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    Interview with the Vampire: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Interview with the Vampire: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Interview with the Vampire: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

    Interview with the Vampire: A Novel

    Written by Anne Rice

    Narrated by F. Murray Abraham

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its publication

    The time is now.

    We are in a small room with the vampire, face to face, as he speaks--as he pours out the hypnotic, shocking, moving, and erotically charged confessions of his first two hundred years as one of the living dead. . .

    He speaks quietly, plainly, even gently . . . carrying us back to the night when he departed human existence as heir--young, romantic, cultivated--to a great Louisiana plantation, and was inducted by the radiant and sinister Lestat into the other, the "endless," life . . . learning first to sustain himself on the blood of cocks and rats caught in the raffish streets of New Orleans, then on the blood of human beings . . . to the years when, moving away from his final human ties under the tutelage of the hated yet necessary Lestat, he gradually embraces the habits, hungers, feelings of vampirism: the detachment, the hardened will, the "superior" sensual pleasures.

    He carries us back to the crucial moment in a dark New Orleans street when he finds the exquisite lost young child Claudia, wanting not to hurt but to comfort her, struggling against the last residue of human feeling within him . . .

    We see how Claudia in turn is made a vampire--all her passion and intelligence trapped forever in the body of a small child--and how they arrive at their passionate and dangerous alliance, their French Quarter life of opulence: delicate Grecian statues, Chinese vases, crystal chandeliers, a butler, a maid, a stone nymph in the hidden garden court . . . night curving into night with their vampire senses heightened to the beauty of the world, thirsting for the beauty of death--a constant stream of vulnerable strangers awaiting them below . . .

    We see them joined against the envious, dangerous Lestat, embarking on a perilous search across Europe for others like themselves, desperate to discover the world they belong to, the ways of survival, to know what they are and why, where they came from, what their future can be . . .

    We follow them across Austria and Transylvania, encountering their kind in forms beyond their wildest imagining . . . to Paris, where footsteps behind them, in exact rhythm with their own, steer them to the doors of the Théâtre des Vampires--the beautiful, lewd, and febrile mime theatre whose posters of penny-dreadful vampires at once mask and reveal the horror within . . . to their meeting with the eerily magnetic Armand, who brings them, at last, into intimacy with a whole brilliant and decadent society of vampires, an intimacy that becomes sudden terror when they are compelled to confront what they have feared and fled . . .

    In its unceasing flow of spellbinding storytelling, of danger and flight, of loyalty and treachery, Interview with the Vampire bears witness of a literary imagination of the first order.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 4, 2000
    ISBN9780375418228
    Unavailable
    Interview with the Vampire: A Novel
    Author

    Anne Rice

    A.N. Roquelaure is the pseudonym for bestselling author Anne Rice, the author of 25 books. She lives in New Orleans.

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    Reviews for Interview with the Vampire

    4/5

    6,626 ratings172 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      This novel was written as a retold story by its protagonist. While the story itself is fine, this sort of style-- in the end, detracted from the overall book. Nevertheless, I felt that this book had something to offer for the casual reader and for those I recommend it. The tale is original, erotic, and dark. It is the way that a modern vampire yarn should be told. Anne Rice has style, taste, and is a good writer. If you are into vampire fiction, this should be a starting point.
    • 4/5
      The best of the Chronicles in my opinion. And you have to watch the movie too! I lost interest when going through the rest of the series.
    • 4/5
      I read this book once before, when I was about eleven years old, and I remember being utterly entranced by Lestat, Louis, and the whole entire cast. I've always been fascinated with vampires as whole, and the beautiful discussion of morality and mortality here just caught me up. Suffice it say, I was a little afraid to read this for a second time. Would it hold up to what I remembered?Let me say, the audiobook version of this is a little ponderous but I kind of enjoyed it for that. The narrator perfectly captures Louis' ennui. I was spellbound while listening and, even though I'd heard the story before, still deeply affected by the trials that poor Louis had to face. I don't know if we're ever actually meant to like Lestat, but I did find myself understanding him a bit more this time around. It was nice to see this book with fresh, more cultured eyes. The fact that I loved it just as I did the first time was simply a bonus.Despite any qualms I may have with Anne Rice now, you can't deny that this book is essentially a classic in the vampire genre. I'm happy to have experienced it again.
    • 5/5
      Vampires, over done like crazy these days, right?

      The first three vampire chronicle books from Ann Rice are in my opinion the best ever. The characters are rich and the plot sucks me in... Just really good stuff!
    • 5/5
      Anne Rice is the author to go to when you want to read a really good vampire novel. Not the type of vampire novels where vampires sparkle and are just too over the top (eye roll). This is vampires done well, with all the rich details and history to go along with them. I love this series and need to pick it back up again - I got stuck on the 6th one and need to push through it!
    • 3/5
      Read this my Freshman year of high school- just when the world is nearly at its most dramatic *EVER* and you empathize so much with Louis and Lestat that you want to *BE* just like them and Anne Rice is a genius for being so soulful and truthful and no one else could possibly underSTAND your pain and anguish except these glorious, beautiful creatures of the night.

      And then you watch Buffy for several years and realize that Spike AND Angel would have laughed themselves *sick* over Louis' navel-gazing ("Dude, if you're so depressed over being a vampire, just go knock on Faith's door and flash some fang- she'll dust you in a New York minute!") and rolled their eyes over Lestat's psycho-babble.

      But, still, it captures that "Beautiful/Lonely/Deadly" kind of feeling- and many of today's ParaRom books owe their very existence to this book and its sequels.
    • 4/5
      I'm giving this 4 stars because the plot was amazing, the characters had volumes of depth, and the author's writing is dark & romantic yet precise & easy to understand. However for me personally, this is one of the very rare instances when I will say that I liked the film better than the book. Now before you all hang me out to dry, let me explain... I personally feel that the differences between the book and the film number so greatly that it nearly makes them 2 different stories all together. I felt that the differences changed the character dynamics too dramatically from the film which all together changed the entire story. Even though I liked the iconic film better, I still greatly appreciated and enjoyed the book. I am looking forward to completing the entire chronicle set. Would highly recommend!
    • 5/5
      Who can forget gentle suffering Louis, fierce Claudia, calculating Armand or that rogue maverick himself, Lestat?Of the series, this is my favorite, because of its elegant simplicity. Hunger, feeding, searching, wondering and living.
    • 4/5
      Pretty good read.
    • 1/5
      i read like 60 pages of it. the beginning was good but then it was just boring. sooooo boring
    • 4/5
      I love Anne Rice so I abhor saying this but...Louis is one of the worst characters ever. He's so annoyingly emo that I want to stake him, chop his head off, and throw him in a swap just to shut him up. He's beautiful, immortal but didn't have a choice about it, rich, blah, blah, blah. Get over it. I understand he was lonely, etc but wow... A gazillion pages of constant bitching and whining annoyed me to no end.

      Lestat, however, made the book. Sure, he's flamboyant, a little crazy, somewhat cruel, but man is he one of those people (supernatural creatures?) that you can't take your eyes off of.

      Claudia was kind of a non-entity for me and Armand was okay, kind of emo too.

      Still, I lived the book. I read it the first time in high school and a few times since. Ms. Rice is incredibly talented that's for sure!
    • 3/5
      It seems every second person is reading the Twilight Series or talking about the movie. I guess I should be glad that teenagers are reading anything but I hope they don't think it is great literature. But I really don't understand why adults are so hooked on these books as well. However, I'm not going to buy one just to see what it's like but I remembered I had this book on the TBR pile. I also realized it is on the 1001 books to read before you die list so I thought I might as well polish off another from the list (#155 for me) and see if there was anything to be liked about vampire literature. There isn't! I really had to force myself to finish this book. I think Louis (the vampire of the title) is supposed to be a sympathetic character since he retains some qualms about taking a life and he has emotional attachments to both mortals and to vampires. But I just could not find him likeable and the other vampires, even Claudia, the child vampire, were loathsome. I do think Anne Rice is a gifted writer. In fact, that was the only saving grace for this book.
    • 4/5
      A re-read. Enjoy the sensuality of Anne Rice's writing and the world building for her vampires.
    • 2/5
      To me, this was only ok. Maybe it was because I already knew the story from the movie, but I didn't think this was as immersive as The witching hour or The wolf gift. Also, I thought Louis, the main character, was a bit of a drag. He is moaning all over the place and constantly suffering. It becomes annoying after a while, particularly because he's not very pro-active. He's a classical victim, and it started to wear on me. Grow up already and take charge of your life for crying out loud!
    • 4/5
      I adore Anne Rice, and I remember loving this book when I first picked it up in high school. It's still just as rich and engaging as the first time I read it.
    • 5/5
      Very interesting book. Love it. I Wish it was longer.
    • 3/5
      The unabridged recording is MUCH better. F. Murray Abraham dies a good job, but abridged books are always lacking.
    • 5/5
      One of Anne Rice’s best books, the way she writes about vampires is very elegant and legendary. The relationships between each character and how she writes about how Louis, the narrator, feels during each moment of his life is very satisfying. A very good read for readers who like the supernatural!
    • 4/5
      Great book. Beautiful writing. Great book for a rainy day read.
    • 1/5
      The book is great! But this audiobook is only 1/3 of the book and cuts out so much. It feels like cheating
    • 3/5
      Great narration I regret it was the abridged version
    • 5/5
      I love it! Long time ago I watched the film, I never realized that there was a book behind it and that I was so well written.
    • 5/5
      Classic piece of gothic literature. A must read for any-one with an interest in the subject. This novel rivals Dracula.

      A terrifyingly depiction of vampires, it paints them in the light as they are, morally ambigious characters rather than the devils as Christianity traditionally paints them as.

      Life is harsh and life extension casts some dark shadows. This books explores the concepts.
    • 5/5
      The first was my fave.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars

      I've been wanting to read this forever it seems, and it did not disappoint. I love really getting inside Louis's head. I also like how the act of being a vampire isn't romanticized. If anything the emotional crisis for vampires is way higher than humans. I'm definitely planning to continue the series.
    • 4/5
      This novel and the two written after are very well written. The story and characters are believable. You can feel Rice's pain and the loss she endured. Vampires with emotional issues. It is understandable why they might feel this way. I have a feeling after Queen of the damned she just got lost and her ideas came from a very different place.
    • 2/5
      A long dreary monologue of a male vampire. Navel gazing at its finest. Mansplaining comes to mind. OK, there is more to this book than that, obviously, or so many people wouldn't love it, but after reading half the book and not having the tone or focus change, that was enough for me. I tired of the bloody killings, the vampires stuck in the rut of their unhealthy relationships and on and on. The story had sucked enough of my time as it was.
    • 5/5
      Stiring, some soft porn.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorites; while I was reading Interview I was completely convinced that vampires existed. This is an innovative and fresh look -- at least it was when it first came out -- about vampires and the lore that goes along with them. Absolutely gripping and really scary. I loved it!
    • 3/5
      I did enjoy these silly vampire books.