Good Versus Evil - The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Lestat - Anne Rice)

Member Name: DavyMichelle

Product:	The Vampire Lestat - Anne Rice
Date:	08/05/08 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting, Thought Provoking, Well Written

Disadvantages: Quite Long

The Vampire Lestat is the second in the 'Vampire Chronicles' series by Anne Rice. Actually, just to cause confusion, it's technically the first as it precedes 'Interview with the Vampire' but was written and published many years later! The beauty of it is though that you really don't need to read one to read the other - you can read either and in either order too.


The Vampire Lestat is literally all about the vampire called Lestat. It sounds so simple I know but as soon as you work your way through the first chapter you'll realise it's anything but. Anne Rice takes her readers on an incredible journey back in time to when Lestat was still human. I don't know much about the historical accuracy of the time period she sets the story in to begin with but I do know it all sounds perfectly accurate.


There's an awful lot that goes on in this book but at the same token there's a lot that doesn't need to go on either. The characters in this book are fantastic and there's so many of them too! I can't think of another book where so many different characters come together with their own unique personalities and histories. But despite that, there's also a lot of background descriptive stuff that goes on that doesn't really need to.


The moral dilemmas that go on are at a very basic level; good versus evil. But at the same time, Anne Rice considers their existence in extraordinary detail and length. What tortures Lestat more than anything throughout his journey to the dark side is the way in which he has inexplicably become evil and yet to be good at who he is, he must be evil. So it's a contradiction in terms that he fights with in himself throughout and we the reader are invited to draw our own conclusions on the subject. I like that about this book actually, that Anne Rice doesn't force her own beliefs on us and allows us to consider the mini-dilemmas throughout on our own merits.


This is still a very good book despite my grumbles about the length of it. My criticism is simply that it's not excellent from start to finish like 'Interview with the Vampire' is. I think this is one of those books you read because you want to get involved with a modern classic and submerge yourself into something original and different. I don't recommend it as a story book is what I'm saying - it's definitely one to save for when you're in an intellectually indulgent mood.


Product Detail:

Price: £6.99 in stores or £5.49 online
Pages: 560
Publisher: Time Warner

Summary: Worth a Read When You're in a Thoughtful Mood.