Rating: 
Summary: Not bad
Review: I am a big Ann Rice fan. I did find it a little dificult to get through this book. It just seemed drawn out to me. I did enjoy the story but it couldn't keep my attention as well as the others she has written.
Rating: 
Summary: Poweful
Review: This book brought up many of the God as bad guy(?) thoughts I've had. Worth reading if you are open- minded and not fundamentalist Christian.
Rating: 
Summary: The Worst of the Chronicles
Review: There were so many times while reading this book that I wanted to just scream and rip it to shreds! And I am not talking about the particular thing that seems to catch so many as "shocking" and "controversial." Please! The most shocking thing about this book is how bad it is! The interminable, excruciatingly boring passages where Memnoch recounts his tale is almost too much to bear. If it were not for the fact that I am a huge fan of the previous Vampire Chronicles (especially "The Vampire Lestat"), I would never have been able to finish the thing. It is almost painful to read. It is so unbelievably self-conscious and pretentious. Yes, even more than you would expect from a "Goth" novel. The characters were totally unbelievable. Even Lestat was a pale imitation of himself! She trots out Armand and Louis and Mael and Maharet in a procession of gratuitous cameos -- none of them display a shred of the character she has imbued them with in other works. David Talbot has (slightly) more of a role in this story than the others do, but it is sadly empty as well. The central story is a product of Rice's constant escalation of the stakes with Lestat. What to do after Akasha? Well, how about the DEVIL! The cheek! Her attempts to offend with the constant barrage of pseudo-blasphemy were just too over the top to be taken seriously enough for offense. Her ideas about God and the Devil and Heaven and Hell and Scripture and History are so thoroughly flawed that incredulous amusement almost overtook irritation as the dominant reaction to the book. I kept reading until the end, hoping beyond hope that she would somehow redeem this tragic installment to the Chronicles. But no. It got worse and less believable up to the last, heavy-handed page. Her "theosophy" is a joke. And in very poor taste. She plays so fast and loose with Scripture, that it is insulting to anyone familiar with it, religious or not. The root conflict of the story is that Rice doesn't like the "problem of suffering." A millennia-old debate that she cheapens with a whining shrillness that confirms how ill-prepared she is to tackle the subject matter. She puts words in God's mouth that betray her own personal issues. It is needlessly, pointlessly abhorrent. Purposefully so. From the asinine things she has God and Christ saying, to Lestat's CONSTANT obsession with Dora's menstruating -- culminating in one of the most amazingly horrid scenes where Lestat, freshly returned from three days in Hell and exhausted beyond all measure, can only manage to summon the strength to fall on Dora and suck all the blood out of her womb, even detailing the draining of her bloody maxi-pad! I'm not making this up! This is beyond trash! The context of this atrocious scene in no way calls for anything remotely like this behavior. It was as if in her notes she had "make sure to really push the whole menses thing, really "shake up" people." Well, steeping to the merely gross is no substitute for thoughtful, provocative literature. Christ shows Lestat the Passion, the Crucifixion, his plan to save humanity by sacrificing himself. She dismisses this offhandedly by showing us a brutal historical scene of the sack of Constantinople -- with the juvenile sensibility that because there is horror and violence done to the innocent, therefore God's efforts are all a "mistake." Look at all the evil done in God's name! Well, that just proves it! Case closed! Throughout we are treated to the concept that we -- us humans -- hate God. That he had no right to put us on this suffering planet, and that those who die will no doubt be consumed with nothing but hatred for God, thereby unfairly condemning those souls to purgatory. It is laughable! We have rights? God owes us something? This is like a child whining about "unfair!" She refers to the Book of Job, but obviously cannot grasp the whole point of it. (It's kind of embarrassing.) According to Rice, the whole Jesus Christ thing was the Devil's idea! But God, ever the bumbling fool, keeps making mistakes. Like he allows himself to be martyred "while retaining the knowledge that he is God." This is supposed to be a big argument between Memnoch, the loving, caring, smart one, and God, the omnipotent buffoon. Memnoch claims that God cannot know true suffering unless God gives up his power and knowledge. Once again, her knowledge of Scripture is appallingly meager. What of the pivotal moment in the Passion, prominent in all the synoptic Gospels, where Christ, on the cross, cries out to heaven "Lord, Lord, why hast thou forsaken me?" Totally ignored. And what of Christ's prayers to the Father at Gethsemene? I would have thought she would weave this into her story, as it was right there with the crux of her topic. But no. That would ruin her pat little "theosophy" about the big, dumb insensitivity of God. There are a thousand holes in her argument. Those whose thoughts have been provoked by it should try Kafka or Watts or Lewis or Nietzsche, to name but a few. Try some meat before you go off thinking this thin broth has flavor. She ends it with the customary defiance of Lestat. Only this time she has inflated her story to the point that all that is left for him to defy is both God and the Devil! Yes, Lestat has beaten them both, shown himself the superior being, clearly smarter, the most beautiful, and by far the coolest! Oh, and look at his stylish, expensive clothes! To die for! Oh! This book shows a Lestat more shallow and flat than any other. Or, more accurately, this time around, Rice shows herself more shallow and flat than ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Idea -- Poor Execution
Review: I consider Rice's Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and to a lesser degree The Queen of the Damned as three of the finest novels in their genre. While not up to the high standards of these three, The Tale of the Body Thief is an excellent addition to its predecessors in its own right. That is why I respond to Memnoch the Devil with extreme disappointment.
I'm really at a loss as to what Rice is trying to do here. Is it her personal philosophy on religion and theology? Or Lestat's? Or maybe Lestat's hallucinations? If so, she could have written a much tighter, cleaner book instead of what amounts to, in my reading, hackneyed, over long, and sloppy storytelling. I really liked where the story was headed -- but it ends up being overblown. A good editor and some tighter prose could have turned a great idea into a great novel. Other's have tackled a similar theme much better, such as James Blish's "Black Easter," or the lighter "Towing Jehovah" by James Morrow.
Rating: 
Summary: Milton's "Paradise Lost" for a 90s audience
Review: Anne Rice did a true work in turning out her version of Paradise Lost. She made the devil a character so interesting that it intrigued her most mischievious of creations, Lestat. And I say she does a work because it is an experience so traumatizing to Lestat that he takes a two book vacation from ther Vampire Chronicles, a series which before this novel has obsessed over this blonde haired vampire. Although I don't believe this book has the absolute energy that some of her other books had, I think that it is a good read and interesting read. And as I have heard somewhere before, this book is not for those "weak in mind." It definitely challenges some of the mainstream ideals many of us hold in today's society.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Best in the Series
Review: While Memnoch is good if you want to spark a theological debate in your monthly book club, it is not the best of the Vampire Chronicles. Here prior works far outshine this novel. So much detail is given to the descriptions of LeStat's conversation with Memnoch that it detracts from the real storyline of the book. I was also surprised by the obvious Judeo-Christain bias that appears throughout the novel. Instead of questioning that belief system, as LeStat often does, Anne Rice attempts to persuade readers of the validity of those concepts. I found that to be somewhat disturbing.
Rating:
Summary: Memnoch more gripping because of human side
Review: I believe that you have to be firmly entrenched in not only the vampire chronicles but also the work of Anne Rice before one can truly appreciate the breadth of this book. Lestat definitely takes on more human chracteristic in this volume and the result was to me both reassuring and haunting at the same time. The book itself was just that, as a Catholic I did cringe when when Lestat sunk into Christ's neck. But by the end of the book that feeling had past and I was left with a feeling I've come to expect and enjoy after reading one of the books in the vampire chronicles: thoughtfulness. Rice always gives us something heavy to think about.
Rating:
Summary: Not Anne Rice's best work
Review: I have to start by stating that I am a huge Anne Rice fan. I read the first four books of this series and thought them to be incredible moving, insightful, and a pleasure to read. Memnoch, the Devil was a true disappointment. Perhaps it was my high expectations, given the previous four books. What appealed to be about Anne Rice was her incredible insight into the human psyche and her ability to capture the depths of human emotions. In Memnoch, Rice goes off on a very strange tangent by focusing on religious issues of God and the devil. Although her ideas of good and evil [and heaven and hell] were mildly interesting, this novel had very little to do with the human experience. I found myself painstaking having to "finish" the book [I always have to finish a book, no matter how bad it is]. I still haven't given up on Anne Rice and hope Vampire Armand will redeem her.
Rating:
Summary: Memnoch the Devil
Review: Once again, great book by Anne. (applause) If you intend to read this book, it is best to read the series from the begining book Interview with the Vampire and work your way to this one. If you choose not to do that it could hamper your ability to understand what Anne's characters are saying when they speak of certain things. This book tends to drag a bit when it talks of revelations and the creation of the world but her concept of God and the Devil are very mind boggling. You find yourself saying "This is only fiction" but also take into account the possibilities of her being right on the money about life in general. I guess that is why faith must be blind faith through and through. Anyways this is a must read but don't let the boring stuff bother you the book does pick back up. Have patience, enjoy and remember... It's only fiction!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: I think Anne Rice can read my mind. I've often pondered wheather the devil was really bad. And anne rice has brought a lot of thing into prespective for me. yeah it's all fiction but definitely a brain teaser. I recommend it to any one with an open mind
| 
