Rating: 
Summary: Anne Rice swims in the details.
Review: With so many reviews out there let me keep this short and sweet - Anne Rice loves her characters, she loves New Orleans and she loves her craft. Her book is full of delightful details, not just about the people and the places, but she writes about their very clothes, right down to the pattern on their cloaks, and she dives into their deepest thoughts - no matter how dark and bloody they might be. She loves every tiny piece of history that she can pour into Louis, Lestat and Claudia. She pours in her knowledge, her own emotions and her pains to make real people to live and love and die within the yellowed pages of the book - my copy is from 1989 and VERY well used. I took it to college and when I had to move it stayed with me, part of the core of books I refuse to sell, give away or toss out. The book is as sexy, honest and terrible as the vampires within it.
Rating:
Summary: Get 'Sucked' In!
Review: It's not often that I become totally engrossed in a novel, let alone in the first couple of pages, but I was with "Interview With The Vampire". The narrator, Louis, is a reluctant vampire who understands that he must kill to survive, but is racked with guilt with each and every victim he slays. The inner struggles with which he deals make him one of the most conflicted and gripping characters that I have ever encountered. I have long been told of the rich, voluptuous world of Anne Rice's vampires, but, for some reason, had never delved into it. Now that I have, I cannot get enough! I recently went on a week-long vacation during which I read "Interview", "The Vampire Lestat" and "The Queen of the Damned"; I couldn't put them down. In the first two installments of the Vampire Chronicles, Rice tells the stories of the vampires (Louis and Lestat, respectively) from their points of view. This bit of writing genius allows you to really feel the torment of these creatures and feel deep sorrow for them, but at the same time feel excitement and raw, sensual pleasure as they hunt for their victims. It's interesting to see how Rice creates such soul and depth in creatures who are soulless. Rice's descriptions of everything from the clothing that the vampires wear to their hair and the signs of the times wash over you with a velvety luster that makes you hunger for more. I blazed through the first three installments of the Vampire Chronicles so quickly that I've ordered the volumes 4, 5 and 6; I can't wait!
Rating: 
Summary: A Truly Horrible Book
Review: Let it be known that I like some of Anne Rice's other works: I did like The Witching Hour. However, Interview with a Vampire is written with poor, boring prose. It is certainly not a page turner, and I would assign it as punishment for high school students who did not come to class on time. The story seems to be random, without any clear organization or purpose. Often while reading the book I will start to daydream about to other ideas and topics that are unrelated to the book. The truth is, the book is boring. The character development is particularly poor. None of the characters is brought to light in an interesting manner or explained why they exist. I would certainly never recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: I picked up this book at a local bookstore after having been told by numerous people that it is a must read, and after having seen and loved the movie. As is usually the case, the movie just deosn't do the book justice. Though the movie stayed fairly true to the book, Anne Rice conveys so much more depth to her characters and atmosphere than any Hollywood film has yet to accomplish. After reading this first book of the Vampire Chronicles series, I have since been sucked (no pun intended) into the rest of the series, and indeed all of Anne Rice's novels. "Interview with the Vampire" is the story of Luis, Lestat, and Claudia as told by Luis. The three work themselves out to be a "family" of vampires until Luis and Claudia grow weary of living with Lestat, and mourn for answers that Lestat can't really give them. Thus, the pair set out to find more of their kind in Europe and are met with something different than what they were looking for. Rice also intertwines the philosophical debate of whether or not there is a god/devil as well as the omnipotent struggle to find ones place in the world (that all of us go through). This book is something that everyone should read, especially if you enjoy a good horror novel and/or are interested in all things occult or supernatural. This book is a modern day classic! Most of you have probably seen the movie, but if not then try to read the book first. The movie simply pales in comparison. And if you have already seen the movie and loved it, then you will certainly enjoy this book as much as I did!
Rating:
Summary: Thirst Quenching
Review: One of the very few classic novels of the 20th century. Anne Rice creates a beautifully rich universe that is irresistible and loveable, no matter what kind of books you enjoy. There isn't any way you couldn't love this book
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!
Review: Honestly, no amount of review reading can give you a clear idea of whether or not you will like a book. I loved this book despite all the bad reviews. But I'm not alone. Similarly, I hated Lord of the Rings, despite all the good reviews...and I also wasn't alone there. I think this book is more for people who enjoy getting to know characters rather than a quick-paced plot. It's more about feeling empathy for something supposedly evil than being amazed by story twists. Some people like this sort of thing, some don't. I recommend you at least give it a try; you may discover an awesome read for yourself. I finished it in only a few days and it usually takes me at least two weeks to finish a novel if it bores me. And definitely watch the movie. The movie is REALLY good.
Rating:
Summary: The exquisite classic that rejuvenated the vampire genre
Review: With Interview With the Vampire, Anne Rice completely rejuvenated the genre which I feel to be horror's most important, primal, and soul-stirring, the legend of the vampire. I have described Richard Matheson's classic I Am Legend as the second greatest vampire novel, but I must retract that statement now. Only with a second reading have I recognized the unparalleled power, beauty, eroticism, and grace of Anne Rice's contribution to the subject. Unlike Matheson, Rice luxuriates in the Victorian appeal of Stoker's masterpiece, while taking the subject to planes far beyond those Stoker could have envisioned for his Count Dracula. The modern writer does not have to hide the vampire's erotic appeal behind convention, nor does she need to classify her subject as an evil in and of itself. The vampire nature of Rice's creation is a complex, unfathomable subject that transcends good and evil. This first novel in The Vampire Chronicles centers around four very different yet almost equally fascinating vampires. The story is that of Louis, a wealthy eighteenth century Louisiana plantation owner who became a vampire in the depths of his despair over his brother's suicide. Lestat, the inscrutable force that hovers above every page of the tale, made Louis a vampire for basically economic reasons; he wanted the wealth that Louis possessed, but he also wanted a companion. Narcissistic and vain, the dapper Lestat does not teach his creation what it means to be a vampire, does not share the secrets he claims to know, does not even help Louis through the soul-shattering change that comes about when the body dies so that it may live eternally. Louis stays with Lestat only because, so far as he knows, there are no other vampires to whom he can turn for help and instruction. His distaste for Lestat grows over the years, however, and in order to keep Louis by his side, Lestat takes a young girl whom Louis had fed upon during a period of emotional turbulence and makes of her a vampire, knowing that Louis could never abandon the child. It is the story of Claudia, doomed to a most tragic life of immortality trapped inside the body of a little girl, that makes this book so powerful in my eyes. Lestat is of course fascinating, Louis is the epitome of tragedy and a fountain of knowledge by way of his questioning, eternally sad nature, but Claudia's story is an unbearably exquisite one. She accepts her vampire nature with some ease, being too young to really ever remember her human childhood, but the growth of Claudia the vampire woman inside the body of Claudia the child is a beautifully painful thing to watch. When she manages to separate Louis and herself from Lestat to go searching for other vampires in Central Europe and eventually Paris, giving dramatic voice to both her love for and hatred of Louis, the door to the dungeons of utter tragedy are thrown asunder. The introduction of the four hundred year old vampire Armand in the second half of the book gives us yet another unique vampire soul to ponder, but Armand at his most vivid pales in comparison to Claudia at her most unprepossessing. In the end, we are left with Louis and his story, which is full of unanswerable questions. Even the meaning and lesson he tries to express about his miserable existence utterly fail in their influence it has upon the boy chosen to hear his extraordinary story. Literature really provides no better character study of the emotional meaning of vampirism than Louis, however. He became a creature of the night only out of despair, and his development as a new creature on earth proceeded without any instruction whatsoever from the cold Lestat. Thus, he questions everything about his new nature, desperately longing for a mentor. He does not relish the taking of human life, and the thought of creating another creature like himself is anathema to him. He sees vampirism as a curse, eternally wondering if he is indeed a child of Satan doomed to an immortal yet cursed life. The source of his moral suffering is his inability to really give up his human nature, and this causes him a long, long life of torment and pain. Never before had the moral, spiritual, and philosophical nature of the vampire been explored in such depth as that found in this exquisitely beautiful novel, and that is one of the primary reasons why it rivals Stoker in terms of its beauty and resonates with an emotionally hypnotic power that is unmatched in the long tradition of vampire literature.
Rating:
Summary: A must read!
Review: Growing up, reading books was quick and simple, but as time went on I grew up, and it became an awful school assignment, and I hated it.
Now, with a much re-newed love to read, thanks to Anne Rice, and her glorious story of Interview with the Vampire, I look forward to sitting with a good book.
Interview is a wonderfully written, and massively creative piece of art in words. In the words of Louis, the beloved main character, he leads the reader through many passages and times with his haunting and hypnotic stories of Paris, Claudia, his quest to find vampires with answers, and his beloved brother. Accompanied by Lestat, the vampire who gave him the "dark gift", he describes his hatred for immortality, and questions the existence of God, the Devil, love and loneliness.
From start to finish, Louis will captivate you with his mystery, and his ongoing journey for meaning.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever
Review: I read this thinking it would be interesting, I had no idea it would be one I couldn't put down and that I'd tell anyone that they should definetely read it too. It's descriptiveness it electrifing and the characters are dasterdly lovable. It's a gripping novel that leaves you wanting more and more. Everyone should read it.
Rating:
Summary: The definate and ultimate reason why I became a writer
Review: This book was the book that inspired me to become a writer. It's deep sensuous prose and the tale of vampires damned to an eternity of hunting mortal lives had me hooked. I fell in love with Lestat, Louis and Claudia and their story made it one of the best novels I have ever read. It leaves you hungry for more and like all of the other Chronicles, it is beautiful
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