Review | Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

If you’re well versed in contemporary vampire fiction (read tv shows and movies) Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice is bound to grate on your nerves.

“How can Louis possibly not know how to kill a vampire?” He must be stupid.

“Why is he so easy to overpower – physically and psychologically?” What a f^#king p#*sy!!!

What is Lestat’s deal, really, what is it? He’s a mad man of leisure.

And for the first 150 pages of the book – where are the other vampires in the story? The originals? The hunters? The shiny ones?

Tom Cruise as Lestat

It couldn’t be more obvious that Interview with the Vampire, now a seriously popular movie starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, is a bridge between the commercial vampire fiction of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and LJ Smith’s The Vampire Diaries. Lois, the heir to Point Du Lac in New Orleans reveals in a book-long interview to a character known only as “the boy” that he was turned in the 1700s by a vampire called Lestat who wanted access to his fortune. For some reason that isn’t quite apparent, our lovely Lois does so, despite being at the point of suicide at the time, and also comes into the latter’s control for the next couple of years. They find Claudia, a young orphan whom they turn and take in as their daughter. And if the homoerotic undercurrents aren’t strong enough, the Freudian one’s do come into force when Claudia, upon turning into a woman in a child’s body, attempts to murder Lestat (guess he was the mother in the relationship), which goes awry. You see, Lestat’s ploy to exert his power wholly upon the two comprised of his never telling them the essentials of things they need to know such as – how he turned them, how immortal vampires could be killed and other gifts they might have as prisoners of the night.

Kirsten Dunst as Claudia

So yes, it does break convention from myths, hints of which were presented in Dracula with the garlic and the crucifix, both of which our trio isn’t affected. But it doesn’t stray into the more fascinating vampire lore like The Vampire Diaries which presents an array of theories, two of the most interesting ones find them compelling their victims and the healing power of their blood. But what it lacks in these areas, it makes up in its psychological analyses of human nature extended into the world of the undead.

Claudia and Louis, played by Brad Pitt

Louis would much rather live on animal blood than kill people because 100 years on he still finds it morally complex to end a human life. Claudia is influenced in equal measure by her polar opposite “fathers”, kind and cultured Louis and the dark and inhuman Lestat. The child vamp imbibes characteristics of them both depending on whom she’s manipulating that day. To Louis’ disadvantage, disdain and discredit, these tactics are always played out on him. There’s always a shudder to be felt when you see him getting pushed around, used for his fortune and pretty much beaten to the ground even after he’s rid of Lestat.

For those of us entranced by vampire fiction – by which I mean not in possession of a handbag that reads “I (heart) Edward Cullen” and the like – Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire is an important read to understand the progression of genre from the dark ages of monsters and bats to the pretty boys making for bubblegum romance on television. Be warned though, it dark, deep and gritty. You may never be able to look at a rat on shore or ship without picturing Lestat piercing its body and pouring its blood into a glass of wine. Or for that matter looking at a glass of wine and … you get the picture.

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Review | A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

What happens when Anne Rice meets Nora Roberts meets Dan Brown. You get a star crossed love story, some neck biting in dusty libraries and a premise that everyone is going to die. I found the book at the Phuket airport and tried to resist the cheesy forbidden love plotline but succumbed to the witches and vampires context. Hey, am a sucker for the supernatural.

Witches have been given a rough time in the supernatural world. They are often portrayed as ugly, warts on face, unfashionable or comedic. Even Harry Potter, a series completely focused on Hocus Pocus, made little of witches preferring to focus on wizardry. So it is indeed refreshing to see a more 'Charmed' less 'Hermione' attitude towards these misunderstood creatures. But lets save a feminist dialogue on Harry Potter for another day and focus on Deborah Harkness's aptly titled book- A Discovery of Witches, not to be confused with the seminal work on the same subject by Matthew Hopkins even though the word play is I am sure completely intentional given Harkness's background.

Deborah wastes no time getting her teeth in as she introduces both the witch- next- door protagonist, her beguiling manuscript and her vampire lover right in chapter one.  Diana Bishop comes from a long line of witches of the Bishop family, the witchy equivalent of belonging to the Vanderbilts. She is in denial of her magical abilities when she comes across a manuscript that will answer that 64 million dollar question, "Why are we here?". The problem is everyone else wants to know this answer as well and more over they believe that this confused adrenalin junkie is the key to unlocking the secrets  of the manuscript. After that we get into familiar Twilight territory that involves falling in love with a cold hearted beast, meeting his family and professing love for an eternity while being kidnapped by naughty people, and finally discovering some chutzpha. Sound familiar? At one point Deborah veers so close to plotline imitation that I wonder if Ms Myer is out there somewhere sharpening her lawyers. But soon differences emerge primarily because of the literary bend to this novel as well as a tough as nails protagonist. No clumsy Bella here thank the Lord.

Harkness clearly knows her subject of alchemy and history and weaves some beautiful mythology and poetry that would bore teenagers but is music to adults.  This lovely literary banter would have been perfect if not steeped in Nora Roberts predictable cheesiness. At the crux of it Ms Harkness is a history professor but not a writer of fiction. She has a commendable grasp on her subject but not on pacing. I had to often skip pages to get to the point. And yes, there is a reference to the Templars. Gasp!

The scariest witch I knew growing up.
Snow White's Step Mom

As all supernatural books, this is a three part series and the next one is due in 2012. I am curious as the plotline has indeed taken an interesting jump (pun intended) and the next book should be a fascinating history lesson on the 15th century. At the moment though I find myself reaching for Harry Potter' The Sorcerers stone, as I am yet to find someone who makes magic as fun as JK Rowling. So verdict? A must read if you are a history fan and especially one that loves the moody supernatural feel of Oxford. There is some serious mythology and poetry here to sink your teeth into and its much easier to read than Anne Rice.

Caveat : It's hard to beat Anne Rice when it comes to Vampires.

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