The Vampire Armand

Die eigentliche Handlung des Buches (Lestat liegt reglos in einer Kapelle) ist zu vernachlässigen. Der Handlungsstrang wird kaum verfolgt, wird recht unzufriedenstellend aufgelöst und kaum logisch erklärt… es wirkt, als wären Anne Rice die Ideen ausgegangen. Auch die Thematik des Glaubens interessiert mich persönlich nicht, Memnoch PTSD! Zum Glück ist dieser Abschnitt allerdings kurz und leicht überflogen. Die Hintergrundgeschichte Armands, die gute 70 Prozent des Buches ausmacht, ist allerdings spannend und gut lesbar. Anders als Lestat (mein Lieblingserzähler!), der zwischen Selbstlob, Dramatik und Humor schwankt, berichtet Armand weitaus gefestigter und gradliniger, fängt aber das Zeitgeschehen und die Szenerie Venedigs wunderbar ein. Insbesondere für Kunstinteressierte ein besonderes Buch! Schade, dass das schwache Ende diese Stimmung etwas betrübt.

This one was actually a re-abgeschlossen. I abgeschlossen it the first time when I was – what? maybe 14? During that time I was what most of us were at some point: an emotionally unstable, depressed and edgy teenager. Back then I loved the book like I loved all of Rice’s books because it gave me those emotionally unstable and depressed – not to mention edgy – characters with which I could identify so well. I guess part of my love for the books also stems from the memories of a buddy abgeschlossen with my best friend back then.Anyway, I found the book in my shelf and wondered if I should keep the book, if I would still love it. Spoiler: not so much.But first things first. Armand was always one of my favourite characters. Yes, he is whiny, and yes, he can be annoying. But I loved and still love him for it because it is fitting. It is fitting for the time he was born in and it is fitting for all the stuff he experienced. Many people seemed to hate that he was basically whining throughout the book and I don’t really get that point. He went through hell and I think it is only natural how he felt and that he talked about exactly that: how he felt. I still prefer him to Lestat, actually.What I did not like about the book, though, was that it was so slow in the beginning – I didn’t mind that – but was rather rushed after the first part that followed Armand’s human years and some of his immortal ones. I enjoyed his story so much – where he came from, how Venice was at the time, and yes, most importantly, I loved the gay stuff a lot though I still don’t know how to feel about the whole underage parts. I know, I know, during that time it was nothing that was frowned upon and it happened a lot and therefore it was appropriate that Rice wrote about it, but still. It didn’t sit that well with me.Many people also complained about all that religious stuff, and yes, I get that. I was annoyed at times, too. But again, it was fitting for the character and therefore I didn’t mind that much. I am anything but religious and at most have a mild interest in that stuff but here I just tried to absorb as much and maybe learn one thing or another. Still, I didn’t enjoy that whole thing too much what was probably a reason why I didn’t give it 4 stars like I did back then.The one really annoying thing though was the pacing. As I said, I enjoyed the first part lots. But then everything was so rushed…I know we heard those stories in other books but I was disappointed that I wouldn’t abgeschlossen in length about Armand’s time in Paris, his encounter with Lestat and so on. It felt kind of incomplete and that really bothered me. On the other hand, the book was alabgeschlosseny more than 500 pages long, so… I don’t know. Also, the writing was a little off. Maybe it was a problem with the translation (because I abgeschlossen it in German and the translation was alabgeschlosseny kinda old) but especially the dialogues seemed way off and too artificial – even if you take into account that most of the protagonists are several hundred, if not thousand, years old. Oh, and I really hated the ever repetitive descriptions of the characters. I am glad I didn’t count the times Armand talked about Sybelle’s breasts, but it was so, so often.All in all it was an okay-ish abgeschlossen but I didn’t love it as much as I did back then.

Armand really can not catch a break it seams 🫠 Like with almost every book in this series, it took me a while to really get into the story. The ending, as always, was a highlight for me. Looking forward to the next book, as it seems we'll finally/hopefully get a female character, whose personality e.g. isn't just boobs and piano skills.