INSANE IDEAS AND UNNECESSARY CHATTER


AN EXPLANATION

I haven’t been updated for a while. I could give a lot of reasons for that, like I was too busy, or I was lazy. (Both are true, actually). However, the main reason why I haven’t been updating is that I haven’t had much interest in Anne Rice books lately.

Let me expand on that. I made a concious decision not to read Anne’s latest, Vittorio the Vampire. I have no interest in the story, and had it been written by someone other than Anne, I wouldn’t never even think about it. I’ve been very dissapointed in Anne’s latest books. It seems to me that the more I read and more frustrated and bored I get. If you’ve read my Vamp Chron reviews, you’ve probably noticed a pattern: I sing praises to the early Vamp Chrons, and disregard the latest books.

I like everything Anne has written up to The Witching Hour, which was published in 1991. After that, Anne wrote some OK books like Lasher and Pandora, but those are the type of books I check out from the library, read, return, and forget about two hours later. Then there were books I couldn’t get through like Memnoch, Violin, and Servant of the Bones. It seems like the more Anne writes, the worse it gets.

I don’t enjoy reading Anne Rice anymore, because every time I read a new book, I have the urge to hurl it across the room and scream “This is crap!” (Which is what I felt like doing while attempting to read Armand for the second time and while reading an excerpt of Vittorio).

I feel bad saying all that because Anne’s books have really made me much more open minded and interested in things I never cared about before. I really think I wouldn’t be the same person had I not picked up that tattered copy of Interview with the Vampire over a year and a half ago.

I realize that not every book is going to come from the “depths of Anne’s soul.” I also realize that writing is Anne’s job, not just some hobby, and like the rest of us, she needs to make money.

However, I don’t think anyone can crank out two books a year and make them good. After all, it took Anne almost nine years to develop Lestat’s character (IWTV came out in 1976, TVL came out in 1985), and now she has to put out a new book every six months because of her contract with Random House.

I will still always like Cry to Heaven, The Witching Hour, and the first four Vampire Chronicles, particularly Interview with the Vampire. If there’s one book that made me think differently and expand my interests, IWTV is it. But I will no longer read Anne’s new books, at least not for a while. I need a break.

As far as this webpage goes, I’m not going to delete it yet. It’s just that right now I can think of more bad things than good to say about Anne’s writing, and this is supposedly a “fan” page. I liked working on it, and I will still occasionally continue to add to it.

Ah, well. It was nice while it lasted, but it all has to end sometime.

Insert deep Interview with the Vampire quote here.

(Sorry if this is depressing. It sounds like an obituary to me....)


I WANT SOME MORE!

Not enough insane chatter for you here? Visit the new and improved Insane Chatter Archives


Go Back