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morganisblue's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A very quick read but what better way to kick off my Fall/Gothic reads than with the genesis of one of my favorite genres on a stormy Sunday? Speaking of conception, this story’s creation is fascinating - what with Polidori, the Shelley’s and Lord Byron slumming it up together one summer, living the degen life. I, too, have walked away from a drugcation (shrooms, not laudanum in this case) with stories to tell, but none that created a whole genre! So kudos to John.
Anyway, this is prime Victorian period - the atmosphere and quick descriptions of the lives of the characters was perfect. It was refreshing to read about a man being wrongly accused of mental instability once in a while :) but also :(
Anyway, this is prime Victorian period - the atmosphere and quick descriptions of the lives of the characters was perfect. It was refreshing to read about a man being wrongly accused of mental instability once in a while :) but also :(
gremlin_98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Very short but suprisingly a fun very quite read. If I ever find a physical copy of this book that I like, I will be picking it up.
spenkevich's review against another edition
3.0
I’ve always been amused that [a:Lord Byron|44407|Lord Byron|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1568147647p2/44407.jpg] was such an epic icon of debauchery and being a total shit that the modern interpretation of vampires was more or less created in his image. Legends of vampires have been around for centuries, going back even to cultures of Mesopotamians and the Romans where there were stories of creatures that drained the blood of sleeping victims, but The Vampyre by John William Polidori is credited as the combining them into the first modern vampire tale and published in New Monthly Magazine in 1819. It was originally attributed to Lord Byron—Polidori’s The Vampyre did in fact borrow a lot from Byron’s unfinished vampire story Fragment of a Novel—which adds an extra layer of humor seeing as the vampire in the story is quite literally based on him in several ways and Byron himself is referenced in the opening. A fun little story, The Vampyre brought about the idea of these undead creatures as seductive aristocrats as we watch the narrator, Aubrey, slowly realize the wealthy gentleman he has accompanied across Europe may be preying on women more than just sexually. A bit dense and told at a remove, this is still a cool piece of horror history and at only a handful of pages, well worth the read.
The creation of the story is nearly as exciting a tale as the vampire story itself. During the summer of 1816, Byron, Polidori, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley and her sister Claire all stayed together in Geneva. Due to non-stop rain, the group decided to entertain themselves by each writing a ghost story (which is also the origin of Shelley’s Frankenstein), which they figured would pair well with the copious amounts of wine and laudanum they were consuming. Byron began his Fragment of a Novel, which was never completed and Polidori crafted The Vampyre were much inspired by Byron’s tale. Though one will also notice that the opening of the story very much aligns with Polidori’s own experience: Aubrey accompanies Lord Ruthven around Europe much the way Polidori followed Byron around as his personal physician, both Polidori and Aubrey finding their companion to initially be very seductive and charming but slowly revealing themselves in immorality and debauchery. Ruthven brings the downfall of young wealthy persons they encounter and brings women to vice and ruin. Those who except money or aid from Ruthven meet bad ends, and there is a theme of disillusionment running through the story as well as a theme of unstoppable destruction with no concern who will be harmed in its path. Which is not far off from Byron and what happened to Polidori after being his friend.
In fact, Ruthven is very intentionally written to call Byron to mind. The name is borrowed from the novel [b:Glenarvon|1996889|Glenarvon|Caroline Lamb|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1191553488l/1996889._SY75_.jpg|585481] by [a:Caroline Lamb|325484|Caroline Lamb|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261585140p2/325484.jpg], who was a former lover of Byron’s and her character Clarence de Ruthven was written as a blatant and unflattering portrait of Byron (there are notes that Polidori has intended to change the name to Strongmore but he took his own life with prussic acid before that could happen). The brilliance of all this is (beyond that dunking on Lord Byron is always a great time, I mean I wrote a whole review about it) that the image of a vampire was transformed into a criticism of aristocracy as symbolism of the wealthy as draining the life blood of society. This became a good metaphor that even [a:Karl Marx|7084|Karl Marx|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1523865402p2/7084.jpg] would draw upon writing that capital was vampiric.
There is some wonderful characterization going on in the story, with Ruthven constantly being described as death-like, such as his ‘dead grey eyes’ on a face that is described as having a ‘deathly hue.’ Yet despite this, he is able to woo any man or woman he desires (not unlike Byron) and ‘his character was dreadfully vicious, for that the possession of irresistible powers of seduction, rendered his licentious habits more dangerous to society.’ We see in this the modern mold for vampires and the next two major vampire stories, Carmilla and [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387151694l/17245._SY75_.jpg|3165724], would follow suit with their vampire presented as a wealthy aristocrat preying on women.
This is a short and fun read, though admittedly a bit dry. It is told at a remove from the action and the emotion doesn’t quite pop the way something like Carmilla does, though it is still an engaging story with a body count. It is almost Halloween, so check out the first vampire tale and enjoy!
3.5/5
The creation of the story is nearly as exciting a tale as the vampire story itself. During the summer of 1816, Byron, Polidori, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley and her sister Claire all stayed together in Geneva. Due to non-stop rain, the group decided to entertain themselves by each writing a ghost story (which is also the origin of Shelley’s Frankenstein), which they figured would pair well with the copious amounts of wine and laudanum they were consuming. Byron began his Fragment of a Novel, which was never completed and Polidori crafted The Vampyre were much inspired by Byron’s tale. Though one will also notice that the opening of the story very much aligns with Polidori’s own experience: Aubrey accompanies Lord Ruthven around Europe much the way Polidori followed Byron around as his personal physician, both Polidori and Aubrey finding their companion to initially be very seductive and charming but slowly revealing themselves in immorality and debauchery. Ruthven brings the downfall of young wealthy persons they encounter and brings women to vice and ruin. Those who except money or aid from Ruthven meet bad ends, and there is a theme of disillusionment running through the story as well as a theme of unstoppable destruction with no concern who will be harmed in its path. Which is not far off from Byron and what happened to Polidori after being his friend.
In fact, Ruthven is very intentionally written to call Byron to mind. The name is borrowed from the novel [b:Glenarvon|1996889|Glenarvon|Caroline Lamb|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1191553488l/1996889._SY75_.jpg|585481] by [a:Caroline Lamb|325484|Caroline Lamb|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261585140p2/325484.jpg], who was a former lover of Byron’s and her character Clarence de Ruthven was written as a blatant and unflattering portrait of Byron (there are notes that Polidori has intended to change the name to Strongmore but he took his own life with prussic acid before that could happen). The brilliance of all this is (beyond that dunking on Lord Byron is always a great time, I mean I wrote a whole review about it) that the image of a vampire was transformed into a criticism of aristocracy as symbolism of the wealthy as draining the life blood of society. This became a good metaphor that even [a:Karl Marx|7084|Karl Marx|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1523865402p2/7084.jpg] would draw upon writing that capital was vampiric.
There is some wonderful characterization going on in the story, with Ruthven constantly being described as death-like, such as his ‘dead grey eyes’ on a face that is described as having a ‘deathly hue.’ Yet despite this, he is able to woo any man or woman he desires (not unlike Byron) and ‘his character was dreadfully vicious, for that the possession of irresistible powers of seduction, rendered his licentious habits more dangerous to society.’ We see in this the modern mold for vampires and the next two major vampire stories, Carmilla and [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387151694l/17245._SY75_.jpg|3165724], would follow suit with their vampire presented as a wealthy aristocrat preying on women.
This is a short and fun read, though admittedly a bit dry. It is told at a remove from the action and the emotion doesn’t quite pop the way something like Carmilla does, though it is still an engaging story with a body count. It is almost Halloween, so check out the first vampire tale and enjoy!
3.5/5
dsicard's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
every_cloud's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
farfuglietti's review against another edition
5.0
Sììììììììììììììììììììì!
Questo è stato il mio primo libro vampiresco e L'HO ADORATO!
Questo è stato il mio primo libro vampiresco e L'HO ADORATO!
old_odd_biscuit's review against another edition
2.0
Written in the same storytelling game that spawned Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, this predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by a whopping 78 years.
Polidori modelled his vampire Lord Ruthven on Lord Byron, who reportedly didn't rate Polidori's writing highly. I have to say Byron might have been right about that. The storytelling struck me as plain and artless. The stand out example of this is the last line, which is almost childish, on a level close to just saying BOO.
Nevertheless, this is worth reading if you are interested in the history of vampire stories. It's a short story so it doesn't take much of your time, a good trade for experiencing something so influential yet less famous than Dracula. Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla, written about 50 years after this, is more fun.
Polidori modelled his vampire Lord Ruthven on Lord Byron, who reportedly didn't rate Polidori's writing highly. I have to say Byron might have been right about that. The storytelling struck me as plain and artless. The stand out example of this is the last line, which is almost childish, on a level close to just saying BOO.
Nevertheless, this is worth reading if you are interested in the history of vampire stories. It's a short story so it doesn't take much of your time, a good trade for experiencing something so influential yet less famous than Dracula. Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla, written about 50 years after this, is more fun.
tome_of_alexandria's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is such a fun short read! You can tell that Polidori really put a lot of Byron into Ruthvan's character to express how much he disliked it. It was also interesting to see a style of vampire that is a bit different from today.
debbiemeow's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0