Rating: Summary: Absorbing, haunting Review: Even though this novel was first published in 1976, I didn't read it until 2003. Oh, have I missed an excellent book for all those years! Rice is a natural-born, stylish writer, one who retells the vampire story, and makes the vampire sympathetic. The life he leads is half-repulsive, half-seductive: part of the reader wants to live the life he lives; the other half wants to run away as fast as possible. A disturbing combination, yet Rice pulls off the feat, and wrote a classic novel.
Rating: Summary: Lacks any emotional punch Review: _Interview with the Vampire_ is a train wreck of a novel. I'm told that some later Rice books are better, but based on this, I don't think I want to try them. The book's main problem is simply that Rice is not a very good writer. The storyline has a lot of promise, but it never pays off. The "interview" format of the book is irrating and unnecessary. It simply pulls us out of the story into an uninteresting situation where we know nothing of consequence is going to happen. Then, during the story itself, Rice's prose is so flowery and unsubstantial that it is difficult to gain any understanding of what characters are supposed to be feeling. Often the prose actually obscures the action with it's insistent long-windedness. The reason I'm giving two stars instead of one, is because Rice does manage a few really nice images, and occasionally is able to draw a scene for a page or two that genuinely incites empathy in the reader. For example, the way Louis first attacks Claudia, and then struggles with what to do with her later, is very well done. These kind of moments are the exception, not the rule though. Utlimately, Louis is a big whiner, while Lestat, Claudia, and Armand are never more than cardboard characters that I could basically not care less about. Don't bother with this book.
Rating: Summary: A good but odd book Review: Interview with a Vampire was a great book, proberly the best book of the Vampire Chronicle. However, I find it very disturbing that EVERY vampire in Rice's novel's is gay.
Rating: Summary: poetically cynical Review: this book gives a very poetic, cynical view to the lives of vampires. it's about a man named Loius in the late eighteenth century who is made into a vampire by a very vain and gluttonous vampire named Lestat and their adventures until about the end of the nineteenth century. Loius has a lot of regrets about letting himself become a vampire and Lestat doesn't provide any consolation with his gluttonous ways of living off of humans without regret. this is a very beautifully detailed horror with lots of mystery and intrigue. it's not a good stand-alone story for the faint-of-heart because Loius is so miserable throughout the book. however, if one reads this book and then reads its sequal, THE VAMPIRE LESTAT, one will be extrememly happy of the outcome of these two characters after reading both and they will love this book even more. p.s. THE VAMPIRE LESTAT is a much more light-hearted book full of fun adventures. it has a lot of mysteries revealed that were left unsolved in INTERVIEW. so don't stop after INTERVIEW, read on and be amazed!
Rating: Summary: Seductive; exquisite writing about...vampires? Review: I don't know how Rice did it, but she had managed to elevate the genre of horror, eerie weirdness, seduction, evil, and the whole field of 'vampire-ism' to a literary level. In this debut novel, she introduces the Vampire Lestat, and voila! an entire new world opens up, a new genre practically: 'Vampire Literature!' Lord, the woman can write, and although I'm a fan of neither horror nor vampires, I was sucked right in. Read this before you read her others, and then read everything she writes.
Rating: Summary: Is the movie actually better? Review: Reading this book after seeing the movie (something I rarely do) gives me a different viewpoint than I would usually have, and it makes the book much harder to rate. On the one hand, the book fails to be as gripping because I already know what is going to happen, and then on the other the novel provides much more detail than the movie ever could (one of the reasons books are almost always better). I was surprised to find at how closely the movie actually follows the book. Scene for scene, very little is missing in the movie, and the only real difference between the two is the ending (which has more closure in the movie). One thing I will say about the book, is that Anne Rice is a talented writer. Even though not much happens in most of the book, you will be captivated by her prose. However, I feel she plays to this strength to conceal the weakness of the story itself. Her verbose style draws out the story so long that it doesn't surprise me at all that the film makers were able to easily compress it and fit it all into the movie. Readers of classic literature won't mind this as it was the predominant style of writing. Other won't mind either because as I said, she is gifted with prose. Unfortunately, those looking for an exciting, plot driven (something fine literature isn't supposed to be) story, may be disappointed. Many years ago when this book came out, I can see this being a much more fascinating look into the mind of a vampire through the character study of the main character Louis. But since Anne Rice is pretty much responsible for oversaturated vampire craze we have today, this book doesn't seem like anything new (even if it did start it all). One does have to give credit to Rice for being the original, and this book is not bad. It's just one of those books that had it's time, and were it to be released today, would not nearly make as much of an impact. It is however good enough to get me to read the next book, and that is an accomplishment.
Rating: Summary: Intricate, panoramic, luscious tale - ruined by poor writing Review: "Interview with the Vampire" is the powerful, disturbing story of the experiences of a vampire, Louis, as he evolves from a young man to a fledgling vampire to a mature member of the undead. Its characters are interesting and its plotline is complex and well-measured. The story is beautiful and sad and highly compelling. But the book is not beautiful or compelling, and its primary sadness is the waste it makes of such a wonderful story. Rice's prose is heavy and flowery, sometimes lush but very often simply too much. Often her descriptions are incomprehensible or interfere with the action. The book's language enjoys a few moments of beauty, but these are smothered by the sheer density of words. Worse, Rice sells out her own story. The convention of the book is that it is an interview: a character who is referred to only as a "young man" or "boy" is taping his one-sided conversation with Louis. The interviewer serves no discernible purpose and the interview destroys the story's end: instead of ending Louis's story with the powerful, well-written conclusion it deserves, she neglects it entirely (failing to exploit the opportunities for insight and emotion her well-crafted story offers), instead ending the book with several dull pages about the interviewer himself. Poor writing aside, "Interview with the Vampire" is not an unpleasant read. It's long, and it has many slow points, but it's worthwhile for serious science fiction fans.
Rating: Summary: Extremely Disappointing Review: To put it mildly, this book disappointed me beyond belief. It certainly isn't up to Anne Rice's normal standards, and I found that upon reading it, I became more confused about the lives of the vampires about which she was writing than I was intrigued. Being a big fan of vampire novels at the time I first bought this book, I wondered why I had picked it up in the first place. Anne Rice's style remains fabulous throughout the book, her descriptive talents beyond imagining, but the story felt cluttered to me, and the book took me an inordinarily long time to read. Thankfully, I feel that the Vampire Chronicals truly picked up with the second novel in this series, and I have been enjoying them, when in the mood, since.
Rating: Summary: !!! Review: This is the coolest book ever, i realy enjoyed it and you should too.
Rating: Summary: elevated the modern day vampire mythology Review: the story of louis pointe du lac, a louisana plantation owner who travels down the road to darkness into vampire territory. it is a wonderfully dark story yet i find louis inviting and warm. he invites you into his world, his life and as the story unfolds in flashbacks you cannot help but be drawn in. we meet the charasmatic lestat who is both endearing at times and yet can still turn you off. we meet claudia, the child vampire who still to this day haunts the vampire chronicles. the story is wonderful and this is just the begginning, a door into a world which i will always cherish.
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