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on 29 June 2010
It's been over a week since I finished this book and I still don't feel like I have a handle on it. Normally a couple of days is all I need to digest a volume and start to make connections that I hadn't noticed straight away. This time, however, despite being trapped in 200-odd pages of firmly printed text, I'm finding this tale as enigmatic and hard to pin down as any vampire.
`Interview with a Vampire' begins with the brilliant conceit of a young man tape-recording an interview with Louis, a two-hundred year old vampire. Louis tells the story of his life and loves, starting in New Orleans with how he met and was transformed by the self-serving Lestat. Tormented by his inherent evil but driven by his hunger for human blood, Louis attacks a young girl, Claudia, in the back streets of the city. In a complex act of cruelty and desperation, Lestat also makes Claudia a vampire, establishing the characters as the strangest of families. The story explores the relationships that these three vampires have with each other and with themselves, visiting some very dark places and sometimes taking the reader to places they never sought to go.
I neither liked nor disliked this book, but I was certainly intrigued by it. Louis philosophical ponderings on what being a vampire means offered a genuinely different perspective on a myth that permeates modern culture. However, I can see why it has retained its cult status in the last 40 years. The more brutal, visceral and sexual aspects of the vampire's existence, along with the subtle hints at what could be construed as paedophilia, could be alienating for some audiences. For me, they just sat awkwardly with what I found newer and more interesting, the more thoughtful start to the book. It's probably important however that we don't forget that vampires are supposed to be human predators rather than the damaged pretty boys so often seen on screen today.
Overall, although I'm not sure I would recommend this novel to anyone, it captured my interest enough to make me want to read the sequel, `The Vampire Lestat'. Hopefully this will be less ambiguous than its predecessor.
`Interview with a Vampire' begins with the brilliant conceit of a young man tape-recording an interview with Louis, a two-hundred year old vampire. Louis tells the story of his life and loves, starting in New Orleans with how he met and was transformed by the self-serving Lestat. Tormented by his inherent evil but driven by his hunger for human blood, Louis attacks a young girl, Claudia, in the back streets of the city. In a complex act of cruelty and desperation, Lestat also makes Claudia a vampire, establishing the characters as the strangest of families. The story explores the relationships that these three vampires have with each other and with themselves, visiting some very dark places and sometimes taking the reader to places they never sought to go.
I neither liked nor disliked this book, but I was certainly intrigued by it. Louis philosophical ponderings on what being a vampire means offered a genuinely different perspective on a myth that permeates modern culture. However, I can see why it has retained its cult status in the last 40 years. The more brutal, visceral and sexual aspects of the vampire's existence, along with the subtle hints at what could be construed as paedophilia, could be alienating for some audiences. For me, they just sat awkwardly with what I found newer and more interesting, the more thoughtful start to the book. It's probably important however that we don't forget that vampires are supposed to be human predators rather than the damaged pretty boys so often seen on screen today.
Overall, although I'm not sure I would recommend this novel to anyone, it captured my interest enough to make me want to read the sequel, `The Vampire Lestat'. Hopefully this will be less ambiguous than its predecessor.
although I found the format of the book to be very slow and in some places dull. This reached a point where I felt as ...
on 12 August 2015
I decided to read this book to see if all the acclaim about the story was justified. It's clear the Anne Rice is a skilled writer, although I found the format of the book to be very slow and in some places dull. This reached a point where I felt as though I was waiting for something interesting to happen. It did pick up again in the middle where things actually happen as opposed to the vampire standing there just talking. I don't really know what I expected from this book, because the title does give it away. On the whole it was readable, Part One could have just gone a bit faster or been a bit shorter for my tastes.
on 25 June 2015
Stories about vampires aren't my usual type of book to read at all but it was an interesting book. I like the style of it being in an interview, I've never read a book like that before. It's definitely interesting to read a book that is set over a large period of time to see the differences in past and present. The end of the book is written very well leaving you wanting to know what happens next.
on 7 April 2016
This is a great story and a lovely introduction into The Vampire Chronicles. Worth buying for sure.
on 10 May 2015
A solid book but found yourself not feeling for the characters.
on 22 May 2006
I was surprised that only fifty people have reviewed this book before me; as it is such a cult classic I assumed that everything would have already been said.
The first in a series of many, 'Interview' has become something of a legend among fans of horror. Regardless of its quality, it is worth reading simply because of that fact. But, it would also be nice if there was something more to it than that, and undoubtedly, there is.
'Interview' is not what I would call a perfect book, although it was pioneering. Rice's writing style is dark, but quite flowery, and often you get the feeling that certain events are added to the story, not because they service the plot but just because they are shocking, or designed to be perceived as shocking. As I often find with Rice's writing, some of it comes across as quite awkward, and a little clumsily put together.
This is not to say however, that it is not a very enjoyable novel to read. The character development is exquisite, and certainly the characters of Louis, Lestat, Claudia and Armand are all inspired creations. If you haven't the stamina for all the books in the series then I would recommend reading this one at least; it's comparatively short and gives a good taster of the style. It's also essential reading for anyone who thinks they know their horror/gothic fiction.
The first in a series of many, 'Interview' has become something of a legend among fans of horror. Regardless of its quality, it is worth reading simply because of that fact. But, it would also be nice if there was something more to it than that, and undoubtedly, there is.
'Interview' is not what I would call a perfect book, although it was pioneering. Rice's writing style is dark, but quite flowery, and often you get the feeling that certain events are added to the story, not because they service the plot but just because they are shocking, or designed to be perceived as shocking. As I often find with Rice's writing, some of it comes across as quite awkward, and a little clumsily put together.
This is not to say however, that it is not a very enjoyable novel to read. The character development is exquisite, and certainly the characters of Louis, Lestat, Claudia and Armand are all inspired creations. If you haven't the stamina for all the books in the series then I would recommend reading this one at least; it's comparatively short and gives a good taster of the style. It's also essential reading for anyone who thinks they know their horror/gothic fiction.
on 26 April 2001
this book is really quite okay. however, if you, like me, tend to find it painful when all the characters are "dazzlingly beautiful" and driven by the most profound passions - while at the same time the reader does not learn anything particularly new and certainly does not gain any kind of awareness - then leave it. it won't get much better than what it begins as - a soap opera, quite colorful and fun sometimes.
