Interview with the Vampire

By: Anne Rice

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION • From the #1 New York Times bestselling author, "a magnificent, compulsively readable thriller...Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and penetrates directly to the true fascination of the myth—the education of the vampire” (Chicago Tribune). • The inspiration for the hit television series

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.

©1976 Anne Rice (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"[A] magnificent, compulsively readable thriller...Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and penetrates directly to the true fascination of the myth - the education of the vampire.” (Chicago Tribune)

“Unrelentingly erotic...sometimes beautiful, and always unforgettable.” (Washington Post)

“If you surrender and go with her...you have surrendered to enchantment, as in a voluptuous dream.” (Boston Globe)

Dracula Reads "Interview with the Vampire!"

I'd read this book in paperback years ago, so I knew what to expect from the prose. Mr. Vance seemed to be reading with an affected Bela Lugosi accent. He's British, according to his bio, so I'm fairly certain that wasn't his natural voice. Still, he gets credit for the correct pronunciation of the main character's name -- I'm currently listening to an audiobook of "Queen of the Damned," and every time the narrator pronounces "Louis" with a sibilant "S" it irks me just a little.

One of my favorite books in the series.

I love this book, of course better than the movie. Louis being so vulernable. Armond has been my favorite dynamic. The one issue I had was the narrator. Had trouble understanding when Louis was talking with 'the boy' taping his life or when Louis was talking to Lestat. He had problems changing his voice for the characters and their feelings being expressed.

I'm not a vampire junkie but I loved it!

I've always loved the movie, but never got around to reading the book. I'm not a huge vampire junkie, and most movies/stories just seem superficial to me. But I loved the world Anne Rice created - beautiful, mysterious, sensual, and surprisingly filled with relatable emotions (passion, anger, existential fears, love, jealousy, etc.). I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope the series continues to be as rich. As always, Simon Vance is a SUPERB narrator. He never disappoints.

Beautiful

This was one of the most beautifully written books that I have ever read, Ann Rice is an amazing writer. I had a vary hard time putting this book down, it is a must read.

Always A good read.

Many years have come and gone. Yet, this series I will continue to reread. Forevermore. Thank you Anne. Thank you Simon.

still the best.

I loved this story. I remember reading it years ago. thank you Anne for bringing great entertainment.

Philosophical vampires

I found this book to be fascinating and intriguing. It may not be for you if you are looking for straight vampire horror. Rather this is a very philosophical book about a man/vampire coming to terms with what his life means now that he is an immortal monster. It made me question things in my own life and reflect on my purpose. The narrator does do what I would call a "light dracula" accent but I think it made sense to distinguish these characters from normal humans. After getting used to it, it didn't bother me.

Abit long winded

Classic. Characters were wonderful. My own problem is that the descriptions can be a bit long winded. But that might just be the writers interpretation of the main characters pov and monologue. I can wait to read the next book in the series and compare Louie to Lestat and see if its the writing style or character quality that leads to the long drawn out descriptions of things.

very entertaining

voice was very soothing. loved the book way more then the movie. definitely can't wait to start the next book

Freakin Amazing!

I was just astounded as a little kid watching the movie AAALLLWWAAYYS wondering more. Well I guess you can say I got more of a bite* than I could chew lol and now I'm off to the next book, Lestat!