Loose Ends

The end of Interview with the Vampire was not overly happy or sad. In Paris, Louis really wants to be with Armand and, seeing this, Claudia has Louis transform a woman named Madeline into a vampire so she can take care of her in his place. However, Lestat has followed Louis and Claudia to Europe and he has the other vampires of the city kill Claudia and Madeline because she tried to kill him. Louis, completely distraught, goes to torch the theater and Armand doesn’t try to stop him even though he knows that he is trying to kill the other vampires. Louis and Armand travel the world for many years and Louis seems sadder and less alive than when he first met Lestat. Eventually they return to New Orleans where Louis finds Lestat completely overwhelmed and frightened about how much the world has changed. Later Armand confronts him about how emotionally dead he has been, how he hasn’t felt love, passion, or even revenge since he left Paris. Louis tells Armand that he has become like a mirror of him. Armand leaves and that is where the boy’s interview ends.

Referring back to an earlier post, the book does reveal how vampires can be killed. They can be burned by fire, like when Louis burns down the vampire theater in Paris. Vampires can also be destroyed when exposed to sunlight for a long period of time; such was the fate of Madeline and Claudia. These methods tend to work with the vampires of the other books as well, but these vampires have fewer weaknesses.

The vampires of this novel are somewhat similar in their characteristics to other books. They have enhanced sight and hearing. They are much stronger than humans, which probably works to their advantage so they can overcome their natural prey. The personalities differ from vampire to vampire as much as personalities differ between humans. Interview with the Vampire is dissimilar to the other books because it is told from the point of view of the vampire which, therefore, gives a different take on the life of a vampire.

From a casual reading standpoint, I thought that Interview with the Vampire was a great book. At the library, when I read the first few pages I found it difficult to put down. I only planned to read it there for a few minutes but those minutes quickly turned into about an hour. I would definitely recommend it to anyone mildly interested in vampires or just looking for something different to read.