone, not about closet homosexuals declaring their love for one another... ewww! To be fair, I'm perhaps not one of Anne Rice's target audience, but it's annoying as there are few female horror writers out there and I really wanted to read some more of them. If you like romance, vampires, history etc, then you'll love this, but if you want something far more exciting and compulsive, read Salem's Lot or anything by Richard Laymon. I read it (finally), having given in by the hype, but it's certainly not for everyone.