Interview With The Vampire

Very well written book, although the flourished, Victorian prose is lost on me. I mainly liked the overall idea of the book, and what it set in motion in the world of the vampire genre, as with the creation of the Vampire: The Masquerade RPG.

The protagonist, Louis, is kind of stupid and the ethics of the story are incredibly lack lusting. Maybe I have to give credit because of the time the events took place, but for a well read man, one who knows his Socrates, to see nothing wrong in killing indiscriminately or not to be able to see evil in degrees is disturbing. But ignorance is necessary to keep the feeling of hopelessness and dread the book sets out to establish.

The villain, Lestat, is kind of a shallow and one dimensioned, but still satisfying, depiction of a monster. There were some attempts made in order to add more nuances to his personality, with Louis evolving his opinion of him the more time they spent together. But still, Lestat is just a psychopath who enjoys torturing and killing his victims. And Louis, the vampire he sired, is too naive and inexperienced to make the distinction between what he perceives to be two inexorably bonded traits: being a vampire and being a psychopath.

I like my characters stoics, but Louis can't help but despise his vampiric nature, and Claudia to bewail in vain about her eternal childish features. But these aspects also contribute to the story being told, making it a bit more interesting as well. Lestat and Armand are the only ones who fully accepted what they are.

So, for the depiction of vampires as more then just monsters, because of Louis conflicting nature, his fear of what he is becoming, fear for his immortal soul, if it has not been dammed already, I approve this novel.

For anyone who likes vampires, read the RPG, 2nd or 3rd edition. You will forever judge everything else vampire related to the lore described in that book.

Après avoir enfin lu le Dracula de Bram Stoker, je me suis décidé à lire une autre oeuvre emblématique du mythe vampirique : Interview with the Vampire, de l'écrivaine américaine Anne Rice.

Outre son succès auprès des lecteurs, ce roman est également connu pour son adaptation sortie au cinéma en 1994, avec Brad Pitt et Tom Cruise dans les rôles principaux.

Le titre nous renseigne d'abord sur un point : nous allons lire un entretien avec un vampire. Enregistré par un jeune journaliste à la fin du XX° siècle, le récit du vampire prénommé Louis nous fait découvrir le mythe du vampire revisité par Anne Rice.

Louis est né en Louisiane à la fin du XVIII° siècle, il avait une vingtaine d'années quand il a été attaqué et transformé en vampire par Lestat, avec qui il va partager sa vie pendant de longues décennies malgré leurs différences de personnalité. Lestat est sans scrupule, sans foi, là où Louis doute, culpabilise, s'interroge sur l'origine des vampires, refuse sa condition de tueur sanguinaire.

Quand Lestat vampirise une jeune fillette, le duo devient un drôle de trio, avec les deux “pères” d'une vampire qui ne ne grandit pas, condamnée à garder son corps d'enfant. Les aventures de Louis vont ensuite l'amener en Europe centrale, puis à Paris, où sa vie va changer à nouveau.

Ce qui traverse ce livre du début à la fin, c'est la quête de Louis pour comprendre le bien et le mal et sa place dans le monde. C'est aussi l'histoire d'une relation complexe entre Louis et son “maître” Lestat, comme entre un fils et un père qui ne se comprennent pas.

J'ai tendance à considérer ce livre comme celui qui a donné naissance au mythe moderne du vampire, en le rajeunissant et en le remettant au goût du jour, à l'époque où le roman est sorti en tout cas, c'est-à-dire au coeur des années 1970.

Il y a des passages passionnants dans ce roman, d'autres un peu moins, mais j'ai pris du plaisir à le relire. Je crois même que j'ai plus apprécié cette seconde lecture que la première. Suffisamment en tout cas pour me donner envie de lui les romans suivants des Vampire Chronicles d'Anne Rice.

I had never read the book before despite having in my books shelf for over 4 years. And I personally love the movie.

After finally picking it up and I couldn't stop reading it. I must say that I really enjoyed as much if not more then the movie. It paints a better picture than the movie! The book is a clear winner and i now understand why Anne Rice became so popularas she did!

This is a rare instance where I like the movie better that the book. Mainly because Tom Cruise as Lestat is amazing, but also, the costumes, the hair, the Louis being the archetypal brooding vampire while Lestat joyfully eats half of New Orleans....



I rewatched the movie the same day I finished the audiobook, and the two are very similar. They change Louis' back story a bit, in the movie his catalyst is his wife dying in childbirth, which the book has a disturbing story about his fifteen year old brother suffering religious delusions and then falling down the stairs, I understand why they went with the more succinct backstory for the movie. Also Babette is cut, and Louis' relationship with Armand ends a bit differently. The most surprising thing is that in the book Lestat goes to Paris, and tells they vampires there that Claudia and Louis tried to kill him, which explains why they try to kill Louis and Claudia. It was kind of strange that they cut that from the movie.

This one is a book best savored. If you are looking for a quick read then do not read this book. However, if you have time to sink into Anne Rice's beautifully crafted world, then by all means take a chair. The story of Louis is wrought with heartbreak and joy. It is a little heady, and there were a few sections I had to read over, but I enjoyed this book because of the culture building within it. Claudia was a major part of my enjoyment as well, witnessing her evolution as her mind grew but her body did not. Without her this book would have pales on comparison. And then we have Louis, the conflicted vampire who holds onto his humanity. To watch his evolution, and the turmoil he endured throughout his undead life, it gives a new light to the world of vampires. Now a days we see the “good” side to vampirism, seemingly ignoring the actual suffering that must take place, things that are barely hinted at. We need more writers like Anne Rice , who brings a depth of realism to her creatures.

Lowkey incredible. I get the hype. The way that Anne Rice wrote about misery is almost beautiful. The way how vampires talk with each other and humans is so foreign and doesn't make sense with human morality and just the thought of that is insane. There's a lot of little nuances that are really cool. I loved the book.

Maybe I just don't get it, but this novel didn't do anything for me. The story line 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 bludgeoned 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/story line to develop off of it.

Anne Rice is not really my cup of tea, but suppose if the first book of hers that I read were this one, I might be more inclined to read others.

This book has very little of the overly sexualized and grotesque that appears in other books (See Tale of the Body Thief, The Witching Hour, The Wolf Gift) but it's also oddly flat in some of the characterization.

Anyway, it's fine.

Truly, truly sensational. I've seen several people refer to this as boring or monotonous but I disagree completely. I was enthralled, struggled to put it down completely bewitched by Louis' life, death and afterlife (?). Rice's character building is fantastic, her portrayal of Claudia the ancient child vampire was superb, chilling and wicked. The only thing I didn't like was knowing I have finished this masterpiece. Can't wait to move throughout this series and discover more and more of these wonderfully evil characters and I pray that I may meet Louis again.

I read the first half of this book two autumns ago, got into a reading slump, and didn't pick it back up until now. Perfect, coincidental timing for the AMC show adaptation of it!

Definitely had some sections that felt like they dragged on, but I loved the vampire ennui of it all. Plus the character dynamic reminded me of NBC Hannibal.

Rating: 3.9 leaves out of 5
Characters:3.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 3.5/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Genre: Horror/Vampire/Gothic/Fiction
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Yes

When I first stepped into Anne Rice's vampires I was a child and watching the movies. Needless to say I don't remember much from the movie enough to do side by side either way the book was enjoyable for the most part but there were some very sketch moments.

I really enjoyed the lovers aspect of Lestat and Louis, that was a plus. The thing that really threw me off was Claudia. The way she was written made me... kind of sick. Some parts made Claudia seem more like a lover, even says so a few times. She is a child, a literal body of a 5 year old, and where I get Louis was talking about how she was like a daughter to him it was still put in the strangest of ways.Needless to say I can't say Anne doesn't have some marbles loose, because to write that part you have to be.

It is an interesting story.
But it feels a bit... weak. I don't really get an idea of any of the characters. They are kind of created to be very attractive, but I'm not attracted to any of them.
The interviewing boy... uh.
There are some very nice bits, and it was entertaining read. I wasn't bored.

But Stephenie Meyer most definitely was very much influenced by this. A lot.

This was pure gothic-vampire horror but presented in a way the characters all had human emotions and interpersonal problems. The imagery used throughout the entire story is very descriptive and detailed. The tone of the story is dark, creepy, gothic and sensual.
This is a book about the kind of vampires who slowly erode over the centuries, whose humanity gently withers and dies, whose good intentions gradually give way to the monster inside. It's a story about the battle with hunger, and how on a long enough timeline, the hunger always wins.
It's a book about immortality. Scouring off the glimmering sheen that lies in the ideal of living forever, and exploring the crushing reality of a life unending. Watching everything you knew, the world in which you grew up, washed away one decade at a time. Watching all the things you knew and love wither and fade, while you remain, changeless and deathless, with only the monster inside you for company. It takes the romance of vampirism, an ideal that so many people are in love with, and strips it back to the ugly, parasitic truth.
Anne Rice's writing flows gently across the page, establishing each scene and how it feels. The melancholy, violence, anger, and other intense emotions that play across the book's pages are all displayed beautifully.

I read this about a year ago and DNF page 68. But I decided I'd try it again and get rid of it off my shelf. I can not believe I didn't like it then because it is just so good to me now. I love the “TNOTW” style writing (even though this came out 40 year before TNOTW came out) where the narrator is just telling his story, and boy can Anne Rice spin a yarn. I thought the book was going to be exactly like the movie and for the most part it was but the last third of the book really goes it's own way and I think I like Rice's version better although I do appreciate the movie as well. Rice has captivated me to at least read the next book in series

3 1/2 stars.

This would be better if it embraced queerness rather than portraying it in a perversive light, if Claudia and Louis had been strictly father and daughter, and if the characters had been more diverse. Not every vampire is white and/or European!

Just watch the show if you want gay vampires :-)

Ya know, honestly this book wasn't awful but it there best. I felt HYPE to finally read it after seeing the movie so many years ago with Tom cruise and Brad Pitt as well as Kristen dunst and Antonio banderas. Loved the movie. Lol Louis has got to be the most boring vamp ever. I listened to this and found myself completely zoning on his long monologues about good and evil, etc. The beginnings were always good but this dude needs a psychotherapist. Will I ever get around to reading the others