Book Discussion: The Vampire Lestat

[nightshade]

For those that continued reading after Interview with the Vampire.

 

[Stake fodder]

@nightshade Thanks! I'm only about 150 pages in, so I may finish first to avoid spoilers (I read it years ago, but don't remember it well). But one question I have for anyone reading is, why do you think Magnus abandoned Lestat right after creating him? Obviously, it works for the purposes of the story, but within the story, what could his reason have been?

 

[NotASlayer]

@nightshade Thanks! I'm only about 150 pages in, so I may finish first to avoid spoilers (I read it years ago, but don't remember it well). But one question I have for anyone reading is, why do you think Magnus abandoned Lestat right after creating him? Obviously, it works for the purposes of the story, but within the story, what could his reason have been?

I think that is essentially answered later in the book. So, I will spoiler it.

Spoiler: Why Magnus ended himself?

There are apparently very, very few vampires older than about 300 years old. Most of those that live to that sort of lifespan are, essentially, mad. They seem to self-destructively want to end their life. Unlife? I think Magnus had gone mad, started searching for a replacement that fitted a very specific description and, once Lesatat was found, ended himself. Magnus just was not in anything remotely resembling a sane mind by that point.

 

[NotASlayer]

@Stake fodder He is mostly done with, but the topic of vampires like him does come up and he is mentioned.

Spoiler for Part III Chapter 1 and beyond.

Spoiler

So, Lestat is close to his mother. Really close. And, it seems, he's unusually connected to the living for a vampire. She's also dying from a consumptive like disease. He decides to turn her into a vampire - admittedly with her desire - in order to save her life. Their relationship afterwards is a bit unhealthy.

This rather strongly reminds me of Spike and his mother. Though, as this came first, the other way around. This does make me wonder if the S7 writers were so utterly strapped for original ideas that they took inspiration from this bit.

 

[NotASlayer]

Some general thoughts. No real spoilers.

Lestat. Lestat is a different animal to what he was in IwtV. He is smarter, wealthier and, for want of a better word, nicer. Most of his bad acts are portrayed as Louis being an Unreliable Narrator, or glossed over as "Louis did not know what was really going on." There are explanations for others. Of course, Lestat could also be an Unreliable Narrator. However, I do think that the differences are because Lestat is genuinely a different person in this novel to Interview.

The book in general. Interview read like it was a one-off; this reads like it is part of a series. I think that may well because this is true; Interview being written as a single novel that later expanded into a series and then a world. TVL is written as a definite sequel to Interview and leads, by the looks of it, directly into Queen of the Damned (I have not read that yet, so that is supposition).

I think TVL being written as part of a series and IwtV being intended as standalone is why Lestat's personality seems to change.

 

[Stake fodder]

I'm finally finished and can comment! I felt the book dragged in places, but really picked up when Lestat left Paris, and Marius's story was my favorite part.

I do think that the differences are because Lestat is genuinely a different person in this novel to Interview.

I agree with this, and he's almost been "Mary Sue"'d in some ways. Now he's responsible for the Theatre des Vampires and brought about the modern style of living as a vampire. The Queen awakens for him. I liked the character, but he was made a little too perfect.

The book had a lot to say about the meaning of existence, or lack thereof. Lestat has his crisis as a mortal over this, and then most of the vampire section also brings this up time and again. Lestat's creation as a vampire seems without meaning. The Paris vampires lose their purpose and have to find a new one. The ancient vampires felt their purpose was to be gods, to deal out justice and wisdom. Marius finds meaning in keeping Akasha and Enkil, and in his interest in witnessing history. But he admits at his story's end, "life does not need us. I have never had a true purpose. We have no place."

For all Lestat's angst, at heart he is a hedonist, and so is able to stop searching for meaning. But I think that caused some of his mistakes with Louis and Claudia, in his inability to grasp that they needed a meaning to their existence.

So, Lestat is close to his mother. Really close. And, it seems, he's unusually connected to the living for a vampire. She's also dying from a consumptive like disease. He decides to turn her into a vampire - admittedly with her desire - in order to save her life. Their relationship afterwards is a bit unhealthy.

This rather strongly reminds me of Spike and his mother. Though, as this came first, the other way around. This does make me wonder if the S7 writers were so utterly strapped for original ideas that they took inspiration from this bit.

I was struck by this, too. It's also similar in the way that both mothers fully embrace their vampire nature from the start, whereas their sons cling to humanity.

When searching for this thread, I found a 2003 thread about a musical adaptation being proposed by Elton John! According to Wikipedia, it actually did show on Broadway, but didn't last long.

 

[NotASlayer]

I'm finally finished and can comment! I felt the book dragged in places, but really picked up when Lestat left Paris, and Marius's story was my favorite part.

Indeed. I agree the pace picked up in the later parts of the book and I was able to read it much faster.

I was struck by this, too. It's also similar in the way that both mothers fully embrace their vampire nature from the start, whereas their sons cling to humanity.

This does in some ways make the sons more interesting characters. It was Spike's interest in humanity, and the things that he could get from the human world - not just Happy Meals on legs! - that made him more interesting. It is a shame the writers did not know what to do with him, which became clear in S5 and just went downhill from there.

Similarly, Lestat being less of a monstrous brute in this second book made him more interesting. Albeit a little overblown admittedly in his accomplishments.

So, Queen of the Damned?