Book Review Introduction/General Title: The Vampire Lestat ‘Author: Anne Rice The Dat fret edition: 1985 UTI Genre (fantasy, humour, sclence-cton, mystery, Lestat biography, non-fiction, et): Fantasy Anne Rice Setting Describe the time and place of the story: The Vampire Lestat is a continual change of time and place. Lestat tells the story of his life, starting with the late 18th century when he was stil human and living in the countryside of the Auvergne (in France), to the 1980's when he became a rock star and gave concerts in San Francisco. During his 200-years-life, he went to many places such as Paris, Cairo, Venice and New Orleans, However there is a whole part Of his life he doesn't talk about because it has already been told in Anne Rice's novel Interview with the vampire. So the story takes piace in those different cities but there are also tales within Lestat’s story, transporting the reader into other places and time. Comment about the setting (examples: the setting makes story exciting, the setting hhas an important effect on main character, the setting is/is not exciting or new, the setting increased my knowledge of something) The setting makes the story thriling because there is always a new place and new characters to discover. Furthermore, it cteates a contrast between the « old time », which is the 18th and 19th century and the « modern time » which is the 1980's. While the « old time » gives a romantic and mysterious aspect to the story transporting the readers into an unknown and faraway time, the 1980's brings us closer to what we know, almost making us feel like this fiction could be reaiily. The constant change of place is linked to Lestat's thirst for knowledge and adventurous spirit. He travels around the world because he is looking for answers. However it can also have a bad effect on him because when he leaves a place, he also leaves people he loves and always goes back to being alone.‘Main character Main Character: Lestat de Lioncourt Describe this character: ‘At the very beginning of the novel, Lestat makes a precise description of himself. He starts by saying he is a vampire and of course, immortal: nothing can kill him except maybe « the light of the sun > or « the sustained heat of an intensive fire ». He is six feet tall and has thick, blond, rather curly, shoulder lenath hair. His eyes are gray but since he is a vampire, they « absorb the colors blue or violet easily from surfaces around them. ». He has a «fairly short narrow nose» and «a mouth that is well shaped», but ust a litle too big for his face. He also mentions that when he is starved for blood he can look quite horrible, and his fingemails look lke glass, which is the same for every vampire. This whole physical description makes him seem like ‘avery unreal character, a creature that has nothing in common with us, readers. However, like the New York Times Book Review said about Anne Rice's novel: « Its undead characters are utterly alive. ». itis true that Lestat, even though he is technically not human anymore, is stil a very « alive » character. He is bold, enthusiast, curious, adventurous, and ambitious. He loves breaking the rules but he is also a very intelligent man, When he becomes a vampire, he discovers how much he loves humanity, lfe, and often has very deep philosophical questionings like humans could have (for example he wonders if there is a God, what happens after death, what is « good » and what is « bad »...). He doesn't just accept his vampi nature, he wants to know where he comes from and this quest of knowledge guides him through the whole novel. ‘The main character changes from a young man rejected and misunderstood by his family, to a rebellious immortal living a 1980's rocks star life, by the end of the story. Other characters Another character: Gabrielle de Lioncourt Details: Gabrielle de Lioncourt is Lestat's mother. She comes from ai rich italian family, she's well-educated and loves reading. She traveled to many cities in Europe before marrying Lestat's father. She shares a special bond with Lestat, that she doesn't have with her 3 other children. After Lestat leaves the family home to become an actor in Paris, Gabrielle becomes very sick. Soon she wants to see her son again because she knows she is dying, so she comes to Paris. But on the night Lestat ‘comes to tell her goodbye, she understands he became a vampire. Lestat who cannot bear to see his mother die, turns her into a vampire. But as the years passed, Gabrielle grows distant and cold to Lestat, until the day she finally leaves him to realize her dream: exploring the most savage and remote places in the world, She reappears in 1985, during Lestat’s concert in San Francisco. Another character: Marius de RomanusDetails: Marius was born in 30 BC, in Rome. He became a vampire when he was around 40 years old, after druids abducted and offered him to their « god » (in reality a very old vampire they worshiped), who turned Marius into an immortal, and asked him to find « Those Who Must be kept ». Afterwards, Marius spent his life travelling and taking care of these mysterious beings. He also stayed in Venice for a while, where he became a painter and tumed the young Armand into a vampire. He meets Lestat in the 19th century, because Lestat wants answers and Marius isthe only one who can tell him the truth, about the origin of vampires. Another character: Armand Details: Armand was turned into a vampire in the 15th century, when he was still an adolescent, by Marius. He is small, with brown eyes and reddish-brown locks. After Marius turned him, he was kidnapped by a vampire coven, who worshiped Satan. Soon, Armand became their leader and brought this coven to Paris, where they lived in cemeteries and were afraid of churches, But when Armand discovers the vampire Lestat and his scandalous way of living, he decides to destroy him. However Lestat dissolves the coven by showing them how vampires truly live in the 19th century, and ‘Armand, seduced by Lestat's ideas, asks him to teach him how to be a vampire in these modem times. Lestat gives to Armand and the coven a theater he bought in Paris, and they all become actors, performing in the « Theater of the Vampire ». Another character: Nicolas de Lenfant Details: Nicolas and Lestat were friends when they were little, and become inseparable when they meet again as young men. Nicolas is a pessimistic, cynical and self-destructive character but Lestat is fascinated by him. Eventually, Nicolas and Lestat run away together to Paris (Nicolas wants to play violin there professionally) However, after Lestat turns Nicolas into a vampire because Nicolas begged him to, darkness overwhelms the young man and he becomes insane. Nicolas ends up killing himself by going into the fire, Another character: Those Who Must Be Kept Detalis: « Those Who Must be Kept » is the name given to the two first vampires who ever existed. Akasha and her husband Enkil were once Queen and King during the pre-dynastic period of Egypt, and became immortal after an evil sprit entered their ody. They « Must be Kept » because if they get hurt, so will every vampires in the world. They are very important in the novel because they are the key to all the answers Lestat is looking fo.Them ‘What is the author trying to say in this story? What is his lesson in life? Is there a moral to this story? | think what the author is trying to say in her story, is that we should be able to question ourselves like Lestat does, we shouldn't just stop at the obvious but see deeper into ourselves, by questioning our beliefs and our existence. For example, Lestat often asks himself, what is good and what is evil? Are vampires evil by nature? Are humans evil? The author also questions religion, in which, good and evil are often clearly separated. In the end, What Anne Rice is telling us, is that humans are ke vampires, they may have good in them, but they also have evil and i's a constant fight inside us. This is a story about what? (Courage? Working hard? Doing the right thing? Greed? Importance of friends? Jealousy? Love? Caring? Happiness? Sadness? etc) This story, besides being about good and evils about loneliness. Because being immortal means seeing the people we love die, vampires always end up by being alone. It is true that Lestat turned Nicolas and his mother into vampires, but he later realized that by doing this he lost them forever. This book showed melt learned from this story This book showed me that in life there is maybe something more than just what surrounds us, like questions we, as humans, don't have and probably never will have the answers to. There will aways be unsolvable mysteries, and we should never be closed-minded and restrict our imagination. Like we can see inthis story, cour imagination is fundamental and can transport us very far away. Plot The Action: Summary of what happens in the story (list up to 6 events that happened in the story - keep them in order): Lestat is turned into a vampire by Marius after running away with Nicolas, to become an actor in a theater in Temple du Boulevard, in Paris. He turns his mother into a vampire because she is dying, and teaches her how tobe a vampire He meets Armand and dissolves the vampire satanic coven. Armand, desperate, wants Lestat to show him how to live now that he doesn't have his coven anymore, and decides to tell Lestat and Gabrielle the story of how Marius turned him into a vampire three centuries ago. Lestat becomes obsessed with finding Marius and after travelling everywhere to find him, Marius finally reveals himself to Lestat. Marius brings Lestat on his secret island where he hides “Those Who Must Be Kept’ After Marius tells Lestat all about his life and Those Who Must Be Kept, Lestat gets to meet Akasha and Enkil. They are in a small chapel on Marius island, but they are so old that they cannot move or talk anymore, they are like statues, When Lestat plays the violin for them, to see if it will make them wake up from this state of immobility, Akasha gets up and lets Lestat feed on her, asshe feeds on him. It provokes Enkil's anger; he hits Lestat who Is forced to live the island. ‘Then, we are back in the 1980's (because what happens after Lestat leaves the istand is told in the novel Interview With The Vampire), after Lestat’s concert in San Francisco, something attacks him. What happens next is told in the following novel, The Queen of the Damned. Evaluation of the book + What did you think of the book? | thought this book was nothing like what you can usually read when it comes to vampire stories. Usually, humans have an important part in vampire novels, but in The Vampire Lestat, none of the main characters are humans. It does create a distance between us and these immortal beings, but it also creates fascination and makes their life even more thrilling. The book was also beautifully and very well written, + What did you like about the book? | think what | loved the most about this book, is the fact that the story brings us to very old times, ke ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire, the Renaissance and even the ‘8th century, by teling stories about myths, legends and ancient mysteries. The character of Lestat is also very interesting because he always surprises the reader by doing what he wants, being provocative and challenging the rules. + What didn't you like about the book? honestly don’t know. It was a very long book and there was some boring moments, but then every discovery and new character, with a new story to tell, made the novel captivating again. + Was the story predictable (could you guess what was going to happen?) The story was not at all predictable, | would never have guessed how far it would go and how would the origin of vampires be explained. The fact that there were tales, within the story but told by someone else than Lestat, so with a different point of view, was also very unusual an interesting + Was the story believable? Since it was about vampires, it was kind of hard to believe. + The ending...really made me want to read the next novel !