Posts about Anne Rice
Hello lovelies,
Welcome to our lair for the check in of the start of the book to Part I "This is your coffin. Most of us never get to know what it feels like."
The drama is intense so far in this reading and lots of violence. I appreciate that the gore isn’t overly descriptive, yanno? I really enjoyed the setting scenes of who Louis and Lestat are as people…or as vampires… I am curious as to who the boy is.
Here is a link to the schedule
Here is a link to the marginalia
Catch you all next Wednesday! We will be covering up to the section, Part II "He had a lean but very pleasant face actually, his light, freckled skin making him seem like a boy."
Slay,
u/Joinedformyhubs and u/espiller1
Summary
The reader learns of someone referred to as the boy, who is interviewing Louis, a vampire and has been since 1791. Louis is doing some type of biopic with this reporter. He literally is doing a tell all of his family (who once lived in France but immigrated to New Orleans). In New Orleans they owned a plantation. Once Louis’ father passed, he stepped into the role of patriarch and had to care for his mother, sister, and younger brother. Paul meets an unfortunate death at the age of 15 - after an argument with Louis, Paul fell down a flight of stairs.
Louis holds blame over the death of Paul, which causes him to become severely depressed. He also continues to take out his brother's death on himself and believes that he doesn’t deserve any happiness. He is attacked by a vampire and survives. While recovering a priest visits to tend to his wounds, but he declares that he is possessed! Louis feels even more remorse over his brother’s death! Louis is horrified over all of the events that have taken place that he ends up attacking the priest.
The vampire who attacked Louis visits him again, and we learn that his name is Lestat. Lestat offers to turn Louis into a vampire for the plantation, Pointe du Lac (which he will use to keep his father safe). Louis accepts, he believes that he is damned anyway right?The two of them visit the plantation and Lestat kills the slave overseer while making Louis watch. What a strange initiation into vampiredom. Even though Louis has compassion and empathy, Lestat does not hesitate; he bites Louis and drains almost all of his blood then forces Louis to drink vampire blood from his wrist. The entire transformation for Louis makes his life feel spirited and lively.
Now that Louis is a vampire he must learn how to eat and survive. As Louis is out hunting runaway slaves, he is so excited that he over-eats/over-drinks, which makes him so sick. When vampires drink their prey to death they themselves can die as well. Lestat then shares that animal blood is a perfect way to consume nutrition. Over this period of time, Louis learns that Lestat is kind of a piece of crap, but needs to learn how to survive.
Louis doesn’t want his family to know that he is a vampire and is keeping it hidden, though he only is able to see them at night. Lestat continues to find himself in particular situations, harming young successful men for sport. He then finds a man named Freniere. Freniere is the patriarch for his family of five unwed sisters. Lestat ends up killing Freniere. Louis, being the wholesome self-deprecating vampire that he is, wants to help the eldest sister. Louis introduces himself to her, Babette, and of course he gets feelings for her! All the while he talks up her motivation to run the plantation herself. She is doing a fabulous job with Louis’ advice.
Moving to the year 1795, slaves at Pointe du Lac begin wondering about Louis and Lestat. Louis can only shadow the slaves at night and has heard them discuss the coffins that are in the rooms. Louis believes it would be best to leave the plantation and go to the city to get away from the drama. Lestat doesn’t want to leave his father, even though he is on the edge of death. With the two vampires still at the plantation, the slaves keep whispering and it causes a lot of tension. One of the leaders sees Lestat’s vampire teeth, so Louis attacks him. Lestat then goes to tend to the slaves, but once returned Louis kills Lestat’s father to put him out of his misery.
The two vampires flee! As they are running away they begin killing all the slaves in their general direction. They end up at Babette’s with their coffins to take shelter there. Babette wasn’t really into doing that, so she allows them to stay in the wine cellar. Later on, Lestat believes that Babette locked them in the cellar since she thinks that vampires are evil. Though she visits them and condemns them! She ends up setting Louis on fire with a lantern while Lestat is fetching the carriage. Lestat returns and threatens to bite her! Louis won’t have any of that, he wants her to know that he doesn’t mean to hurt her and he prevented her from death! He flees with Lestat after pleading. Poor Louis, he loves her so…
The duo land in a hotel in the city of New Orleans. While there Lestat is devouring people and Louis is living off of rats and dogs. Louis is fighting such an inner battle since the fall out with Babette. He doesn’t want to live any longer…but he has such a thirst and it is driving him to someone else. A young five year old who is crying over her dead mother… Louis can’t help himself and bites the girl- it sends him into a trance. Lestat notices Louis and the two begin fighting. Unfortunately the girl is left alive and hurt while the two vampires bicker and run off.
Louis awakes, after a day of sleeping, to find Lestat enjoying a meal of two prostitutes. The way Lestat teases the prostitutes to their demise is frustrating to Louis and he has finally had enough. Louis declares that he is leaving Lestat to live by himself. Though Lestat knows better. Louis has these dreams of humanity, but he is a vampire with needs that are strictly from a vampire and he won’t be able to change.
After the exchange, Lestat takes one of the prostitutes that he left on the brink of death and puts her into a coffin.
Hey besties!!
We now have gotten pretty damn dark in the story telling. I may admire Claudia a little too much because she just goes out and gets whatever she wants when she wants! Totally living her best life…no pun intended?
Today is the last day that I will lead the discussion as my book lover bestie u/espiller1 will be taking over!
See ya in the comments!!
Here is a link to the schedule
Here is a link to the marginalia
Catch you all next Wednesday! We will be covering up to the section, Part III "She was seated calmly at that lavish table where Claudia attended to her hair..."
Slay,
Summary
Part I (cont)
Louis begins to understand that animal blood just is not enough and drinks from one of the prostitutes that Lestat had. The two vampires go to the orphan hospital in search of the little girl, who the reader finds out is named Claudia. Lestat pretends to be her father and everyone returns home. Lestat gives Claudia his blood and she becomes the littlest vampire and they form a trio. Claudia even shares a coffin with Louis while they sleep.
As Claudia is becoming a vampire and her mind is maturing she gets to learn from the best– Lestat and Louis. Louis teaches her morality while Lestat teaches her how to hunt and the joy in it. 65 years later, Claudia starts thinking: Why is she different from humans? Why is my body one of a child? She begins killing poor women and children. She even kills a mother and daughter. She started to make decisions based on her need to know where she came from!
Claudia and Louis begin getting close, they start agreeing about the discomfort they share in Lestat. She makes a decision that she wants to be rid of Lestat. While Louis has felt that he can’t leave him. The two make arrangements to leave Lestat and find other vampires in Europe to find answers to all of their questions. Claudia believes that Lestat killed his own maker then created Louis so that he didn’t have to be alone. She shares that she wants to kill Lestat and Louis needs to let her.
Lestat comes home in a good mood after spending time with a new friend. Claudia has a gift for Lestat…two small orphan boys that are sleeping. Lestat is pleasured by the thoughtfulness and decides to have a bite. As he is drinking/eating he becomes sluggish. Claudia poisoned Lestat with absinthe and laudanum. She begins to stab and bite him. Lestat’s body shrivels up and Louis and Claudia dump the bodies in the swamp. The following night Claudia is manic rummaging through Lestat’s belongings for proof of how Lestat was created.
Louis begins to hunger so he goes out to find a meal and ends up at a cathedral. His mind begins racing with thoughts of his brother, which cause him to believe that God doesn’t exist. He has visions of his brother’s body being in a coffin. Louis stays in the cathedral while it is being closed by the priest. Though the priest tries to help Louis, he notices there is something different about him, which scares the priest. The priest calls Louis a devil, which reminds him of Babette, so he kills him.
After the spiral that Louis went through at the cathedral, he put his energy into going to Europe. Claudia continues to want to find more of her kind. Though they are interrupted by Lestat’s new friend who is now a vampire. At the steps of their home they hear someone creeping around and realize that it is Lestat! He is scarred and torn but alive! Louis immediately throws a lantern at him and they begin fighting. The new vampire musician attacks Claudia, but he is clumsy! Lestat is obviously weak from being poisoned and isn’t as strong as he usually is. Louis and Claudia flee by beating them with fire pokers and setting the house on fire as they escape.
Part II
Louis and Claudia are now onboard the ship leaving from America to Europe. Claudia and Louis have differing opinions of Lestat being alive or dead. Claudia thinks of different reasons as to how Lestat was able to revive himself after her poisoning him and Louis wants to find the answer to vampires being able to truly die. Europe seems to be the destination with all of the answers for this dynamic duo.
Now that they are on land, they use a carriage to travel and instantly they start hearing the murmurs of vampires. Hopefully their quest for answers about vampires and Lestat can be found.
Hello book clan,
Prepare to form a blood bond as we devour Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. Each Wednesday starting on February 22nd we will meet at the r/bookclub domain and discuss what we have read. We will follow along on an epic journey of Lestat, the most well known vampire in Anne Rice’s world.
From goodreads:
This is the story of Louis, as told in his own words, of his journey through mortal and immortal life. Louis recounts how he became a vampire at the hands of the radiant and sinister Lestat and how he became indoctrinated, unwillingly, into the vampire way of life. His story ebbs and flows through the streets of New Orleans, defining crucial moments such as his discovery of the exquisite lost young child Claudia, wanting not to hurt but to comfort her with the last breaths of humanity he has inside. Yet, he makes Claudia a vampire, trapping her womanly passion, will, and intelligence inside the body of a small child. Louis and Claudia form a seemingly unbreakable alliance and even "settle down" for a while in the opulent French Quarter. Louis remembers Claudia's struggle to understand herself and the hatred they both have for Lestat that sends them halfway across the world to seek others of their kind. Louis and Claudia are desperate to find somewhere they belong, to find others who understand, and someone who knows what and why they are.
Louis and Claudia travel Europe, eventually coming to Paris and the ragingly successful Theatre des Vampires--a theatre of vampires pretending to be mortals pretending to be vampires. Here they meet the magnetic and ethereal Armand, who brings them into a whole society of vampires. But Louis and Claudia find that finding others like themselves provides no easy answers and in fact presents dangers they scarcely imagined.
Interview with the Vampire doesn’t have chapter titles, so it is sectioned (for our reading purposes) into parts based on percentages. Look for specific sentences as a stopping point for discussions. Thanks!
Schedule:
February 22 - part I "This is your coffin. Most of us never get to know what it feels like."
March 1 - Part II "He had a lean but very pleasant face actually, his light, freckled skin making him seem like a boy."
March 8 - Part III "She was seated calmly at that lavish table where Claudia attended to her hair..."
March 15 - to end.
I, u/joinedformyhubs, and u/espiller1 will see all you lovelies on the 22nd 😘🧛🏻🧛🏻
