Book Review: Interview with the Vampire

OK Darlings. Time to relax on this beautiful Thursday with a review of Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice.

Plot (Spoiler free) : The Plot focuses about Louis as he recounts his life as a vampire in his most important aspects that changed his life forever. He talks primarily of his life as the head of household for his siblings and mother before being turned by the vampire Lestat. Then the story focuses on their life together in New Orleans for the main duration of the story and his infatuation with his daughter Claudia. But then a trip to France makes them end up meeting the Theatre d' Vampires and their de facto leader, Armand. And thus a whole new world of vampire opportunity and questions awaits them.

Characters: The story focuses on 5 main characters and their interconnected feelings and relationships among them.

Louis de Pointe du Lac: He's the main focus of the story. Primarily he's a tortured soul struggling over his existential lifestyle of balancing his humanity with becoming a vampire and sucking the blood of his victims he regrets having. He constantly blames Lestat for being his damnation.

Lestat de Lioncourt: A Hedonistic Vampire and the creator of both Louis and Claudia. He primarily cares mainly about his fashion and lifestyle of appearances. He's both their teacher and mentor on how to live as a vampire but he often berates Louis over his sympathy. But when it comes to the next novel, The Vampire Lestat, he's more than just this.

Claudia de Lioncourt: Lestat and Louis' daughter. Created after her mother died and she was just around 5 years old. She's been five for over 65 years but she regrets how she can't grow up.

The Boy: The Mysterious recorder of Louis tale who can't believe that he's in the presence of a Vampire. He records all of Louis' story.

Armand: The Mysterious de facto leader of the Theatre d' Vampires. He seems to be inquisitive of our protagonists but seems to have a bond with Louis.

Pluses: The story is very detailed. Anne Rice loves describing her period piece with the elegance of eras that we have never witness but she paints a beautiful picture that we can Enjoy the story. Rice clearly loves setting and presentation as the main aesthetic to get us into the world of the vampire as being as elegant in past iteriations of the time but then also, one of my favorite scenes is when the vampires (Minor Spoiler alert)

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You there? Ok here it is. Don't say I didn't warn you. ... kill a girl onstage. Just the dramatic tension as she knows what will happen and seeing the performance played out just chilled me so and I was hooked around that part. It's very dramatic to be sure and that's a main thing I love with the details and descriptions.


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Another thing Anne Rice does is with her characterizations with what is happening with their lives is despite their immortality, it seems there are some unaccomplished desires and longing for more with purpose that drives them out. Primarily we see this with Claudia and Louis with Louis trying to restore his humanities by appreciating humans still and trying not to kill them and Claudia with her wish of being able to grow older and being turned later in life. Even Armand shows this with Louis trying to maybe reclaim a part of his humanity when it came to love. It's these flaws that makes us sympathize with the vampires that ironically makes them more human than before.

Minuses: On the other hand, there is one thing I really disliked about the story. It's Louis. I know what you're thinking, but he's the main character, you're supposed to sympathize with the loss of his humanity. I know that but he kept doing it so much, I started to lose sympathy just noting how much of a crybaby he was with all this "I'm damned, I'm forsaken and you did this to me." It's done a lot of times and maybe too much. It's one of things I dislike and often has me preferring Lestat despite his side of the story not being told until the Sequel.

Overview: Overall, Interview with the Vampire is an enjoyable gothic tale of the education and experience of actually being a vampire told directly from the source. Enviornments that feel so real, you can immerse yourself into them, characters that despite a hedonistic lifestyle want to gain something more beyond narrow pleasure and feeding, and at times, a look at what does make us human and damned in a way, Interview is an enjoyable experience.
4/5