Interview with the Vampire
Average Rating: 4.5 Stars
by Anne Rice
List Price: $14.95
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345409647
Amazon.com Review
In the now-classic novel Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice refreshed the archetypal vampire myth for a late-20th-century audience. The story is ostensibly a simple one: having suffered a tremendous personal loss, an 18th-century Louisiana plantation owner named Louis Pointe du Lac descends into an alcoholic stupor. At his emotional nadir, he is confronted by Lestat, a charismatic and powerful vampire who chooses Louis to be his fledgling. The two prey on innocents, give their "dark gift" to a young girl, and seek out others of their kind (notably the ancient vampire Armand) in Paris. But a summary of this story bypasses the central attractions of the novel. First and foremost, the method Rice chose to tell her tale--with Louis' first-person confession to a skeptical boy--transformed the vampire from a hideous predator into a highly sympathetic, seductive, and all-too-human figure. Second, by entering the experience of an immortal character, one raised with a deep Catholic faith, Rice was able to explore profound philosophical concerns--the nature of evil, the reality of death, and the limits of human perception--in ways not possible from the perspective of a more finite narrator.
While Rice has continued to investigate history, faith, and philosophy in subsequent Vampire novels (including The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, and The Vampire Armand), Interview remains a treasured masterpiece. It is that rare work that blends a childlike fascination for the supernatural with a profound vision of the human condition. --Patrick O'Kelley
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Product Description
Customer Reviews
A Look Into The Life Of Louis
5 Stars
There is little that hasn't already been said about Anne Rice's wonderful "Interview With The Vampire." For this review, I think I'll provide just a brief summary of the plot and then go deeper into what I enjoyed most about this book.
It is essentially the life story of a highly emotional, highly sensitive vampire named Louis. He is interviewed by "the boy" in San Francisco. He explains how he came to be a vampire, his many years in New Orleans, Europe and eventually back to New Orleans, and key relationships along the way. The bulk of the tale takes place with Louis being in the company of the wicked-yet-likeable Lestat and the lovely demon-child, Claudia.
Louis also explains to the interviewer how his internal struggles with right and wrong, good and evil and exactly what his existence meant tore at him at all times. This, to me, is what makes "Interview With The Vampire" stand out from the pack of seemingly endless vampire stories.
As far as I know, no one really took the time to let the reader know about the vampire as a person. Rice dives deep into the life of Louis and reveals to the reader an immortal with huge emotional problems. He hungers for blood but struggles with the killing of humans. He doesn't particularly care for Lestat but fears being alone in his new, immortal world.
When Claudia enters the picture, we see yet another pitiful being granted immortality only to hate the one who gave it to her. We get a peek at Santiago who, in my opinion, is one of the most vile creatures to ever grace the page. One other vampire who captured me in this tale is Armand, who is much more mysterious to me than Lestat and I look forward to reading his story later on in "The Vampire Armand."
I also enjoyed the wonderful descriptions of New Orleans and Europe througout time. Having a brother that has lived in the Big Easy for almost twenty years and having visited many times, it's fun to think that Louis, Lestat or even little Claudia might have crossed my path at some time.
This is the second time that I've read "Interview With The Vampire." I've also read "The Vampire Lestat." Of the two, "Interview" is a much more engaging tale. I know that I'm in the minority when I say this since Lestat steals almost every page of the book that he appears on, but I really enjoyed the originality and uniqueness that made "Interview" such a standout when it was first printed and as it remains today.
There is a bit of eroticism to this tale that parents might not want their children and teens to read about just yet. There's also quite a bit of violence. This is definitely a novel for adults and older teens to tackle. It's a great story and one of the few vampire tales that actually deserves to sit on the bookshelf with Bram Stoker's classic.
Highly recommended.
~ K. Fontenot, The Bayou State
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The psychology of a vampire
5 Stars
The psychology of a vampire. No other vampire book dive as deep as Rice's. I loved Louis as the narrator. I much prefer the tortured anti-heros. Rice is very wordy and very detailed oriented. I came out of this book feeling like I knew more about Louis then some close friends. Louis is so vivid, dark, and brokenhearted the whole story, I always felt for him. I also like Louis' view of Lestat better than Lestat's view on himself.
~ A. Miller, Ohio
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Anne Rice - the REAL Queen of the Damned
5 Stars
This is the beginning of the Vampire Chronicles. What a wonderful series - not hokey, not based on teenage angst, not unrequited. This book is dark, it's sexy, it's exciting and sometimes violent. I hung on every word. No wonder they made a movie out of this (even if the choice of actors was a bit odd). This book made Anne Rice a genuine best selling author, and she followed this book with many more, following the lives of old and new vampires in the 'family'. Love the characters, love the personalities, love the interplay. Don't think you like the idea of vampires, or afraid of the potential for violence? OK. You're a wuss. Read 'Twilight'. Lame.
~ Dan Starkey, Minneapolis, MN USA
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First in the Vampire Trilogy. Read Vampire Lestat first!
5 Stars
First in Ann Rice's famous and original Vampire trilogy (I guess she has produced more than twenty of them after that, but none of them as good as the first three).
Louis is a depressed vampire. Being over 200, he has had a lot of hardships in life. He tells his life story to a an interviewer, who is only refer to as the boy, who he first planned to be his victim. Throughout the story, you meet many interesting characters. Such as, Lestat, Claudia, and Armand. Lestat is supposed to be mean and hated, but I can't help but love him. He's so evil and charming. The level of eroticism is incredible for a subject that is supposed to be macabre.
The way this story unfolded is wonderful. This is the Ann Rice I fell in love with, before her fame made her a commercial writer. The story is sad and yet beautiful. The story is exciting, detailed and never boring.
I read The Vampire Lestat first, not knowing they were a trilogy, and it helped me very much. If you are new to the trilogy, I suggest you start with the middle book, it will make the first installment go more swiftly.
~ Carlos T. Mock, Chicago, IL
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