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A review by zhaenya
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
"am i damned? am i from the devil? is my very nature that of a devil? i was asking myself over and over."
wow, it took me a very long time to finish this book. i started in august last year, and then dropped it maybe three times and picked it up from the very beginning again. i even tried the audiobook, and that didn't click for me. but now it's done, i'm so happy it's done.
i think the main struggle i had with this book was the fact that a far superior version of the story already exists, that being the show on amc/amc+. coming back to this louis when jacob anderson exists, it just feels wrong now. jacob's louis is my louis, i can't just erase him out of my head and picture him so differently. and i mostly didn't, except a few times when they would hit me with a description of him. #notmylouis. who is this white man and what is he doing in my story?
the second struggle was louis himself, the character. he's much more likable and charismatic in the show, and here he was just a moping mess, for the most apart. his dislike of lestat for half of this book also didn't help, because i was mostly on lestat's side of things for a lot of this. especially when it came to his own father and how he was treating him, and louis judging him without knowing why lestat was being like that. never even asking. that was probably the most frustrating part, louis not willing to talk to lestat. he would only ask questions that benefit him and when he didn't get the answer, he would just wallow in his own self-hatred and dislike for lestat. and i just loved lestat every second of it. he's such a crazy bastard, but how can you not love him? and, look, i get where louis was coming from, i get it. lestat was no teacher, he's not good at it, but he wasn't exactly there to teach louis anything. he was there to use him. and it's unfortunate for both of them, because they simply got stuck with each other, not even liking each other one bit. just like lestat thought louis was a nuisance (while still loving him), louis was of the same opinion of lestat. and i understand louis' frustration when it came to the way lestat views killing and just the world in general, but i just felt like louis should've been a little more like him in that regard. i'm not talking about not appreciating the world and how rich it is to them as vampires, but the killing part of it. it would make it so much easier for him, for both of them. but that wasn't going to happen, and it's not actually that easy to shut off your humanity, this is no vampire diaries. "you must understand, i did not snub him because he did not appreciate his experience. i simply could not understand how such feelings could be wasted." from what i know of the way lestat was made into a vampire, i can't even blame him for being the way he is, honestly. he didn't have it as easy as louis, all things considered. but now he was a vampire and he fully embraced it, he was living the way he wanted to, and there we had louis, moping with his rats and shit. he chose it himself, he shouldn't be saying anything on lestat's behalf or judging him. well, i mean, he could (he did), because if he got caught, it's both of their assess, and it's louis' home first and foremost and not lestat's, but STILL. leave my boy alone. i too would rather kill humans than animals, sorry. i honestly couldn't see whatever lestat (or even armand, for that matter) saw in louis at some points, he would always complain and be hateful towards lestat, i would've already given up on him, lol. but armand did, armand did give up on him after he realized that he messed up and louis would never be the same (curious about the world around him and in love with armand). and he just left. that would be me. but louis was really relatable at times, and i liked hearing his thoughts on different topics, like what he thought of god or the devil, or the vampire nature, or even the people around him. i'm not only here to complain about him, that would be very louis of me (see? a very relatable man!). i don't dislike him as a character, i would say i'm mostly neutral about him and sometimes like him. yes, that sounds about right.
but some of the biggest issues i had with this book are the ones i think most of us reading it had: the treatment of slaves in the first half of the book, anne rice's weird obsessing with describing her vampires as white and as "beautiful" and "preternatural" as possible (i know a lot of vampire media tends to be this way, but it doesn't mean it's not frustrating), and then the biggest one for me personally was louis and claudia's relationship. i knew it would be weird going into it, but the knowledge didn't make it easier to get through it. she's a five year old child and louis considered her his and lestat's child, but they still kissed on the mouth and he called her his lover. vampire bonds and relationships are different from human once, i accept the family dynamic being a little wonky, but not when there's a five year old involved. that's just weird. and it was basically impossible to look past all these issues because of how present they are in the book. like, almost every one out of three sentences louis would either say the most racist shit in human existence or downright pedophilic. or that he wanted to kill himself, he talks about wanting to die pretty often as well. i think the most positive emotions this book got out of me was when i got to some of the parts and quotes that were used in the tv series, and since i watched it so many times and basically memorised the entire thing, i could imagine my louis saying all those lines, or my lestat, or my claudia, or my armand. or even santiago! the book has some really beautiful writing and they incorporated it in the series so well. but enough about that (i just had to mention it, because it ties in with me feeling something positive for a change)!
i talked about lestat a little bit already, and there's not much else to say other than i really love him and can't wait to read the vampire lestat, so let me say a few things about louis' two immortal companions. and at different points in the book, he called them both his "only" companion, btw. "the only companion that i had." but let me talk about claudia first, since she came first. it was a little harder for me to connect to her in the book, harder than it was to connect to louis or even lestat. i felt bad for her, and i loved her already from watching the show or even the movie, but she didn't make me feel much of anything in the book, at least at first. i warmed up to her by the end of it. but even still, the things that her character made me feel the most were fear, like she was a little demon child, or uneasiness. and i already mentioned how uncomfortable her and louis' relationship made me. but in the end, she was a perfect vampire, the most perfect. a type of vampire only a child this young could be. and i can already feel her absence.
now to louis' second companion, armand. i liked armand, but he also didn't make me feel much of anything in this one. and armand is one of my favorite characters in the show, if not my favorite (him and lestat switch constantly). i think i don't feel much of anything for a lot of these characters, because anne rice didn't give me much to feel about them. but especially armand. his love for louis is the only thing he's got going for him here, and even that didn't work out in the end (their "breakup" was actually jawdroppingly outrageous to read, i'm not gonna lie. armand really expected louis to get over the death of his daughter (that armand killed) and fully emerse himself in armand and teach him all about the world and shit, but aw, louis became even a more of a depressed, resentful, frigid bitch, poor armand (lmao). and so, i was a little disappointed about that, and i didn't like how fast his relationship with louis progressed ("love at first sight" was not done very well here, in my opinion). but i have a lot more books to get though, so maybe when i look back at this one, i will like it more, in comparison. we'll just have to wait and see. i guess i just felt gaslit after i saw a bunch of people talking about how sweet they are in the book, and yet here i was, finally reading it, and they have like fifty pages of nothing before armand mind controls louis into making madeleine a vampire and then murders his daughter. wow, how sweet!
the ending was also a little underwhelming, but i think it suited the style of the book and the way it was written throughout, so i don't think there was a better way to end it and somehow make it more satisfying. overall, this is a pretty well crafted novel about the nature of apocalyptic grief and the futility of life. i liked most of the writing, and some parts of this genuinely took my breath away with the way they were written.
but honestly, just go and watch the show. interview with the vampire (2022-). it got renewed for its third season yesterday, we're getting that vampire lestat. so, just go and catch up, watch the first two seasons, because it's some of the best tv i've ever seen, and let's wait for the third one all together. it's going to be worth it.
wow, it took me a very long time to finish this book. i started in august last year, and then dropped it maybe three times and picked it up from the very beginning again. i even tried the audiobook, and that didn't click for me. but now it's done, i'm so happy it's done.
i think the main struggle i had with this book was the fact that a far superior version of the story already exists, that being the show on amc/amc+. coming back to this louis when jacob anderson exists, it just feels wrong now. jacob's louis is my louis, i can't just erase him out of my head and picture him so differently. and i mostly didn't, except a few times when they would hit me with a description of him. #notmylouis. who is this white man and what is he doing in my story?
the second struggle was louis himself, the character. he's much more likable and charismatic in the show, and here he was just a moping mess, for the most apart. his dislike of lestat for half of this book also didn't help, because i was mostly on lestat's side of things for a lot of this. especially when it came to his own father and how he was treating him, and louis judging him without knowing why lestat was being like that. never even asking. that was probably the most frustrating part, louis not willing to talk to lestat. he would only ask questions that benefit him and when he didn't get the answer, he would just wallow in his own self-hatred and dislike for lestat. and i just loved lestat every second of it. he's such a crazy bastard, but how can you not love him? and, look, i get where louis was coming from, i get it. lestat was no teacher, he's not good at it, but he wasn't exactly there to teach louis anything. he was there to use him. and it's unfortunate for both of them, because they simply got stuck with each other, not even liking each other one bit. just like lestat thought louis was a nuisance (while still loving him), louis was of the same opinion of lestat. and i understand louis' frustration when it came to the way lestat views killing and just the world in general, but i just felt like louis should've been a little more like him in that regard. i'm not talking about not appreciating the world and how rich it is to them as vampires, but the killing part of it. it would make it so much easier for him, for both of them. but that wasn't going to happen, and it's not actually that easy to shut off your humanity, this is no vampire diaries. "you must understand, i did not snub him because he did not appreciate his experience. i simply could not understand how such feelings could be wasted." from what i know of the way lestat was made into a vampire, i can't even blame him for being the way he is, honestly. he didn't have it as easy as louis, all things considered. but now he was a vampire and he fully embraced it, he was living the way he wanted to, and there we had louis, moping with his rats and shit. he chose it himself, he shouldn't be saying anything on lestat's behalf or judging him. well, i mean, he could (he did), because if he got caught, it's both of their assess, and it's louis' home first and foremost and not lestat's, but STILL. leave my boy alone. i too would rather kill humans than animals, sorry. i honestly couldn't see whatever lestat (or even armand, for that matter) saw in louis at some points, he would always complain and be hateful towards lestat, i would've already given up on him, lol. but armand did, armand did give up on him after he realized that he messed up and louis would never be the same (curious about the world around him and in love with armand). and he just left. that would be me. but louis was really relatable at times, and i liked hearing his thoughts on different topics, like what he thought of god or the devil, or the vampire nature, or even the people around him. i'm not only here to complain about him, that would be very louis of me (see? a very relatable man!). i don't dislike him as a character, i would say i'm mostly neutral about him and sometimes like him. yes, that sounds about right.
but some of the biggest issues i had with this book are the ones i think most of us reading it had: the treatment of slaves in the first half of the book, anne rice's weird obsessing with describing her vampires as white and as "beautiful" and "preternatural" as possible (i know a lot of vampire media tends to be this way, but it doesn't mean it's not frustrating), and then the biggest one for me personally was louis and claudia's relationship. i knew it would be weird going into it, but the knowledge didn't make it easier to get through it. she's a five year old child and louis considered her his and lestat's child, but they still kissed on the mouth and he called her his lover. vampire bonds and relationships are different from human once, i accept the family dynamic being a little wonky, but not when there's a five year old involved. that's just weird. and it was basically impossible to look past all these issues because of how present they are in the book. like, almost every one out of three sentences louis would either say the most racist shit in human existence or downright pedophilic. or that he wanted to kill himself, he talks about wanting to die pretty often as well. i think the most positive emotions this book got out of me was when i got to some of the parts and quotes that were used in the tv series, and since i watched it so many times and basically memorised the entire thing, i could imagine my louis saying all those lines, or my lestat, or my claudia, or my armand. or even santiago! the book has some really beautiful writing and they incorporated it in the series so well. but enough about that (i just had to mention it, because it ties in with me feeling something positive for a change)!
i talked about lestat a little bit already, and there's not much else to say other than i really love him and can't wait to read the vampire lestat, so let me say a few things about louis' two immortal companions. and at different points in the book, he called them both his "only" companion, btw. "the only companion that i had." but let me talk about claudia first, since she came first. it was a little harder for me to connect to her in the book, harder than it was to connect to louis or even lestat. i felt bad for her, and i loved her already from watching the show or even the movie, but she didn't make me feel much of anything in the book, at least at first. i warmed up to her by the end of it. but even still, the things that her character made me feel the most were fear, like she was a little demon child, or uneasiness. and i already mentioned how uncomfortable her and louis' relationship made me. but in the end, she was a perfect vampire, the most perfect. a type of vampire only a child this young could be. and i can already feel her absence.
now to louis' second companion, armand. i liked armand, but he also didn't make me feel much of anything in this one. and armand is one of my favorite characters in the show, if not my favorite (him and lestat switch constantly). i think i don't feel much of anything for a lot of these characters, because anne rice didn't give me much to feel about them. but especially armand. his love for louis is the only thing he's got going for him here, and even that didn't work out in the end (their "breakup" was actually jawdroppingly outrageous to read, i'm not gonna lie. armand really expected louis to get over the death of his daughter (that armand killed) and fully emerse himself in armand and teach him all about the world and shit, but aw, louis became even a more of a depressed, resentful, frigid bitch, poor armand (lmao). and so, i was a little disappointed about that, and i didn't like how fast his relationship with louis progressed ("love at first sight" was not done very well here, in my opinion). but i have a lot more books to get though, so maybe when i look back at this one, i will like it more, in comparison. we'll just have to wait and see. i guess i just felt gaslit after i saw a bunch of people talking about how sweet they are in the book, and yet here i was, finally reading it, and they have like fifty pages of nothing before armand mind controls louis into making madeleine a vampire and then murders his daughter. wow, how sweet!
the ending was also a little underwhelming, but i think it suited the style of the book and the way it was written throughout, so i don't think there was a better way to end it and somehow make it more satisfying. overall, this is a pretty well crafted novel about the nature of apocalyptic grief and the futility of life. i liked most of the writing, and some parts of this genuinely took my breath away with the way they were written.
but honestly, just go and watch the show. interview with the vampire (2022-). it got renewed for its third season yesterday, we're getting that vampire lestat. so, just go and catch up, watch the first two seasons, because it's some of the best tv i've ever seen, and let's wait for the third one all together. it's going to be worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Slavery
Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury