Review of 'Interview with the Vampire' by Anne Rice

 

Interview with the Vampire

Anne Rice

5*

"We are in a small room with the vampire, face to face, as he speaks, as he pours out the hypnotic, shocking, moving, and erotically charged confessions of his first two hundred years as one of the living dead. . . "

"In its unceasing flow of spellbinding storytelling, of danger and flight, of loyalty and treachery, Interview with the Vampire bears witness of a literary imagination of the first order."

- synopsis from Goodreads

I really loved this book! I saw the movie a long time ago when it first came out and I remember loving it, but I can't remember much about it. After all the Twilight hype I wanted to go back and read some older vampire literature, so I decided to start with Anne Rice's portrayal of vampires in her Vampire Chronicles series.

What Twilight lacked in darkness and mystery, Interview with the Vampire made up for in spades. The tone of this story is fraught with malevolence and despair, taking the reader through a horrific journey of hellish proportions. The story is told by the vampire Louis to a young writer, who has found himself in a position to be audience to one of the most terrifying and unbelievable stories ever. It follows the story of Louis, starting with his conversion from mortal to vampire at the hands of his maker Lestat, and follows him throughout his "life" to modern-day times. Despite the evil purpose of Louis' existence, he is a tortured soul who cannot come to grips with his desire for mortal blood and the remnants of his human conscience that scorn such desires.

 I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and while not as fast-paced and entertaining as Twilight, I feel that this story is more authentic in terms of traditional vampire lore. I will definitely be continuing on with this series.