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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I know that this is a modern classic when it comes to vampire stories and I do understand why. However, I found it difficult to really get engrossed in, mainly due to the format of how it was written. There are not really any clear chapter distinctions, although there are different parts. Nearly the entire story is in quotation marks as Louis is speaking to the boy, but I feel like this could have been understood and just switched to Louis' voice, as I found it distracting. At first, the boy interrupts the story almost too much, then he just disappears (which makes more sense to telling a narrative anyway). Also, the plot meanders. There are really exciting and interesting moments and them long periods of exposition that drag on. Honestly, I wanted to read this for a long time, but I found it something of a slog.
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Watched the show and decided to give the book a read. I just think Anne Rice's writing style is not my cup of tea, and I also think Louis really irked me throughout the story lol. I enjoyed but like... I was irritated throughout, if that makes sense.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The audiobook doesn’t have the greatest narration but the story makes up for it. Louis always so melodramatic.
This is how you write about vampires! What a great monster novel! But boy, I'm glad to be finished with it. It gets really sad towards the end.
That being said, I feel like Louis is the perfect monster for an interview. He was more than willing to talk, he's extremely eloquent and descriptive, and he's also remarkably self-aware! His character is obviously supernatural and yet very human, which gives us all we need: a story of man vs. god, in one person. This dynamic makes for fantastic internal dialogue, which really matters when dealing with first-person narration, I think. I appreciate that Rice was so direct in saying that this internal limbo between vampire and human is what makes Louis so special. No other vampires (despite an immortal nature) seem think or reason or value things as Louis does...until it's too late. Louis spends most of this book on a hero's quest - attempting to change chaos into order - but in this effort he becomes cold and detached. He dies once physically, and then towards the conclusion we see Louis die a second time, but spiritually. The most heartbreaking aspect of this second death seems to come from the fact that Louis actually succeeds in proving and revitalizing the moral rectitude of his peers (both Lestat and Armand, and even Claudia), only to lose hope because of their past evils and his own pain.
Louis said he stopped mourning his losses, but I'm not so sure this is true... Rather, it seems that Louis just burried his vulnerabilities so that he could no longer be harmed. That's what makes this book so sad. You have a main character who wants what is best for mankind, and then he gets beat up and he never gets over it... Or maybe he does and I just have to read the rest of the series?
Notwithstanding, I think that Anne Rice really understands the literary potential of vampires - to explore the motivations of man when time stands still and death becomes the means of survival. I found myself relating to many of Louis' moral qualms, which is probably kind of the point, but sometimes I had to ask whether or not Rice's "answers" were specific to the circumstances of fiction. Often, the problem I have with "moral fiction" (haha, new genre?) is its incompatibility with the complexity of reality. Some of the fundamental, moral baseline of this book belongs ONLY to the moral reality within. It's the same problem that I had with Atlas Shrugged, i.e. "How much of this can I actually accept as true and valuable?"... but that's why we read, right? To discern?
Anyways, I recommend this book as a great Halloweeny read an a fantastic foray into the genre of "moral fantasy", haha. Give it a try if you like vampires or the idea of morality within immortality :)
That being said, I feel like Louis is the perfect monster for an interview. He was more than willing to talk, he's extremely eloquent and descriptive, and he's also remarkably self-aware! His character is obviously supernatural and yet very human, which gives us all we need: a story of man vs. god, in one person. This dynamic makes for fantastic internal dialogue, which really matters when dealing with first-person narration, I think. I appreciate that Rice was so direct in saying that this internal limbo between vampire and human is what makes Louis so special. No other vampires (despite an immortal nature) seem think or reason or value things as Louis does...until it's too late. Louis spends most of this book on a hero's quest - attempting to change chaos into order - but in this effort he becomes cold and detached. He dies once physically, and then towards the conclusion we see Louis die a second time, but spiritually. The most heartbreaking aspect of this second death seems to come from the fact that Louis actually succeeds in proving and revitalizing the moral rectitude of his peers (both Lestat and Armand, and even Claudia), only to lose hope because of their past evils and his own pain.
Louis said he stopped mourning his losses, but I'm not so sure this is true... Rather, it seems that Louis just burried his vulnerabilities so that he could no longer be harmed. That's what makes this book so sad. You have a main character who wants what is best for mankind, and then he gets beat up and he never gets over it... Or maybe he does and I just have to read the rest of the series?
Notwithstanding, I think that Anne Rice really understands the literary potential of vampires - to explore the motivations of man when time stands still and death becomes the means of survival. I found myself relating to many of Louis' moral qualms, which is probably kind of the point, but sometimes I had to ask whether or not Rice's "answers" were specific to the circumstances of fiction. Often, the problem I have with "moral fiction" (haha, new genre?) is its incompatibility with the complexity of reality. Some of the fundamental, moral baseline of this book belongs ONLY to the moral reality within. It's the same problem that I had with Atlas Shrugged, i.e. "How much of this can I actually accept as true and valuable?"... but that's why we read, right? To discern?
Anyways, I recommend this book as a great Halloweeny read an a fantastic foray into the genre of "moral fantasy", haha. Give it a try if you like vampires or the idea of morality within immortality :)
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
I think it lacked some action at times. Louis is so introspective and tortured by being a vampire that some points in the book were harder to get through. I decided to read this because I have seen the series and I think the series really improved on the source material. It gives you more understanding of why Louis and Claudia would kill Lestat and I think the trial on stage was very interesting. That being said I think the book was well written and I’m looking forward to continuing the series. I hear it gets more action packed as it goes.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
