#Review #5stars Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice

MY REVIEW:

As a classic, there are a lot of people who have re-read this book several times. I joined a discussion group for it, and for half the people in it, it was a re-read. I’m one of the lucky ones who got to indulge in the delight with fresh eyes as a first time reader. When I found out when the book was actually written I was shocked. It is so very beyond it’s time, and I think I dare say Anne Rice was a pilgrim to produce the story the way she did. There are so many culturally accepted aspects, that in her time were not. I love the bold approach, and I absolutely adore the writing style. It’s very sophisticated, yet easy to read. It’s a page turner that to me felt unique, rich and even poetic. The story is tragic and paints a whole new picture to Vampires and the loneliness and love they’re capable of feeling.
Louie came to be a Vamp after some very tragic family events. He’d lost his brother to a strange death that no one could tell if it was suicide or some other force. He was blamed by his family and even their other ties. After surviving a Vampire attack Louie made the conscious decision to go through the change to immortality. Unfortunately, the ancient beast who went through with it – wasn’t honest with him as to everything the change entails. Lestat is the Vampire who changed Louie and he is a vile and deceitful creature, as are most of the Vamps that come along later in the tale. Louie is not. He is compassionate, and lonely, and he feels remorse for everything that he is for hundreds of years.
Claudia, a young child comes along and under special circumstances Louie and Lestat allow her to become a Vampire. She is different, and because of her age when the change is made, there is much that she doesn’t understand. She’s an instinctual Vampire and her kills are one of a kind. She feels love for Louie and he for her. It’s a strange bond that they have, I struggled to picture it at first but as the book progressed it made much more sense. The drama kicks up a notch and eventually Louie and Claudie wind up traveling over seas in search of more of their kind. In their travels they find a whole other kind of Vampire. The mindless beasts that plague foreign lands. Eventually, they wind up in Paris and everything changes… EVERYTHING.
The final quarter of the book is twisty in every way. It’s unbelievably tragic. There’s revenge from places unexpected and drama around every corner. The emotions that Louie endures, and the events that unfold tell the kind of tale that demands your attention and will surely refuse to be forgotten! I enjoyed this book, and will likely join in the lumped up group of re-readers in a few years from now. Hands down 5 stars. Anne Rice is officially on my list of TOP authors.

DESCRIPTION:

The spellbinding classic that started it all from the #1 New York Times bestselling author

“A magnificent, compulsively readable thriller . . . Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and penetrates directly to the true fascination of the myth—the education of the vampire.”—Chicago Tribune

Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly sensual, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force—a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.