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lucayama 's review for:
The Tale of the Body Thief
by Anne Rice
dear god, the colonial mindset and tedious Christian ethics! no I don't think it's cool that David used to shoot tigers in British India. no I'm not impressed by saintly Gretchen and her mission trips. apparently people living in the global south and non-industrialised societies are merely hordes of superstitious, noble savages, possibly "no more complex than the crawling centipede" - poor people are "the nameless, the faceless, the eternally needy" and there are none of them in the West, of course! except very obviously
Such a Christian attitude - accepting the suffering of 'poor unfortunates' as a natural fact and wondering sadly why 'God' has ordained it such, while blatantly ignoring the real-world social issues that produce this suffering. this attitude has been present throughout the Chronicles, but the strong focus on Christianity in this one made it all the more unbearable.
and the fact that Lestat can neatly sidestep issues of vampire morality by (usually) only killing "evildoers" like random drug addicts and fat ugly stupid serial killers. This started in TVL and is one of the most irritating retcons Anne ever made. She lets Lestat be evil in so many other ways but when it comes to his meals we're supposed to believe he's righteously doling out the death penalty to the irredeemably wicked. She is constantly asking us to forgive Lestat his evils while expecting us to roll with the idea that his victims are inherently unforgivable examples of human evil??? I don't get it.
about the
After the rape, Lestat is ashamed. Learning from his mistakes, he is careful to ensure his tryst with Gretchen is safe and consensual. Later, though he propositions David multiple times, when he realises David is seriously refusing, he respects his decision. Wow, Lestat learned the meaning of consent! Except he didn't. A few chapters later, he violently converts David to vampirism (vampire equivalent of rape) against his will. This is quite devastating for the reader to watch, even (especially) if you sympathise with Lestat, as this is exactly how Lestat himself became a vampire in the first place. Depressing that he fails to break that cycle of abuse. Incredibly frustrating that his character development over the course of the entire book is completely nullified.
I do not have unlimited levels of forgiveness for Lestat and this act makes it hard to continue rooting for him as the dark anti-hero he's supposed to be. It wouldn't be so bad if he ever experienced a single moment of retribution or consequence for his misdeeds. If I was David I would have walked straight into the sun just to teach Lestat a lesson. After all, David claimed over and over to have been satisfied with his one human life. But David immediately forgives him and says it was what he wanted deep down all along and invites him on a vacation! This also nullifies David's entire character arc which was centred around his refusal of the Dark Gift!
Also, I just don't like David. His whole character is British. Now that he's a vampire I have to put up with him for the 9 remaining books of the series.
All of that being said... this was unfortunately the most fun I've had reading the Chronicles since Interview. I took a deep delight in watching Lestat be humbled by the human experience.
And the bickering with Louis!!!!
Spoiler
the girl Lestat rapes? who disgusts him with her patheticness and her shitty cat-pee-smelling apartment.Such a Christian attitude - accepting the suffering of 'poor unfortunates' as a natural fact and wondering sadly why 'God' has ordained it such, while blatantly ignoring the real-world social issues that produce this suffering. this attitude has been present throughout the Chronicles, but the strong focus on Christianity in this one made it all the more unbearable.
and the fact that Lestat can neatly sidestep issues of vampire morality by (usually) only killing "evildoers" like random drug addicts and fat ugly stupid serial killers. This started in TVL and is one of the most irritating retcons Anne ever made. She lets Lestat be evil in so many other ways but when it comes to his meals we're supposed to believe he's righteously doling out the death penalty to the irredeemably wicked. She is constantly asking us to forgive Lestat his evils while expecting us to roll with the idea that his victims are inherently unforgivable examples of human evil??? I don't get it.
about the
Spoiler
rape... I realise these are horror books about evil characters, and will have unsavoury and upsetting scenes. It seems like Anne was trying to say something about human nature by having Lestat commit acts of specifically human, specifically male evil when he was in the body of a mortal man. Lestat comments multiple times that he was overcome by a "male instinct" to dominate the weak female. This, paired with Akasha's goal in QOTD of cleansing the human race of violence by eliminating men, paints a very hetero, bioessentialist model of gendered violence, which I find uncomfortable. However, just because I don't like the message isn't necessarily what bothered me.After the rape, Lestat is ashamed. Learning from his mistakes, he is careful to ensure his tryst with Gretchen is safe and consensual. Later, though he propositions David multiple times, when he realises David is seriously refusing, he respects his decision. Wow, Lestat learned the meaning of consent! Except he didn't. A few chapters later, he violently converts David to vampirism (vampire equivalent of rape) against his will. This is quite devastating for the reader to watch, even (especially) if you sympathise with Lestat, as this is exactly how Lestat himself became a vampire in the first place. Depressing that he fails to break that cycle of abuse. Incredibly frustrating that his character development over the course of the entire book is completely nullified.
I do not have unlimited levels of forgiveness for Lestat and this act makes it hard to continue rooting for him as the dark anti-hero he's supposed to be. It wouldn't be so bad if he ever experienced a single moment of retribution or consequence for his misdeeds. If I was David I would have walked straight into the sun just to teach Lestat a lesson. After all, David claimed over and over to have been satisfied with his one human life. But David immediately forgives him and says it was what he wanted deep down all along and invites him on a vacation! This also nullifies David's entire character arc which was centred around his refusal of the Dark Gift!
Also, I just don't like David. His whole character is British. Now that he's a vampire I have to put up with him for the 9 remaining books of the series.
All of that being said... this was unfortunately the most fun I've had reading the Chronicles since Interview. I took a deep delight in watching Lestat be humbled by the human experience.
Spoiler
Pissing everywhere. Being scared to poop. Begging restaurants for food and being told where to go. "I hope you burn in hell for your lack of charity! But god knows I don't deserve any better." "Wait, I'm sorry I told you to burn in hell. You have beautiful boobs. I'll do anything you ask." pure comedy.And the bickering with Louis!!!!