Inspection of Vampires

 Interview with a Vampire (6 Points)

Being a tween during the time of a pop culture tempest such as Stephanie Meyers Twilight was my first introduction to the concept of vampires in storytelling, outside of Halloween marketing and youth television programs like Scooby-Doo. 

I'll say that I've always found concepts like vampires to be both fascinating in their many stipulations of vulnerabilities as well as horrifying in their diets, but I simply was not prepared for one quality in Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice:

How absolutely erotic much of the text was devised to be. 

Now, I don't say this in a negative way, or to imply that this book contains heaps of sexual events. In truth, I've always felt that much of the modern world can be a very prude and appreciate the growing normalization around sexuality and sex itself. I was merely taken aback by the sheer passionate and lusty language crafted for the reader to imagine as the story progressed, as well as the heavy intimacy that describes when a vampire feeds. Knowing I wasn't alone in my sense of feeling prude, there was of course "The Boy" who is interviewing Louis constantly blushing and becoming a bit overcome with emotions during the retelling of the story.

I also interpreted (possibly incorrectly, though I doubt this as I was warned by Gothic, A Lecture about the qualities of vampiric novels) lots of sexual tension between Louis and many of the other male characters. When Lestat was introduced, there was the intense and sensual turning of Louis and being forced to sleep in the same coffin, so I felt Lestat's intention was not entirely without a sense of love, lust, a possessiveness. Especially when the relationship turns into an abusive one, where Louis would threaten to leave Lestat and go to great lengths to keep Louis with him. 

Whether out of actual attraction or to avoid loneliness as an eternal being, I'm not entirely sure what Lestat's true intentions were. Still, it didn't really help Lestat's case when he produced a "daughter" that he and Louis both fathered (which was also one of Lestat's extreme plots of keeping Louis from leaving as well) as equal parents and their constant bickering like a married couple who should have long since divorced.

In short, the novel was very engaging and compelling, and I enjoyed the grappling with humanity and vampirism within Louis as he progressed through the book. My favorite pieces within the text were also the humor and attentiveness when it came to the origins of vampires, their weaknesses, and their abilities. Rice didn't immediately lay out a long list of vampiric rules or laws that had to be abided, and rather let the characters struggle with the damnation of being a small populace of species that aren't strongly defined outside of myths. It was also very cool to see where a lot of modern-day concepts were drawn from, and I found myself pretty perplexed to have felt that Rice's text felt so familiar with how her style and vocabulary are still strongly used in literature today.

There ends my regular review, but I do have some negative criticisms up ahead regarding some mentions of content that may be harmful to some readers, so just be aware.

There was a lot of confusion on my part when it came to Louis's relationship with Claudia, which is why only read a bit beyond half the book and then had to stop altogether. 

Claudia, being a five-year-old girl who was fed off of by Louis and turned into a vampire-like Lestat, could never age. She was regarded as a child during the early years of their little family, but then her mind began to age just as a normal human would. Lestat often made fun of Claudia's lack of adult woman qualities mainly having to do with her size and features, but Louis regarded her as an equal and often referred to her as a woman. He also said very confusing statements of how he loved her, and it began to uncomfortably blur the lines between a daughter and a lover for me. It felt to be a perversion of infantile/young children's qualities, and I was very uncomfortable with the scenes that involved Lestat and Claudia.

No matter how much I tried to push forward in the work, those interactions and even other encounters with smaller children being describe in such a sensual matter convinced me to stop reading and consider Anne Rice very critically. I'm not sure it was her intent to delve into what I interpreted as pedophilic contexts, but I felt it disagreeable to continue all the same. I do want to say I understand that if her intent was to make vampires more horrific and "out of control" in that regard by using innocent children, then fine, that was Anne Rice's choice. It just soured my stomach to try and keep reading with that in mind.