Interview with the Vampire is probably one of the best known books in most reading circles. and perhaps it is also a book that some may love to hate. Before reading the book I had some serious mixed feelings about it. Especially since I loved the film and I had heard some terrible things from friends about the book. However, I decided to give the book a go after having the soft cover sitting on my shelf for some time. I was immediately surprised by what I found within its pages. All I can say is that one can never judge a book by its movie or by its cover.
Rice introduces us into a world of dark, haunted, deeply flawed characters. We immediately meet Louis, a vampire, as he opens up a young man about his life. Louis, over the course of the night tells the entire story of his vampiric life. Starting with what started him on the dark path that lead him to becoming what he is. Louis is a character that you definitely feel a connection with. Unlike most of the characters that we meet in the novel, he is perhaps the most relatable. The most human. His flaw seem to be that he is to naive (at least in the beginning of his journey) and perhaps to unforgiving (towards the end of the story). Louis spins his tale of love and lost. The most tragic of his loves and his losses is Claudia. The child that he drains and who Lestat gives the "gift" of vampiric life. Claudia was the surprise for me in this novel. After watching the movie, I thought that I knew what to expect from this character. However, she was a bit to much for me. I got the impression that Claudia, no matter who played her, could ever truly be understood as a character unless you read the book.
Claudia, being a child, at first acted and was loved as a child. As a human child would be. However, as the years go on she remains a child. She matures as a person, her mind becoming that of a woman. She begins to resent being treated as a child. She hates that she can never be a fully grown woman. Claudia is perhaps the best written villain of this story; Lestat, while a brat, has nothing on this little she demon. Claudia and Louis are held together by a mutual need of one another; Louis feels that she and her love connects him to his humanity and she needs him as a means of protection. Honestly, it does not feel that she loves him at all. She simply tolerates him because he can protect and provide for her. The manipulation of Louis by both Lestat and Claudia only deepens the readers affection and sympathy for Louis.
There were several changes from the book to the movie adaptation. All of which is going to make it even harder for me to look at the movie in the same light as I used too. Honestly, I am glad that I have read the book and I am also happy that I did not let the negative reviews from friends deter me from reading the book. On goodreads I gave it 4/5 stars.
Quotes I Loved:
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