In which I share vague recollections of books I read long ago that have stuck with me.
It seemed like everyone was reading these books when I was in high school, and I loved them. The story began with a boy interviewing a vampire (as the title suggests) and the bulk of the novel is the vampire's story. Louis is from New Orleans and in the late 1700s a vampire named Lestat turns him into a vampire as well and they continue to live together on Louis's plantation. They are joined by a 5-year-old girl named Claudia who, once she becomes a vampire, grows into a woman who is trapped in a child's body. That part of the story was always particularly horrifying to me. Louis and Lestat have many differences over the year and I think Louis ends up trying to kill him a number of times.
The second book, The Vampire Lestat, is obviously about Lestat. He becomes a rock star in the 1980s and to me at that time, there was nothing more thrilling than a sexy vampire rock star. I remember nothing of the third book, Queen of the Damned, but the title character is Akasha, the mother of all vampires. I recall liking the first two books the most.
The whole idea of characters who lived so long they lived in many different eras was very appealing to me, and I remember liking Louis's 1700s style and sensibilities, which were somehow very classy to me. Plus, it was all very sexy. I don't think that Louis and Lestat officially had a romantic relationship, but the process of turning someone into a vampire was pretty intimate, and they definitely had a close bond even though their relationship became quite stormy. Not so different from many romantic relationships.
Would I like these books if I read them now? I have no idea, and no plans to find out because I prefer to remember them as high school favorites.
Have you read them recently? How were they? Or do you remember them from decades ago as I do?
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