I haven’t read any books for years, I can’t remember exactly the last time I did, maybe as long as 20 years ago! Shame on me. And I can’t even remember the name of the last book. I decided that I must be missing out, so decided to choose a book to read. I enjoyed the film, Interview with the Vampire, and my sister was raving how good the books by the author were.
Anne Rice has written quite a few books, which she calls The Vampire Chronicles, and Interview with the Vampire is the first volume in the series. It took just under a week to read. I spent a couple of hours each night on it, until I had finally finished it. I had forgotten how much description from an author goes into a book, and this book was no exception. It helped that I had seen the film, so the characters were fresh in my mind. If I had read the book first, I think I would have had to picture my own characters on the way that Anne Rice had described them.
The book is based on an interview with a vampire and a reporter in modern day. They are referred to as ’the vampire’and ’the boy’. The vampire begins to tell his story to the boy, who at first is very nervous of the vampire, but after the vampire assures him that he is not about to attack him, he gradually feels at ease.
Louis (the vampire), was a young man that had settled on a Plantation in Louisiana. He came to the new world from France, with his mother, sister and younger brother. An accident happened; his brother had fallen down some stairs and was killed. Louis had blamed himself, and did not handle his brothers death at all well. He wanted to die himself. He went out and hoped that he would be attacked by robbers; he just wanted to die. Then, one night, as if he heard Louis’pain, a vampire answered his call. He watched his last sunrise, and then became a vampire himself. Vampires will drink their victim to the point of death, but to become a vampire, you must also drink the blood of your Master, the one that is making you the vampire.
Louis’ master had to teach him how to survive as a vampire. He learnt that you must never drink from a victim when the heart stops beating, that you can drink from animals if there are no mortals, and that the steak through the heart and the crucifix were old wives tales. Only by beheading, burning and sunlight, could they be killed. They became companions for many years, but Louis could not face drinking the blood of humans, to cause their death in order for him to survive, so he mainly drank from rats and other small creatures. He was also inquisitive, and wanted to know where vampires had originally come from. Were there any more of them? Were they the servants of the devil? But Lestat (his vampire master), is hesitant to tell him these things. After a while, the servants on the Plantation are becoming suspicious, so they move to a town house in New Orleans. Louis begins to despise Lestat, for not telling him things that he wants to know, and because he hates the way he laughs at his kills.
The great plague hits the area, and one night, whilst out looking for rats, Louis hears a child crying. He looks through a window to see a 5 yr old girl crouched at her mothers feet. The mother had been dead for days, taken by the plague. Louis feels sorry for this child, and wants to put her out of her misery, so he drinks from her. He feels the child’s heart is strong. Then, he hears Lestat laughing at him. He drops the child to the floor and runs. Louis can only think about the innocence of this beautiful young girl, how he wanted her. Lestat brings the child back to their home and makes her a vampire. A gift, from him to Louis. Louis watches as the pair, Lestat and Claudia, feed together, as she learns the way of the vampire.
Time passes, and Louis and Claudia have a special bond between them. She then wants to know who made her into what she is. Who has doomed her to stay a child for eternity? She begins to despise Lestat as Louis does, and wants the two to run away together. But they are afraid of what Lestat might do. There is only one way to escape him, they must dispose of him, kill him. Not even Louis could contemplate that, and he begs Claudia to put it out of her mind.
Do they kill him? That would spoil the story if you haven’t read it. But as time goes on they eventually travel Europe in search of other vampires and answers to their questions. And the boy? Well there’s a little twist at the end regarding him.
This is the first book I have read by the author, and I thoroughly enjoyed every word of it. Her words are very descriptive and she writes in such a way that I started to fall in love with the master vampire, Lestat. It isn’t written in a gruesome way, she tells of love and loyalty between the vampires. I am now starting to read the second volume, The Vampire Lestat.