Interview with the Vampire (Hardcover)

by Anne Rice (Author) "I SEE . . . said the vampire thoughtfully, and slowly he walked across the room towards the window..." (more)
Key Phrases: New Orleans, Pointe du Lac, Rue Royale (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In the now-classic novel Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice refreshed the archetypal vampire myth for a late-20th-century audience. The story is ostensibly a simple one: having suffered a tremendous personal loss, an 18th-century Louisiana plantation owner named Louis Pointe du Lac descends into an alcoholic stupor. At his emotional nadir, he is confronted by Lestat, a charismatic and powerful vampire who chooses Louis to be his fledgling. The two prey on innocents, give their "dark gift" to a young girl, and seek out others of their kind (notably the ancient vampire Armand) in Paris. But a summary of this story bypasses the central attractions of the novel. First and foremost, the method Rice chose to tell her tale--with Louis' first-person confession to a skeptical boy--transformed the vampire from a hideous predator into a highly sympathetic, seductive, and all-too-human figure. Second, by entering the experience of an immortal character, one raised with a deep Catholic faith, Rice was able to explore profound philosophical concerns--the nature of evil, the reality of death, and the limits of human perception--in ways not possible from the perspective of a more finite narrator.

While Rice has continued to investigate history, faith, and philosophy in subsequent Vampire novels (including The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, and The Vampire Armand), Interview remains a treasured masterpiece. It is that rare work that blends a childlike fascination for the supernatural with a profound vision of the human condition. --Patrick O'Kelley

From Library Journal
Rice turned the vampire genre on its ear with this first novel (LJ 5/1/76), which evolved into one of the most popular series in recent history. Though the quality of the books has declined, this nonetheless is a marvelous, innovative, and literate tale of the longing for love and the search for redemption. This 20th-anniversary edition offers a trade-size paperback for a good price.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (April 12, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394498216
• ISBN-13: 978-0394498218
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (586 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #156,364 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Vampire Chronicles Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The exquisite classic that rejuvenated the vampire genre, July 24, 2003

By	Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Interview with the Vampire (Mass Market Paperback)

With Interview With the Vampire, Anne Rice completely rejuvenated the genre which I feel to be horror's most important, primal, and soul-stirring, the legend of the vampire. I have described Richard Matheson's classic I Am Legend as the second greatest vampire novel, but I must retract that statement now. Only with a second reading have I recognized the unparalleled power, beauty, eroticism, and grace of Anne Rice's contribution to the subject. Unlike Matheson, Rice luxuriates in the Victorian appeal of Stoker's masterpiece, while taking the subject to planes far beyond those Stoker could have envisioned for his Count Dracula. The modern writer does not have to hide the vampire's erotic appeal behind convention, nor does she need to classify her subject as an evil in and of itself. The vampire nature of Rice's creation is a complex, unfathomable subject that transcends good and evil.

This first novel in The Vampire Chronicles centers around four very different yet almost equally fascinating vampires. The story is that of Louis, a wealthy eighteenth century Louisiana plantation owner who became a vampire in the depths of his despair over his brother's suicide. Lestat, the inscrutable force that hovers above every page of the tale, made Louis a vampire for basically economic reasons; he wanted the wealth that Louis possessed, but he also wanted a companion. Narcissistic and vain, the dapper Lestat does not teach his creation what it means to be a vampire, does not share the secrets he claims to know, does not even help Louis through the soul-shattering change that comes about when the body dies so that it may live eternally. Louis stays with Lestat only because, so far as he knows, there are no other vampires to whom he can turn for help and instruction. His distaste for Lestat grows over the years, however, and in order to keep Louis by his side, Lestat takes a young girl whom Louis had fed upon during a period of emotional turbulence and makes of her a vampire, knowing that Louis could never abandon the child. It is the story of Claudia, doomed to a most tragic life of immortality trapped inside the body of a little girl, that makes this book so powerful in my eyes. Lestat is of course fascinating, Louis is the epitome of tragedy and a fountain of knowledge by way of his questioning, eternally sad nature, but Claudia's story is an unbearably exquisite one. She accepts her vampire nature with some ease, being too young to really ever remember her human childhood, but the growth of Claudia the vampire woman inside the body of Claudia the child is a beautifully painful thing to watch. When she manages to separate Louis and herself from Lestat to go searching for other vampires in Central Europe and eventually Paris, giving dramatic voice to both her love for and hatred of Louis, the door to the dungeons of utter tragedy are thrown asunder. The introduction of the four hundred year old vampire Armand in the second half of the book gives us yet another unique vampire soul to ponder, but Armand at his most vivid pales in comparison to Claudia at her most unprepossessing.

In the end, we are left with Louis and his story, which is full of unanswerable questions. Even the meaning and lesson he tries to express about his miserable existence utterly fail in their influence it has upon the boy chosen to hear his extraordinary story. Literature really provides no better character study of the emotional meaning of vampirism than Louis, however. He became a creature of the night only out of despair, and his development as a new creature on earth proceeded without any instruction whatsoever from the cold Lestat. Thus, he questions everything about his new nature, desperately longing for a mentor. He does not relish the taking of human life, and the thought of creating another creature like himself is anathema to him. He sees vampirism as a curse, eternally wondering if he is indeed a child of Satan doomed to an immortal yet cursed life. The source of his moral suffering is his inability to really give up his human nature, and this causes him a long, long life of torment and pain. Never before had the moral, spiritual, and philosophical nature of the vampire been explored in such depth as that found in this exquisitely beautiful novel, and that is one of the primary reasons why it rivals Stoker in terms of its beauty and resonates with an emotionally hypnotic power that is unmatched in the long tradition of vampire literature.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written: Engrossing..., May 27, 2002

By	Aegis Nod (Where I hang my hat.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interview with the Vampire (Mass Market Paperback)

Anne Rice's novel, Interview With the Vampire, completely catapulted me in that time, the moment. Louis's--a young French planter in the 17 hundreds--portrayal of his life as a vampire, and the people he interacts with, almost makes you believe in anything, even the existence of vampires. His chronicles of his life as a mortal and immortal, his time with his maker-Lestat-and lover, Claudia to a young "boy," the interviewer, seduces you with it's sad timbre and eloquent speech.

Rice is able to transport you from 21st century to 18th century France and beyond. Her knowledge of history and art weaves into her poetry-like writing that takes you in by storm. Her descriptions of the places and faces are incredible. She doesn't just tell you directly but you know what she's saying. It's one of the most beautifully written novels I've ever read! I couldn't GET ENOUGH, it's that good. It's one of the best vampire novels out there.

She not only knows how to write but she tells an amazing story; it's as if she wrote the book in just one sitting. It's incredible considering the fact it's over 20 years old and it's still a constant favorite; it has a huge following. There's no other way to explain other than that you MUST READ this; everyone should Interview With the Vampire. It's an absolute timeless cult classic

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Erotic Tale!, June 12, 2000

By A Customer

I first encounterd this book when I was 12 and in the library looking for something good to read. The title caught my eye and I checked it out and I'm glad I did! The story, as told from the point of view of the vampire Louis tells of the love/hate "family" relationship between Louis, his maker Lestat and their child Claudia. Louis is having a hard time dealing with the fact that he must kill in order to exsist (some call it whining, but I call it endearing). I read this book for the first time in a couple of days (it's that good) My favorite character in the entire vampire series is Louis. I know most people think that Lestat is the hero of this novel, but Interview is Louis' tale and I understand his point of view completely. He doesn't whine, Louis just wants a better understanding of what he is and how he should feel about that. I wish Ms. Rice would write novels featuring more of him because his character is so human and so beautifully written that I look for him FIRST in each new novel by her. Some have called it too homoerotic, but I happen to like this type of romance. It is obvious that Louis and Lestat both love and hate one another and it is this relationship that is the basis of the novel. If you have never read a book by Ms. Rice, let Interview With the Vampire be your first. But be warned, you'll get hooked!