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armandmartell 's review for:
The Vampire Armand
by Anne Rice
anne rice mentioned that if this book did not come across as extremely sad and horrifying, then she had failed. let's say she was successful in every aspect.
sometimes you find a book that, for some reason or another, speaks to you on a personal level and it is very hard to try and be "objective" or fair (even if it is impossible), and this is my case with the vampire armand. while the last 2 installments of the vampire chronicles have been somewhat disappointing, this one was able to capture the essence and soul of the series that made me fall in love with it in the first book, interview with the vampire.
armand is such an unique character, an other among others, one of the most compelling and interesting in the entire series. he is a figure of in-betweenness when it comes to his nature, personality and religious beliefs; duality is the main characteristic that defines armand and it surrounds the entire narrative from beginning to end.
the writing was gorgeous, the first half of the book kept me glued to the pages to the extent that i had to restrain myself in case i finished it too quickly. i had been looking forward to armand's story for a while, and i wanted to truly enjoy it. but in the second one anne rice starts to show herself. her own voice and struggles with her faith almost take complete control of armand and his story. she really made her own duality with religion everyone's problem and, while it was not as dense as in previous lestat's books (anne rice truly, really uses lestat as an extension of her own self and her identity), i think it is still worth mentioning. i'm not a religious person, but again i do understand why some people would struggle with tvc because of this theme, especially considering how extense and recurrent it is.
now, is this the best book miss rice has written? no. is it one of the best books i have ever read? no. would i reread it a hundred times and give it, every time, 5 stars? well, yes. this is exactly what i wanted, a book dedicated to my favourite character, an unreliable narrator somehow trying to justify all the atrocities he has commited by familiarising readers with his life story. it was fun, it was painful, it was stupid, it was sad and captivating and i cannot stop thinking about it.
sometimes you find a book that, for some reason or another, speaks to you on a personal level and it is very hard to try and be "objective" or fair (even if it is impossible), and this is my case with the vampire armand. while the last 2 installments of the vampire chronicles have been somewhat disappointing, this one was able to capture the essence and soul of the series that made me fall in love with it in the first book, interview with the vampire.
armand is such an unique character, an other among others, one of the most compelling and interesting in the entire series. he is a figure of in-betweenness when it comes to his nature, personality and religious beliefs; duality is the main characteristic that defines armand and it surrounds the entire narrative from beginning to end.
the writing was gorgeous, the first half of the book kept me glued to the pages to the extent that i had to restrain myself in case i finished it too quickly. i had been looking forward to armand's story for a while, and i wanted to truly enjoy it. but in the second one anne rice starts to show herself. her own voice and struggles with her faith almost take complete control of armand and his story. she really made her own duality with religion everyone's problem and, while it was not as dense as in previous lestat's books (anne rice truly, really uses lestat as an extension of her own self and her identity), i think it is still worth mentioning. i'm not a religious person, but again i do understand why some people would struggle with tvc because of this theme, especially considering how extense and recurrent it is.
now, is this the best book miss rice has written? no. is it one of the best books i have ever read? no. would i reread it a hundred times and give it, every time, 5 stars? well, yes. this is exactly what i wanted, a book dedicated to my favourite character, an unreliable narrator somehow trying to justify all the atrocities he has commited by familiarising readers with his life story. it was fun, it was painful, it was stupid, it was sad and captivating and i cannot stop thinking about it.