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Summary: Interview with the Vampire
Review: Interview with the vampire by Anne Rice tells the story of the life of a vampire from the point of him becoming a vampire until the present time of the telling of the story itself. The entire book is in the form of an interview between the vampire Louis and a young man whoes name is not given.I found this book verry enjoyable, the descriptians and languge this author uses are fantastic and make you want to read more and more. I was worried that the story being told in first person would grow old but I found myself forgetting all about the style in wich the novel was written in and rather becoming completley drawn into the story itself. Definatley worth the read, oh and yes it is much better than the movie, which I also enjoyed greatly.
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Summary: Vampire fiction at it's best.
Review: I had watched the movie "Interview With the Vampire" long before I read the novel. However, the novel was loads better than the movie. Anne Rice is one of a kind and has given us all the vampire fiction ever.
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Summary: READERS: DON'T BE FOOLED!
Review: With Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice begins a powerful series with the life (or death if you will) of Louis Pointe du Lac. As you probably infer from the title, Louis is a Vampire. Now I am sure all of the reviews you have read about this book have sung nothing but praise for this extraordinary book. Now don't get me wrong, this is a beautifuly written book with exquisite detail and dialog more sensual than any man in the world. But I warn you reader, this beauty is hidden by the long and boring nature of this book. Now I may only be 17 but I have been an avid reader since the age of 3 and I know a good book when I see one, I love all of Anne Rice's books that I have had the pleasure of reading so far...except this one. My reccomendation reader, is that you skip this book all together and rent the movie from Blockbuster. I know that sounds horrid but it's true. You will get the gist of the book without the boring fluff. Then you may proceed to the more exciting books "written" by the sexy fine vampire Lestat!
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Summary: Superbly written book Must Read!
Review: Journeying through the epic tale of Louis the Vampire's horrific story in Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice, the reader discovers many intriguing incidents, pains of sorrow, and joy. The boy interviewing the Vampire was looking for a short interview but he ended up using four tapes to hear Louis the Vampire's life story; with the main characters consisting of the boy and four vampires named Armand, Lestat, Claudia, and obviously Louis.
The novel begins with Louis still as a human and he is a prosperous plantation owner with a sister, brother, and mom. The plantation and his many town houses are located in New Orleans, were the story starts and ends. Once the vampire Lestat convenes himself into Louis's life the novel suddenly becomes frightfully exciting. Claudia, a young child and Louis are made into vampires by the malicious Lestat; Lestat made Louis and Claudia into vampires in order to live with someone else of his kind. Claudia becomes Louis's love and companion through the many perilous adventures they share.
As the two set off on a journey away from New Orleans they meet the unique ancient vampire named Armand. In Paris they have a whole troupe of vampires that live in a theatre were they perform interesting shows. Armand the leader of the group makes yet another of the many life-changing events occur. The setting for most of Interview with the Vampire is in Paris and New Orleans in various town houses and hotels.
Interview with the Vampire, kept me turning the pages non-stop. This terrific novel is filled with excruciating details of Louis the Vampire's many life-changing experiences. Though this particular book's genre is horror, it did not inflict nightmares on me or my colleagues, that have also read this superb novel. Ann Rice's book held a secret meaning, to enjoy life and to regard life with solemn respect.
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Summary: I would recommend this book to any vampire fanatic.
Review: It's a very realistic portrayal of vampirism, so realistic you would think the writer is speaking from experience herself!
I would have given this book five stars if Rice wasn't so overly descriptive of everything. It's a bit much.. sometimes I was so lost in how everything looked and felt that I needed to do a bit of rereading to catch the actual plot. That is my only complaint though. I love this story and am looking forward to reading the rest of the Vampire Chronicles.
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Summary: INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (ALFRED A. KNOPF BOOKS/1976)
Review: Rice's first book is now well established as a contemporary horror/American classic. In it her narrator, Louis, gives an eyewitness account of his own life and how he was initiated into the vampire underworld where the exchange for eternal life is to bring to others eternal death. Louis is compassionate, but self-centered and filled with existential self-loathing that (amazingly) doesn't cause the reader to become repelled by his continually depressing tone even though we follow him through decade after decade of history which spans nearly two hundred years. His vampire maker, Lestat, is more typical of Stoker's "DRACULA" (and the real Vlad The Impaler whom Stoker used as the model for his demonic count): an egotistical, spoiled brat who revels in his own monstrous capabilities and lavish taste, and who doesn't give a damn about losing his soul as long as he can gain the whole world. As a symbol of unabashed evil, he is an amazing creation and a suitable counterbalance to Louis' endless brooding. Their life together climaxes with Louis threatening to leave Lestat, and Lestat turning a little girl into a vampire which forces Louis to stay and take care of her. The life of little Claudia the vampire girl is a story unto itself as she shares Louis' love of books and art as well as Lestat's delight in ruthless killing. What happens to them is captivating, repulsive, and as hallucinatory as a nightmare. Throughout the book Louis seems desperate to find some good in all of this evil, but comes to a complete understanding of just how selfish he is and that there is no light to be found in deeds of darkness. That is why an act of goodness must be done by a person who enacts the good of Christ, and an act of evil can only be done by a person who is willing to enact the the evil of Satan. There are no gray areas of debate when it comes to the heart of the matter. Unfortunately, many teenagers and young kids find solace in Louis' alienation and feelings of being an outcast even to the point of wishing they could be a vampire like him (or worse, as they drift off into the self-absorbed world of the occult where Wicca and black magick and Satanism can turn you into a god of nothing) which is doubly sad and not to be blamed on Anne Rice ("THE CATCHER IN THE RYE" endured similar controversy for its seamy portrayal of a young, troubled soul whose adventures were argued to be a bad influence on the reading public). Louis' epiphany at the end save the book, and helps to shake off any intimations of immorality or the embracing of such immorality as a viable way of life. As a Christian I find that commendable. BIOGRAPHICAL SIDENOTE: Rice's five-year-old daughter Michele died from leukemia. A fact which spurred the author to write "INTERVIEW" in five weeks even though she denies that her daughter's death and her grief didn't inspire the creation of Claudia, a sickly, six-year-old child who is resurrected into an immortal vampire. HARSH LANGUAGE: about 25 words, VIOLENCE: about 43 scenes, SEXUAL REFERENCES: about 3 instances and an undercurrent of homo-erotic love between Louis and Armand.
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Summary: Superficially Interesting, but Not Particularly Well-Done
Review: Maybe I just don't get it, but this novel didn't do anything for me. The storyline was fairly interesting, but not superb. The characters were well-developed: overdeveloped, even, in that Rice repeated their flaws. Reading, I felt as if I was being continuously bludgeoened with heavy-handed grandiose drippings of love and eternity and loneliness. This context was set tens of times throughout the novel, rather than - as I would have found preferential - set once, with the plot/storyline to develop off of it.
It seems as if the human population is decisively split between Rice fans, and Rice haters. Her writing can be tedious, at times, but is never difficult to read. About half-way through, one will feel inclined to seriously question as to whether any aspects of the book will change, or if the characters - at this point, Louis and Claudia - will simply continue on their well-worn path of searching for other Vampires and endless self-speculation and introspection.
This book is not without its merits: It deals with a fascinating subject matter that has romanticised mythology and spawned a film and novel genre. However, in all, I found this novel lackluster and overall uninteresting. Interview with the Vampire is worth reading if only for its place in the 'horror' canon, but not for the actual quality of the work. It exists as the seminal piece of fiction within this genre, however I may disagree with that, it should be acknowledged as such.
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Summary: A new look
Review: Vampires with emotion, is it truly hard to believe, life is life, a vampire would still have the basic inhibitions of humans, they just don't have the soul, their death reincarnated, not exactly monsters. I think the new out look in the world of Vampires is refreshing from, what used to be, 'He stalked her, nightly, she could feel his prescence but never saw who--or what it was. She was on a date now, and the awkward feeling that she had all the times in the past, were back again. Her boyfriend kissed her, and then the taste of blood filled her mouth. She looked up to see a tall diviner male sucking the blood from her boyfriend. Then before she could speak she was next.' Cut to weeks later. 'The hunter examined the bodies at the morgue, and just as the eyes burst opened he stabbed them in the heart. Just another job for the hunter.' That's ridiculous, over done, and over used.
Anne Rice brought a refreshing new outlook, and the good part was, it only got better from here.
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Summary: the first depressive vampire
Review: A book about sorrow, questions, passions, very erotic and captivating. Loved it! A book about human nature and types - Louis, the analythical type, Lestat - powerfull, Armand - charismathic, sophisticated and sensual, Claudia - cold and calculated. A drama of imortal life when all you know & love changes and you can't understand. Viewed by Louis, life is so sad. I believe Louis is the first depressive vampire in all the stories, a vampire with a human soul, suffering each time he kills. Such a cold immortal heart and yet such pain. Looking for a master more than for answers he hates Lestat, not a good teacher, he loves Claudia but in spite that love he still feels miserable and alone. He thinks he finds in Armand someone to guide him, someone strong. Armand is the best vampire-character ever created. Anyhow, much, much better than the film!
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Summary: Fascinating. Could not put down.
Review: I'd never read an Anne Rice novel and this was amazing. Sucked me in right from the start. Her literary talent is something to study as well as enjoy. She knows New Orleans so well, I could feel the moist air, smell the smells. I felt like I was there.
And the world of the vampires she created was so detailed, I kept marveling that anyone could have all of that in their brain much less put it on paper so beautifully. Thanks for sharing it with us, is all I can say about talented authors like Ann.
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