Interview With The Vampire – Anne Rice

Interview With The Vampire
Anne Rice

In a darkened room a young man sits telling the macabre and eerie story of his life – the story of a vampire, gifted with eternal life, cursed with an exquisite craving for human blood.

Anne Rice’s compulsively readable novel is arguably the most celebrated work of vampire fiction since Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published in 1897.

As the Washington Post said on its first publication, it is a ‘thrilling, strikingly original work of the imagination … sometimes horrible, sometimes beautiful, always unforgettable’.

I didn’t think I liked vampire fiction until I had to read Interview With The Vampire for my university course and discovered I couldn’t put it down. This book really changed my perception of vampire fiction for the better.

This provocative yet eerie story centres around Louis, a vampire struggling with questions about himself. Through the interview with a young man, Louis tells his story and his journey of self-discovery along the way is very evident.

Louis tells the interviewer about how he became a vampire and what life as an immortal being has meant for him. He tells him about Claudia, the child vampire he helped create; how much he loved her, and how he struggled to cope as her mind matured but she stayed locked in a child’s body. And most importantly he tells the interviewer how he’s always struggled without any knowledge of where vampires came from, and the evil side of him that has to emerge night after night.

This book is slightly uncomfortable to read at times due to the taboo subjects that are entwined within the story, but this helps to set it apart from other vampire novels. These issues are still taboo today, but the novel uses the act of vampirism to deal with issues that were present at the time it was published – feminism, homosexuality and lack of faith in American society, which gives the novel a real depth, as well as allowing you to vicariously experience vampirism through Louis.

I throughly enjoyed reading this book and it’s definitly one I would read again. I couldn’t find a single bad point in it and it kept me gripped and in suspense from start to finish. For someone who thought they didn’t like vampire fiction, my mind has definitly been changed.

Rating: ★★★★★