Customer Reviews

Memnoch the Devil (Vampire Chronicles 5)

5 star:		(224)
4 star:		(81)
3 star:		(45)
2 star:		(67)
1 star:		(84)

 

 

while reading the various reviews of this book I realized that everyone, whether they hated or loved it, may have missed the point. this book is pure genius but not for the reasons many stated. anne rice is not trying to let us in on her personal religious beliefs or use the vampire chronicles as her personal soapbox as one review would suggest. The point isn't that god is bad or memnoch is bad or god is good. She does not contradict anything set forth in interview. she is not attempting to shock us with her visions of heaven and hell. not to say that the visions of these places were not magnificent and perfectly written, which they were and any intelligent and unbiased reader would have to admit that the visions of these places were at least intriguing. the purpose of this book was to show that it is impossible to ever know the real truth about these things (god, creation, the devil, etc.). lestat himself was there firsthand and presented directly with all the answers, all the visions, and then had them yanked out from under him and left to wonder if this was real or that was real or if the whole story was just a flat-out lie and some game the devil was playing to amuse himself or toy with what may be his only worthy adversary (did anybody realize that memnoch did not like the title "devil" yet he signed the note "memnoch the devil"). the purpose of this book was to show how eager we all are to believe in something, as was lestat, even if it's coming from the devils mouth. I'm sure I'm not the only one who found himself riveted by memnoch's story and believing in his words (even though I generally do not believe in religion and god). then at the end we are left wondering what is real and what is lies. the best line of the book is when maharet says "its not all lies, not all of it, that's the age old dilemma". In other words, even ones as old as these ancient vampires will never know the truth, rice is just reminding us. either way, the reader was presented with a tale of creation, god, and the devil, one that was presented as truth, and then was left at the end (by something as cheap and inarticulate as that note) saying to himself, "wait a second, this is a novel, this is anne rice, this isn't the truth, memnoch doesn't exist, this is fiction." that is the true genius of the book. at the end you feel betrayed by memnoch, you feel lied to and tricked, you feel stupid for almost believing his story. in other words, you feel exactly how lestat feels. you are the main character and your memnoch is anne rice and she tricked us all. I understand how some may be put off by that but I have never read a book where I knew exactly how the main character felt, exactly how he felt. that is the genius of the book, the emotion that it stirs, not all the religion. if you want religion read the bible, if you want an amazing story read memnoch the devil.

im eager to hear what you think of this.

i would give this book an A+++ if i had to give it a grade (but we work with stars here.) after reading the Queen of the Damned i thought i'd seen Anne rice's best work. apparently, i was wrong. though being registered under th vampire chronicles, Memnoch the devil is not as vampiric as it's predecessors...but it's oh so good. Lestat goes up against the two entities he has big agendas with, God and the Devil. and in here lies the most wonderful tale of Creation and reflections of good and evil. undeniably, this book is controvertial, in my opinion closer to profane than the Davinci code. Anne Rice holds nothing back on this story and for anyone who approaches the text with an open mind, anne rice has created a truly unforgettable story. sensual, romantic, gothic, erotic and bordering profane Rice has created what should be a modern day classic.

Here, Rice wanders off the well-beaten path of archetypical story-telling intermingling philosophy, psychology and history. The author explores the themes of Judeo-Christianity, life after death, purgatory, deities, angels, etc. In the end, I concluded that her theories (told through Lestat's journey into both the past and the afterlife) are remarkably insightful.

When compared to the Christian ritual of communion (pretending to eat Christ's body and drink his blood), I hardly think that Lestat's actions in the novel can be deemed controversial for religious folks...

I don't get it. I really, really, really don't get it.

What's the point? What does this book have to do with the rest of the Vampire series? Why does Ann repeat the obvious facts we already know about these characters (that they're beautfiul, full of themselves, etc.,etc.,etc.)? Why is Lestat such a dull character now?

I enjoyed the character of Memnoch greatly, but what exactly was the point? This whole thing wasn't so much a story as just one long philisophical theory, which is fine, except it ain't all that brilliant or origional, or even well written. Lestat acts nothing like himself and more or less every character seems ignored with the exception of Memnoch himself (and we see maybe just a bit TOO much of him)

At least the ending kept me captivated, if only for a few minutes; and at least "The Vampire Armand" added some depth to this nonsensical rubble of a story. Also, the storyline that takes place involving the daughter of one of Lestat's victims was fairly interesting as well. I fail to understand what Rice was thinking overlapping these two stories (which, with one or two tiny exceptions, have NOTHING to do with each other) and turning everything into one big mess.

Oh well, at least the writing was excellent, as always

(But then again, I HATE the way she writes as Lestat. The boy's been around for what? 300 years? You'd think he'd know decent english by now...)

Be assured, for what it's worth, that this book was written with considerable spiritual ambitions. Lestat is my soul. For me and for him, this quest was inevitable. The Vampire Chronicles are meant to entertain, yes, but they are meant to do a great deal more than that. Does no one want to remark on the fact that in this book Lestat turned his back on a cosmos obsessed with crime and punishment for an experience with the character Dora which affirmed what is often called "the eternal feminine?" Does no one want to connect that experience, in which Lestat drinks the blood of Dora's menses, with the legends surrounding Veronica's veil which figures so prominantly in the novel? I appreciate the thoughtful comments, but wonder if we can raise the level of discourse here for some of the other readers. Let me repeat my assurance: If you took this book seriously, trust me that it was meant seriously. Enough said. Anne Rice, New Orleans, La.

Anne Rice has been known for her ability to write such beautifull story about creatures from the other world such as vampires, witch etc. All in all, there is one thing that seem to linger in her work...suffering, which ussualy came from love, loneliness and a longing feeling.

And so is this story...this time Anne Rice became audacious. She questioned the love of God to His most beautifull creature....men.

And so began the journey of Lestat with Memnoch the Devil. In this journey, Memnoch tell the story about how God has abandoned human that is long to meet His divine love.

With this story Rice raise the question...why, if there is something as the Loving God, human suffering must exist ? Why do God give the pleasure and love between human just to take it away ? At one point, God seem to realize the human suffering, and transformed into the form of Jesus Christ too carry the human suffering, and to show His divine love too human. At this, through her character Memnoch, Rice questioned.."How can that be called as sacrificial act ? Jesus cannot be considered feel the human suffering because He know the truth about God, He know that He will return to heaven, whereas human know's nothing about scuh thing. If God really want to feel the human suffering, than God must also release all His knowledge about Himself.

So, all of you Rice's fans who know her work from her the previous work such as The Previous Vampires Chronicles, The Witching Hour etc, especially those who loved the character Lestat so much, must forget the old Rice and the old Lestat. This is Rice's novel...that is literally meant to be thought provoking.

Rice is trying to be more serious with her work.

I am a big Anne Rice fan, and I have been since reading "The Vampire Lestat," which I still think is her best book. I have found some her books to be really great and entertaining reads - "Vittorio" and "Pandora," especially. Rice is so great at detailing a setting in time and placing her characters right in the midst of it, making you to believe that they truly belong there, pulling you into the story to witness the events unfolding. And if you like vampires, then there aren't many writers better than her. But some of her books suffer from long, boring parts that seem to ramble on aimlessly, such as "Queen of the Damned" and "Tales of the Body Thief." "Memnoch" goes farther than that. The book is filled with pseudo-religious, pseudo-Catholic, New Age philosophy. It reads like her own ideological discourse on religion as if told by the fictional characters of her stories. It's less a tale of vampires, then a discussion about religion. It's full of things that will truly insult Christians, from Christ sleeping with women to better understand human beings to the devil really being the being that cares most about humanity. The entire story is about Lestat finding out that basically the universe is this battleground, for lack of a better word, between God and the devil, each trying to prove the best way to save souls (Yes, that's right, the devil is simply misunderstood; he wants to save all of humanity!). Lestat struggles to find out which being he believes is telling the truth. In the book, God is callus and uncaring, for the most part, and the devil is the compassionate being, disapproving of God's methods in dealing with humanity. The devil is the one that really wants to save people, all of humanity. In the book, there is this Universalist, theological thread woven throughout the story, one that implies that everyone will be saved. If you want to read a book filled with such religious debate, then this is your book. It really has very little to do with vampires. That vampires are in the story, seems coincidental. She used her characters because, after all, they are the ones that she uses to tell her stories. But it was a waste, in my opinion, to use them in such a horrible story. Go read "Vittorio," "Pandora," or, even better, "The Vampire Lestat" if you want to read great vampire books by Anne Rice.

One thing that should be pointed out: this is a fictional book. You'd think that would be obvious, but is seems that some read this as it is a genuine religious text in and of itself. It's a story about vampires, God, and the devil. That's no more a religious text than stories about unicorns and leprechauns. I doubt that Rice's intentions were to guide people to the "truth." I don't think she wanted to form a religion out of this book - e.g. L. Ron Hubbard. Don't read it as such. There are no revelations from God here. Anne Rice is no prophet, and this book is no sacred religious text. It's just a book, and not a very good one.

While i consider Anne Rice to be an exceptional writer, sometimes i find it hard to work through a few of her books. For example, i thought that The Vampire Lestat and The Tale of the Body Thief were really good stories, but i was wondering while reading when the next big development might happen to make the story progress. From what i read she tends to go alot into detail (not like that's a bad thing) and it sometimes loses me because i want to get into the story fast. That definetly wasn't the case with the detailed story called Memnoch the Devil.

The whole idea behind the story is Lestat meets the devil (of course, right?) and the devil gives him the choice of working with him or with God to end the religious battle that has been going on for centuries. To aid Lestat in his choice, the devil tries to pursuade Lestat into joining his side by telling him the story of creation and how he fell from glory up to the present day. Anne Rice does a wonderful job in writing this tale. I read over 2/3rds of this 400+ page book in one day, i absolutely could not put it down.

The way she describes things, her spin and her idea about the beginning of time and how the devil fell from grace is, while at times disagreeable, incredably interresting. While Memnoch is telling Lestat the tale he pulls both Lestat and the reader into the story. The book is well written and the way she portrays the creation is incredable. I recommend that anyone interrested in religion or faiths or in the series itself should read this book because it brings fourth not only and interresting story that will make you never want to drop the book when you hit page 182 but because of the controversy of her theory on creation.

In the end; read it, you will not regret it and, possibly even like me, this book may just become your favorite book in the whole series.

Rarely have I ever been so disappointed with a book. Anne Rice has a rare talent, and it was not apparent here. I fell in love with the earlier Vampire Chronicles, eagerly read this one when it came out, and felt cheated after completing it. It felt as though she just blurbed it out onto her computer and sent it straight to her publisher. It lacks her fantastic descriptive prose; there is far too much dialogue (and inane dialogue it is). Also, it's too short. After reading The Vampire Lestat, which Anne clearly put her heart, soul, and a great deal of time into, this one is rushed, choppy, and irritating. And, I admit, I didn't quite give up on her; when The Vampire Armand came out, I purchased it in hardback and read about 100 pages. I actually stopped after that, it was so lackluster. This is very rare for me. For some odd reason, I decided to give her a try last week. I read Blackwood Farm, and I was incredibly pleased. If you haven't read her works, be sure to read The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned; they're both fantastic. The Tale of the Body Thief was not quite as good, but was still engaging. Skip Memnoch and Armand. Read Blackwood Farm. I'm just starting Merrick, and I'll backtrack to Blood and Gold. Truly, this is one of the only series I've ever read that actually calls for skipping books. It really is possible, and it won't leave you as frustrated. After the first four, others can be skipped, as they are the personal stories of vampires other than Lestat. Even the Interview with the Vampire can be read out of order. So, if you've just finished the first four and you're ready to continue, skip this one. You won't regret it.

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead The Vampire Lestat never fails to please. As usual Anne Rice is on top of her game. Menhoch the Devil is the fourth book the series. Set in the vast whiteness of New York, and the cool winter of New Orleans. Lestat travels to Heaven and Hell (a.k.a. Sheol). In this just one of Lestat's many tales he goes back in time to watch the creation of life itself. Lestat must make the choice between serving a proud God or a humble Devil. In this story there are many beliefs that you probably never considered. There is also one major sub-plot that included a drug lord and his daughter an up and coming televangelist. The whole story is about Lestat's morale choice between God and the Devil. Little does anyone know, but the Devil is not all bad and God is not all that merciful. There are many different characters in the story ranging from the eccentric Lestat to the mild mannered Armand. There were even some human characters like Roger and his daughter Dora. Even some heavenly creatures got into the act such as God and the Devil. There are many different twists and turn in this story that take theology and religion to a whole new level. The way Anne writes is almost spellbinding. She makes the characters come alive in this epic tale. The characters are almost alive they have so much detail. This is one amazing story that I would recommend to anyone who likes exciting characters. If you like Interview with a Vampire you will love all of Anne Rice's series. It is best to start off with the beginning of the series all the way through. Or if you're just looking for a good book to read to pick up and read, I think that Menhoch the Devil is the book for you.