Imagine if your English teacher described a horror movie. Drain all the thrill out of vampires and replace it with dry morality.
Summary:
After hundreds of years as an immortal, Louis is ready to tell his tale to a mortal on the record. From his beginnings as a plantation owner in New Orleans to his time with a toxic coven to his journeys across Europe, he sets his sights on finding the meaning of such an existence as a monster.
Verdict: 3/10
I respect Anne Rice as she revolutionized the idea of bringing monsters into modern settings. And I enjoyed the literary significance and the history this book portrayed. New Orleans is a unique city that combines beauty and culture with mystery and darkness, which Rice is able to capture through Louis' story. It's the perfect setting for showing the arcane with the current. And the author's style was very descriptive.
However, I felt like the language worked against this story. An old-fashioned vampire might be wordy as was his custom back in his day, but it made the whole story feel drawn out and slow. I like artistic description as much as the next reader, but I need to know what’s going on in clear terms too. The dream sequences and visions were downright confusing and really did not help my focus.
Everything felt passive and disconnected, even the oddly-sexualized vampire theatre killings (that phrase should sound shocking or exciting and yet it fell completely flat for me). But it does bring up the disclaimer that this is for teens and up, not younger readers.
I was expecting a bloody tale with a bit of thematic depth; instead I got an exposé on the value of life with a dash of murder. I value that Louis questions his existence, but I’ve seen vampire movies before. I understand the drawbacks of immortality and just wanted to return to the plot. This was probably more ground-breaking back when it was released, whereas now it's sort of old news. Maybe don't choose the life of a vampire in the first place if you're just going to complain about it for 300 pages, Louis!
The plot kept me going. That feeling of being hunted by someone as dangerous and manipulative as Lestat was at least a powerful motivator to continue reading. I thought it was a good depiction of an abusive family relationship. And the hunt for answers as to how vampires came to be held my interest. But like the main character, I ended feeling dissatisfied like I never got any real answers.
To sum up, this story depicts a vampire on a quest for meaning but who becomes bored with everything. So it shouldn't be surprising that as a reader, I ultimately found the vampire boring. I was really tired of Louis being unsatisfied with everything, even if that is part of the point. I probably would have liked the SparkNotes or abridged version of this tale better.
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