Author: Anne Rice
Publisher: Random House
Publishing Group
Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, 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.
I was browsing through the
internet and I found Anne Rice reading challenge. I remember that I have Anne
Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series on my laptop so I entered the challenge.
Before reading the book, I did a little research because seriously other than
vampires, I didn’t know what this book is about. Some of the reviews said that
this book was good. They even give high rating on this book. So I’m optimistic
that I will enjoy the book. Sadly, I got bored along the way. I don’t know,
maybe it’s because I read it intermittently since I was in a period of final
exams.
One thing that I like from this
book is its main protagonist, Louise. Louise’s characters contrast with the
vampire character that is often portrayed in the media. I’ve read Bram Stoker’s
Dracula and it scares me. In that book vampire is represented as a cruel blood
sucking creature. But in Interview with the Vampire, vampires are represented
as creatures that have emotion and sympathy. They still have some of their
human nature.
This book could be beautiful. In
fact, it is supposed to be beautiful, the way Anne Rice describes Louise’s
tale. But I feel a bit disappointed
about some points. As the title of this book, the story presented through
interviews between the vampire and a ‘boy’. Is it just me or Rice didn’t explain
how the boy met the vampire? I mean you can’t just walk in into a bar randomly
and meet a vampire then ask him/her for an interview. Other thing is, in Louise’s
story, he had conversations with people err .. or vampires, then he told his
story by conversing with the boy. There is no clear barrier between
conversations that Louise had with the boy or with those people/vampires in the
past. All of those conversations are written using direct speech rule. It’s
confusing for me. Who the hell is this vampire talking to? The boy? Lestat?
Armand? Claudia?
In spite of those flaws, I still
have expectations for the sequel. So I’m gonna keep reading this Vampire
Chronicles series. Maybe the next book will match or even exceed my expectations.
Moreover, there is a reading challenge I need to finish.
I'm sorry you weren't thrilled by this one! About how the boy and Louis met, the boy says that he sometimes does several interviews a night, so I guess he just asks random people he meets. Since Louis wanted to tell someone his story, the boy got lucky.
ReplyDeleteAs for the direct speech, I figure it wouldn't read very smoothly if Louis kept saying "So then I said to Lestat...", you know? Louis narrates the book, which is him talking to the boy. He just happens to tell the story in the style of a narrator because it sounds nice. :)
You might still love the second book. It's narrated by Lestat, so it's a pretty different style.
Thank you for the explanation.
ReplyDeleteDirect speech would be fine, if only there's a line or limit between flashbacks and conversations Louise had with the boy.
Anyway, i'm moving on to The Vampire Lestat now. :D
Thank you for the explanation.
ReplyDeleteDirect speech would be fine, if only there's a line or limit between flashbacks and conversations Louise had with the boy.
Anyway, i'm moving on to The Vampire Lestat now. :D