looking to F'list for advice / rec.

[capri0mni]

So -- a few years ago, Audrey leant me a copy of Interview with a Vampire for me to read, and I just couldn't get into it past a few pages... But now...

But now, it is 13 days before the start of NaNoWriMo, and I'm caught between fighting the urge to cheat, and start writing right now, and wanting to distract myself entirely. I don't want to think too much about the world into which I'll drop my protagonist, because I don't want to be trapped in too rigid a framework. However, I do expect my story to be a response to popular vampire culture, and even though I haven't actually read a full Anne Rice novel, yet, there's no denying that she is one of the biggest shapers of that vampire culture as it exists today.

Would finally sitting down and reading the book be a good compromise? Does it live up to its hype? Is it entertaining enough in its own right?

Are these stupid, space-wasting, questions?

Comments

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Nothing wrong with writing your story without reading, getting out what's already in your head about modern vampire mythos, and then reading Anne Rice and going back to tweak your story into something that aims a little more at the heart of it.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Notning wrong with writing my story as if Ann Rice never existed at all (After all, I first got the idea for my character about 2 years before Interview was even published). But there is something wrong with starting to write my story right now (It's breaking the rules).

I was actually thinking of using the book the way someone who's trying to quit smoking uses a lollipop (or maybe more like nicotine gum)-- to ease the brain twitch so I can hold off until I'm allowed to start. And I was wondering if it would help, or be so annoying that I'd want to write my answer with even more urgency....

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Actually, that's a good idea... you do have time before NaNo starts.

Then yes, I'd say read it (or one of her other vampire books), and get that angle on the modern mythology.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Besides, if I finally read it, then I can give it back to Audrey with my thoughts on it, instead of having it sit there accusingly every time I go to my bookshelf... I hate it when books start to get all judgey, with the "Why haven't you read me, yet?" riff... :-)

[liannanshith.livejournal.com]

I live my life without Anne Rice's portrayal of it all. I think it was a pretty rich field even without her. I know some of my friends have and liked or loved it.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Well, "Liked it or loved it" is a more favorable spectrum than "liked it or loathed it."

Thanks for the feedback!

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

I first read Interview when I was in high school, and I loved it. I reread it years later, around the time Lestat came out, and I loved it still. I loved Lestat and the next couple of her books, but the later ones I could have lived a full and happy life without having read. Another one I really loved was Pandora, which is a short one and not exactly in the same storyline as the others. It takes place in ancient Rome. :)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think with a lot of very successful series (whether book or television), after a while, the writers start to self-reference for their inspiration, and the stories suffer.

Thanks for the Lestat Pandora recs. But, honestly, I don't think I'll do any reading of Rice beyond Interview, because that's the book that's waiting on my shelves for me...

[scarfman]

I'd recommend The Vampire Lestat over Interview with the Vampire. I'm sure I've read the latter but I don't remember it at all. The former I've read at least twice, and I love it because it's the one where she really builds the world, fills in the backstory all the way to the beginning and everything. But that's not your question, I guess. Maybe Interview would be better for your purposes, giving you the flavor without filling your head with her world itself.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm only to the middle of page 7, right now. But I can already tell that the requirements of my story idea need a very different world from Anne Rice's.

Mostly, I'm reading Interview because it's there.

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Lots of people love her, but I hate Anne Rice. Overrated crap. Mostly because she does so much stuff that has little meaning for the characters or the plot, for no good reason at all and describes the surroundings for ages. I swear to fucking god she went on about wallpaper for more than one page once. Setting a scene is good, but god, she does go on a bit. Basically, I tried to read that stuff as a teenager because everyone and their dog was fucking worshipping it, and even as a sixteen-year-old teenygoth I hated it. Queen of the Damned is one of the few books I have hated so much I threw it across the room in disgust.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Hm... I'm trying not to be judgy, but it's saying something that it's taken over an hour of reading to get through 14 pages; it's annoying me already that I'm 24 pages in, and she hasn't once mentioned either of the characters' names -- just "the vampire" and "the boy" (though I really doubt the interviewer is actually a "boy," especially as he meets his interview subject late at night in a bar).

On the other hand, reading an annoying book might be just the ticket on the eve of NaNo. Reading Tolstoy or Faulkner would probably leave me too intimidated to write anything. So I'll continue to do my best, trying to get through as much of this book as I can, before November 1.

[theta-g.livejournal.com]

The novelty of some of its elements may not be there for you anymore, so cleanse the palate of your mind as much as possible and maybe the book will stain it attractively. Thinking back, the issues of age, decay, passion and the false promise of immortality still seem like they'd play well to a novice.