Interview with the Vampire.

Interview with the Vampire is the first book out of Rice's Vampire Chronicles. It was published in 1976 , the copy I own was published on 1988 but I read it until 1993 0r 1994. As I said before I like it because it was the very first vampire book I ever read and well here it goes.

The book is basically a vampire (Louis) giving an interview (duh!). The vampire and the interviewer are locked up in a San Francisco room ( not Louis room "Just a room" he says) and as Louis begins to tell his story the boy ( as he refers to) begins to believe that he is a vampire and by the time you are on the 6th or 10th page the boy has already bought it all. Louis' story begins on 1791 as he gets into a full detailed story from his pre-vamp days to the late 70´s San Francisco he is living in by the time he gives the interview. He tells the story of how his maker, Lestat, showed him the beauty of the dark gift ond how Louis (continously) rejects his new vampire nature. The way Louis lived through his first centuries and how he came to get used to be the monster he thinks he is.

The story, in my opinion, is not as good as other of Rice's stories. However, it has an amazing way to wrap you into it's atmosphere and take you to each and every single one of the places where the vampires travel to. You can taste, smell and sometimes even feel the surroundings. It can get almost too detailed for some but it is part of the experience of seeing through the vampires eyes. The awe on everything that surrounds them and the passionate way they feel about everything. Life, music, blood, outfits. Everything has a passionate point of view.

The first time I read it I remember how sad I felt for Louis as I re-read the story I get to a point when I feel like screaming "Stop Whining, Louis" but the truth is that this book gives you, through Louis, an amazing insight of his own personality and makes you believe what an asshole Lestat is.

There are awkward moments on the book like the relationship between Louis and Claudia, a 5 year old illegaly made vampire child, that for some might scream Pedophile!! and the relationship Armand tries to start with Louis which might seem like an homosexual relationship. The truth is that after reading other books from the Chronicles you get to realize, at least I did, that it wasn't anything like that. It's just that Anne Rice's vampires admire, above all things, beauty. The beauty that the Rice's vampires behold is different from any other vampire character I've ever read. They found everything beautiful and when they get to find something that intrigues them for their beauty they usually feel drawn to that. In the end it is all pure love through the eyes of a vampire.

If you are the type of person that likes a book written in a more serious way that the vampire books we all read today (which I love!) and also like a bit of sarcasm ( provided by our own Lestat). This is a book that you should read. If you like the dark kind of literature where everything is tortured and drama-like, where love is the tortured kind of love and the friendship is the complicated kind of friendship and where there is always something missing in life. Then, this is a book you should read.

The truth is that Interview with the Vampire is dense but it is the foreplay to a whole world of fantasy and dark humor that brings on the next series of books. The truth is that if you love vampires this is a book that you must read.

Have a Fangtastic Tale

Anne Rice's Chronicles

I've decided to start the review/rant/comment on the books of Anne Rice, the one's I've read and like. Why? Because there's where my love for vampires began. I got to admit that the books are actually difficult to read, sometimes to understand. I loved them because as a young girl I was easily impressed by the idea of a world where vampires lived among humans but as the years went by I found some characters deeply insightful.

For many people it is difficult to understand why my favorite Character is Lestat but it is usually because they haven't read past the first book or worst seen the movie. The truth is that Lestat de Lioncourt is a very deep character, his take on life is quite dark but still hopeful. He is always hoping to find a reason to enjoy his dark gift.

I live in a country where 16 years ago it was difficult to find books, at least the books I like to read. I always loved to read dark more adult like books (First non-school book at age 9: The Picture of Dorian Grey) and preferably in English. So, it took me years and years to find the Vampire Chronicles in english.

By the time I got around to get a copy of Lestat the Vampire I was already 20 years old and going through a post-adolescent depression. As I read Lestat's story I found myself agreeing with his rants about life and its meaning, I found myself wrapped around his dark, emotional state of mind. I found that state of mind very similar to the one I was experiencing at the time.

Queen of the Damned was with me in another stage of my life where escaping to a world of fiction, of king and queens, to ancient egypt and, of course, Lestat brought me a better understanding of the world I was living in. The real world.

And then, The Tale of the Body Thief came into my life in a moment where love and sadness were a constant (yeah, I sound very emoish. I'm emo in housewife disguise). The Tale of the Body Thief is my favorite book out of all the ones I've read in the Chronicles. Lestat showed me that, once again, we were very similar to an extent. Lestat fell in love and while I read his own experience with a relationship that could not happen, I was going through my own experience with love and life. Lestat was my confident and The Tale of the Body Thief was my shelter.

The Vampire Chronicles are very important to me. I love them with a passion and even thought, re-reading them is sometimes hard becasue my state of mind is not alwasy dark I owe them a lot because they were my companions through several stages of my life where I was looking for empathy and I found that in Lestat.

That is the reason why my next entry will probably be Interview with the Vampire. It will be from my own point of view but it will be fun and deep and I might even make fun of my teenage self because as I re-read the books I found certain things that back in the day made me wonder and now that I am less.... naive, let's say, I get to understand. So we have a date with Lestat and Louis next time. How about that?

Have a Fangtastic Tale

The Beginning of Fangs and Tales

For a while I've been looking for a creative outlet. I've been going through several possiblities with my husband's help. A personal blog, writing my own novel or simply learning a new craft to fill my creative hole. While thinking about what I would be good at and would satisfy my needs I realized that besides psychology the only other thing I am really good at is reading and talking about vampire related books. That is why I decided that my creative outlet would be to write about vampire books that I read and love.

My relationship with vampires began when I was around 13 or 14 years old when I first read Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. Then the movie came and then I start devouring everything there was about Rice's vampires. I loved seeing life through vampires eyes, the way human life seems so precious and interesting to them. The way humans, besides being snacks, seem amazing creatures who went through life without appreciating it.

I became attached to each and everyone of the characters and then I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop reading about vampires, looking for amazing stories of vampires that revolved around tragedy and love. Love for life, love for humans, love for lust and blood.

I have been a "fang lover" for almost 16 years and to this day I never thought that writting about that would be a good thing. But today I decided that I would do it.

This blog will be dedicated to write about the books I've loved for years, books I discover and books I think might be a good option to read. I will write about the stories, the characters, the movies or T.V series inspired by them. But most of all I will try to pass on the excitement that reading this stories have given me.

Have a Fangtastic Tale.