Anne Rice > Reviews > Sensual, Passionate, Dramatic, Wonderful.

Author's product rating:   

Listenability

Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!

Advantages:	Completely captivating, skillfully written, enjoyable and thought - provoking .
Disadvantages:	You may end up purchasing everything Rice ever wrote .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Anne Rice does not produce your average run-of-the-mill vampire story. Her work is carefully crafted and integrates several themes that directly affect the reader as a human being. She writes of conflict, of sexual desire, of lust and of beauty; she evokes the sense of longing with passionate skill, and her writing truly takes on a life of its own. I first began reading the works of Anne Rice when I was 13. I was a curious child, and having read most of the books in the house, I found one of my parents' books, and thought I'd read it because it had a picture of a vampire on it. My first experience of Rice, 'Interview with a Vampire', was such a gripping and compelling read, that I still have the images of the characters and the places that they roamed in my head today.

Louis is a man suffering from personal anxieties, such as his brother's death, and wanders streets at night, drunk and suicidal, in the hope that death will come to him on swift arms. Sadly for Louis, he is instead granted immortality in the arms of The Vampire Lestat (which is also a good book, though sadly I lost it). From here onwards, I don't want to give the story away, as it is full of action and events that are a pleasure to discover, and make you HAVE to read on.

If you are unfamiliar with the works of Anne Rice, 'Interview' would be a good starting point. Reccurent themes in general seem to be sexuality, religion, the seeking of answers and to an extent, love. The books are well-written and sensual, as you can feel the smooth coldness of the vampires' skin, the clothes tharacters wear, and you can sympathise with characters, as Rice lets us see the world through a Vampire's eyes.

The follow up to 'Interview' was 'Lestat', which was interesting, as it showed Rice's ability to switch narrative perspective from a remorse feeling character, to a self-loving, superior, almost arrogant viewpoint. We learn of this mysterious character's history, of his family life, how he wished to be a performer, and we see the softer, human side of this character. 'Queen of the Damed' was a very interesting book also, as it was complex, and written from many viewpoints; integrating the past story of the two witch sisters with the present romance between Lestat and the Queen. The dialogue is wrought with tension, leading up to the explosive main event of the novel. It also answered questions from previous books, and brought in a theory of the origins of vampires which was interesting to read. One of Rice's skills is the ability to create an original story about an over-done theme and make it seem plausible in the context of fiction. She leaves no loop-holes or gaps, though she does leave some things untold in order to provoke thought.

One of the qualities I love about Anne Rice's work is how she makes the setting feel authentic. She will describe 19th Century Paris and it will feel real; in 'Interview' you can see Armands' monk-like cell, and in 'Queen of the Damned' you can envision the statues of Akasha and Enkil being tended to in a shrine by Marius, and you can see Lestat playing his violin defiantly before the Ancient Egytian Queen's form with a wild fire in his eyes. The same level of detail is given to the characters, for example we learn Pandora has the most beautiful arms; the detail is tender and personal, which makes the character accessible. Rice does this for all her characters. The details are vibrant; I feel that I know the streets of new Orleans without ever having visited. You can sense the love the author has for her home, and at times you can hear her voice echo in the words of her characters.

The characters that I found to be most memorable were Claudia and Armand- to the extent that when I was casually browsing in Waterstones, I stumbled upon a book dedicated to the luscious character of Armand (which was a very sensual book, giving vivid images of Russia and Italy, and was very sexual, which I wasn't expecting) , and purchased in a twitch of glee. Anne Rice leaves you wanting to know more, as her characters come across as human in the sense that despite the fact you know so much about them, there is always something else unknown. If you buy 'Interview..' the downside may be that you purchase 'Lestat', then 'Queen of the Damed', then feverently persue any further shred of information beyond this trilogy about your favourite character. For example you may seek further adventures of the lovable, blonde rogue Lestat, or information concerning Pandora, or Marius.

I really enjoy reading her work as it is so passionate, and she manages to surprise the reader and present you with another side of characters which may not habe entered your head as the books progess. Though her stories are in a sense far removed from reality, I feel Rice is infact exploring humanity and human nature, as the conflicts faced by her characters can be mirrored by the right-or-wrong issues of everyay life. We are jealous, we like to get our own way, we feel burning hatred towards others at times.. yet the same beings are capable of love and sensitivity. Rice is a talented author and I feel her work has great influence on those who read it.