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The Vampire Chronicles #5
Memnoch the Devil
In the fifth Vampire Chronicle, Lestat is searching for Dora, the beautiful and charismatic mortal daughter of a drug lord. Dora has moved Lestat like no other mortal ever has, and he cannot get her out of his visions. At the same time, he is increasingly aware that the Devil knows who he is and wants something from him. While torn betwen his vampire world and his passion for Dora, Lestat is sucked in by Memnoch, who claims to be the Devil himself. Memnoch presents Lestat with unimagined opportunities: to witness creation, to visit purgatory, to be treated like a prophet. Lestat faces a choice between the Devil or God. Whom does he believe in? Who does he serve? What are the element of religious belief? Lestat finds himself caught in a whirlpool of the ultimate choice
354 pages, Hardcover
First published July 3, 1995
About the author
Anne Rice
326 books26.1k followersAnne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien) was a best-selling American author of gothic, supernatural, historical, erotica, and later religious themed books. Best known for The Vampire Chronicles, her prevailing thematic focus is on love, death, immortality, existentialism, and the human condition. She was married to poet Stan Rice for 41 years until his death in 2002. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history.
Anne Rice passed on December 11, 2021 due to complications from a stroke. She was eighty years old at the time of her death.
She uses the pseudonym Anne Rampling for adult-themed fiction (i.e., erotica) and A.N. Roquelaure for fiction featuring sexually explicit sado-masochism.
Anne Rice passed on December 11, 2021 due to complications from a stroke. She was eighty years old at the time of her death.
She uses the pseudonym Anne Rampling for adult-themed fiction (i.e., erotica) and A.N. Roquelaure for fiction featuring sexually explicit sado-masochism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,154 reviews
December 18, 2009
Memnoch the Devil was nothing like what I was expecting as the next installment of The Vampire Chronicles. Absolutely drenched in theological argument, Memonch the Devil is not for anyone who dislikes religion in their fiction.
Only two things happened in this entire book. Lestat stalked a victim for the first third of the book. He then spent the last two thirds of the book talking to the devil (and occasionally God). It was written as what appeared to be an extremely long-winded interview (think Interview with the Vampire with Lestat as the interviewer).
The basic premise of the novel and especially the detail with which Memnoch described the creation of Earth could have been enjoyable if Lestat didn't interrupt constantly with annoying and mostly pointless questions, as though reminding readers he was still there. Memnoch the Devil was dry reading and dragged along slowly. It was imaginative, but the way the story was told was extremely dull.
Only two things happened in this entire book. Lestat stalked a victim for the first third of the book. He then spent the last two thirds of the book talking to the devil (and occasionally God). It was written as what appeared to be an extremely long-winded interview (think Interview with the Vampire with Lestat as the interviewer).
The basic premise of the novel and especially the detail with which Memnoch described the creation of Earth could have been enjoyable if Lestat didn't interrupt constantly with annoying and mostly pointless questions, as though reminding readers he was still there. Memnoch the Devil was dry reading and dragged along slowly. It was imaginative, but the way the story was told was extremely dull.
July 25, 2014
Memnoch the Devil takes Lestat on an extremely long tour of the past, creation, angels, evolution, the passion of Christ and more – because he has a job proposition for the Brat Prince
Memnoch the Devil, also known as “the Bible according to Anne Rice” or “Anne Rice’s theological musings”. Perhaps even “Memnoch lectures you endlessly while Lestat practices his melodrama”.
What it isn’t, is much of a story or a plot. For a story or a plot to happen, well, things have to happen. Things do not happen. Oh there’s something tucked at the beginning. There’s something tucked at the end (a teeny tiny something). But that’s it
The rest of lecture. Info-dump. ONE LONG INFODUMP! One horrendously long, unbelievably unnecessary info-dump. An info-dump that I cannot even imagine having even the slightest relevance to the series. It really is just one long exposition on what the Bible could mean or a spin on it or on the nature of god. It’s a vast amount of world building that is utterly irrelevant to anything the vampires do in their daily lives
If Lestat weren’t being dragged around to occasionally declare himself impressed/awed/horrified it wouldn’t be relevant at all. The vampires are utterly superfluous to this story. All of the characters are utterly superfluous to this story. It may as well have been one long the logical lecture – inly told in the most long winded, dullest way possible.
I’d like to write more on this since it is the vast majority of the book, but there really is nothing more to say. It’s just a big splurge of theological theory pretending to be a novel. It’s completely irrelevant, not very interesting and probably better suited to analysis in a seminary than actually read as a novel in the ongoing vampire series.
But looking at the bits that actually involve the vampires rather than some of the dreariest and long winded exposition I have ever had the displeasure to ready, and it’s not much better or more sensible. Perhaps because these little add ons have just been forced to try and drag this info dump into her world
Lestat fell in love with his victim – I can buy that’s imply because within 10 seconds of meeting just about anyone, Lestat falls in love with them. It’s what he does, it allows even more pointless melodrama. So we get a really long and pointless backstory on this man and some books he read (which seem to be more part of the endless theological debate that basically comes down to “sex and pleasure and love are not bad things. Suffering is not valuable.” Seriously, that’s this entire damn theological diatribe that took an entire book to relate summed up in one sentence) which is never gain relevant. This goes on for countless pointless pages where we learn the pointless minutiae of someone who DOES NOT MATTER
Aaargh, this is something I’ve seen in Anne Rice’s novels time and again - especially n Queen of the Damned and The Witching Hour - every character briefly mentioned will get this endless examination of their lives. We do not need this much detail about every irrelevant side character
And there’s Dora, I’m going to leave aside the bizarre menstruation feeding, and just ask what is wrong with this woman?! Lestat comes to her having killed her dad and she starts calling him darling? Where did darling come from? What? Why?! And she goes from not caring about relics because they’re just physical objects and faith comes from within, to being completely enraptured and obsessive about... a relic. Her characterisation didn’t even begin to make sense
We do have the “everyone is bisexual” continuation – since even Lestat’s victims were. But it’s, again, not conveyed well. For a start the whole religious monologue that consumes this book puts the love for men and women as a dramatic holy amazing experience – and it’s always men and women. The divine heterosexual is really strong there.
And his new bisexual victim, Roger, slept with women and… boys? Why are we expressly saying “boys” there? And the only partner we learn any detail about is, of course, a woman – which is very reminiscent of the same problems in The Tale of the Body Thief
Read More
Memnoch the Devil, also known as “the Bible according to Anne Rice” or “Anne Rice’s theological musings”. Perhaps even “Memnoch lectures you endlessly while Lestat practices his melodrama”.
What it isn’t, is much of a story or a plot. For a story or a plot to happen, well, things have to happen. Things do not happen. Oh there’s something tucked at the beginning. There’s something tucked at the end (a teeny tiny something). But that’s it
The rest of lecture. Info-dump. ONE LONG INFODUMP! One horrendously long, unbelievably unnecessary info-dump. An info-dump that I cannot even imagine having even the slightest relevance to the series. It really is just one long exposition on what the Bible could mean or a spin on it or on the nature of god. It’s a vast amount of world building that is utterly irrelevant to anything the vampires do in their daily lives
If Lestat weren’t being dragged around to occasionally declare himself impressed/awed/horrified it wouldn’t be relevant at all. The vampires are utterly superfluous to this story. All of the characters are utterly superfluous to this story. It may as well have been one long the logical lecture – inly told in the most long winded, dullest way possible.
I’d like to write more on this since it is the vast majority of the book, but there really is nothing more to say. It’s just a big splurge of theological theory pretending to be a novel. It’s completely irrelevant, not very interesting and probably better suited to analysis in a seminary than actually read as a novel in the ongoing vampire series.
But looking at the bits that actually involve the vampires rather than some of the dreariest and long winded exposition I have ever had the displeasure to ready, and it’s not much better or more sensible. Perhaps because these little add ons have just been forced to try and drag this info dump into her world
Lestat fell in love with his victim – I can buy that’s imply because within 10 seconds of meeting just about anyone, Lestat falls in love with them. It’s what he does, it allows even more pointless melodrama. So we get a really long and pointless backstory on this man and some books he read (which seem to be more part of the endless theological debate that basically comes down to “sex and pleasure and love are not bad things. Suffering is not valuable.” Seriously, that’s this entire damn theological diatribe that took an entire book to relate summed up in one sentence) which is never gain relevant. This goes on for countless pointless pages where we learn the pointless minutiae of someone who DOES NOT MATTER
Aaargh, this is something I’ve seen in Anne Rice’s novels time and again - especially n Queen of the Damned and The Witching Hour - every character briefly mentioned will get this endless examination of their lives. We do not need this much detail about every irrelevant side character
And there’s Dora, I’m going to leave aside the bizarre menstruation feeding, and just ask what is wrong with this woman?! Lestat comes to her having killed her dad and she starts calling him darling? Where did darling come from? What? Why?! And she goes from not caring about relics because they’re just physical objects and faith comes from within, to being completely enraptured and obsessive about... a relic. Her characterisation didn’t even begin to make sense
We do have the “everyone is bisexual” continuation – since even Lestat’s victims were. But it’s, again, not conveyed well. For a start the whole religious monologue that consumes this book puts the love for men and women as a dramatic holy amazing experience – and it’s always men and women. The divine heterosexual is really strong there.
And his new bisexual victim, Roger, slept with women and… boys? Why are we expressly saying “boys” there? And the only partner we learn any detail about is, of course, a woman – which is very reminiscent of the same problems in The Tale of the Body Thief
Read More
March 27, 2008
This is one of Anne Rice's best works in my opinion. It is part of the vampire series, but you should be able to understand & enjoy the book without reading the others.
The vampire, Lestat, is taken to heaven, hell, and back in time to creation and during the Christ era by Memnoch, the devil. The story told is one very different than the Bible, but it's good. I love Anne Rice's books because she tells the story in a way that it could be true. Anyways, it's a good book, but if you get upset by people twisting the stories of the Bible, it's probably not for you. Go read one of her new books like Christ the Lord. Anything she wrote after she was "born-again."
The vampire, Lestat, is taken to heaven, hell, and back in time to creation and during the Christ era by Memnoch, the devil. The story told is one very different than the Bible, but it's good. I love Anne Rice's books because she tells the story in a way that it could be true. Anyways, it's a good book, but if you get upset by people twisting the stories of the Bible, it's probably not for you. Go read one of her new books like Christ the Lord. Anything she wrote after she was "born-again."
April 8, 2015
Finishing this book was a chore. A sad realization considering how much I loved Anne Rice's previous books, but boy am I happy to be done with this one.
My reading experience can be summarized the following way: Yay! Lestat!, ok I'm bored, holy mother of vodka this is dull, should I drink? maybe if I had a drink this would be easier, oh well- heaven sounds interesting, yup still bored, ARE YOU KDDING ME?, boooooooooreeeeeeeeeeed, OMFG EW and IS IT OVER YET?
There is virtually no narration. Instead there are chapters upon chapters upon chapters of Memnoch (the Devil's real name, didn't you know) talking about creation and how God doesn't really care about humans, how he, Memnoch, wants to save all the human souls and take them to heaven and how he's winning his bet against God but God is really the ultimate winner either way. Yes, from chapter 6 until chapter 21 (I kept count), it was all one big monologue with some tedious, unnecessary interruptions by a whiny Lestat. My theory? This book is not really a novel but Ms. Rice's essay on cosmology. A really long, boring, rambling essay on cosmology with some characters thrown in.
Half the time I was rolling my eyes at the implausibility of what written in the pages before me, like Memnoch asking Lestat to be his lieutenant. Why? What made Lestat so special? Why on earth would Christ tell Lestat to suck his blood? Would a woman really let a man/vampire she barely knew get under her skirt, between her legs and suck the period right out of her? Was there a point to all of this? Still don't know the answer to that one.
Lestat cries so much in this book that I felt obligated to create a drinking game. Take a shot every time Lestat bursts into tears! Had I actually gone through with it, I would've ended up in the ER with some severe alcohol poisoning.
I refuse to believe Lestat transformed into this whiny child. I fondly remember him from my teenage years as this bad-ass vampire with a killer sense of style, a wicked sense of humor and an ability to be lovable in spite of all his obvious flaws. That Lestat is completely absent in this book so if you're looking for that, you definitely won't find it here.
Forget my bitching and moaning. This book is magical. It made time slow to a crawl for nearly five days. That's some serious sorcery right there.
Was there an unnecessary dump of description? Oh sweet Moses, YES. Is Ms. Rice's writing style still beautiful and haunting? Absolutely. Did my migraine finally dissipate? Almost.
My reading experience can be summarized the following way: Yay! Lestat!, ok I'm bored, holy mother of vodka this is dull, should I drink? maybe if I had a drink this would be easier, oh well- heaven sounds interesting, yup still bored, ARE YOU KDDING ME?, boooooooooreeeeeeeeeeed, OMFG EW and IS IT OVER YET?
There is virtually no narration. Instead there are chapters upon chapters upon chapters of Memnoch (the Devil's real name, didn't you know) talking about creation and how God doesn't really care about humans, how he, Memnoch, wants to save all the human souls and take them to heaven and how he's winning his bet against God but God is really the ultimate winner either way. Yes, from chapter 6 until chapter 21 (I kept count), it was all one big monologue with some tedious, unnecessary interruptions by a whiny Lestat. My theory? This book is not really a novel but Ms. Rice's essay on cosmology. A really long, boring, rambling essay on cosmology with some characters thrown in.
Half the time I was rolling my eyes at the implausibility of what written in the pages before me, like Memnoch asking Lestat to be his lieutenant. Why? What made Lestat so special? Why on earth would Christ tell Lestat to suck his blood? Would a woman really let a man/vampire she barely knew get under her skirt, between her legs and suck the period right out of her? Was there a point to all of this? Still don't know the answer to that one.
Lestat cries so much in this book that I felt obligated to create a drinking game. Take a shot every time Lestat bursts into tears! Had I actually gone through with it, I would've ended up in the ER with some severe alcohol poisoning.
I refuse to believe Lestat transformed into this whiny child. I fondly remember him from my teenage years as this bad-ass vampire with a killer sense of style, a wicked sense of humor and an ability to be lovable in spite of all his obvious flaws. That Lestat is completely absent in this book so if you're looking for that, you definitely won't find it here.
Forget my bitching and moaning. This book is magical. It made time slow to a crawl for nearly five days. That's some serious sorcery right there.
Was there an unnecessary dump of description? Oh sweet Moses, YES. Is Ms. Rice's writing style still beautiful and haunting? Absolutely. Did my migraine finally dissipate? Almost.
November 16, 2007
At the time that I read this book I was an agnostic, pagan, ex-catholic, confused about religion person. Anne Rice's technique and passion is so persuasive that I was a true believer after reading this book. And this was before she converted back to Catholicism! She is just so powerful, her narrative technique is, I want to say, loving towards her reader. I think her love for the characters she's created makes that happen. Anyway, this one is a must for followers of the chronicles and fans of Lestat. My copy of this book is signed by the author and it was a pleasure to meet someone who's imagination was so unhampered that she could walk into the judeo-christian mythos with a vampire. I would say that this book forshadows her eventual work with the Jesus story.
July 21, 2024
Liked the first half, but Anne Rice managed to make the conversation with the Devil boring. The nuances weren't powerful enough for a reimagined story about Christianity.
August 12, 2007
This was the last Anne Rice book that I ever personally plan to read, because after reading this I went into a three month fit of depression.
The events in this book were just so powerful and terrible in some cases that my mind couldn't take it. While I'm not going to say that I wouldn't recommend the book to people, I would at least put up the warning that a person may want to be weary about it if they aren't of any particular religion.
Also, by the end of the book, Lestat had changed in many ways, and some terrible things had happened to him, making me feel horribly sorry for him, which was probably the oddest part of all.
The events in this book were just so powerful and terrible in some cases that my mind couldn't take it. While I'm not going to say that I wouldn't recommend the book to people, I would at least put up the warning that a person may want to be weary about it if they aren't of any particular religion.
Also, by the end of the book, Lestat had changed in many ways, and some terrible things had happened to him, making me feel horribly sorry for him, which was probably the oddest part of all.
March 14, 2009
In Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice has allowed herself to indulge in an orgy of purple prose. We hear so much about the lush greenery of the early Earth that we begin to forget what the story is about. And because of this, not much actually happens in the story. If this book were made into a film, in fact, it would probably be no more than 20 minutes long.
Aside from that, this isn't much of a "vampire chronicle." The purpose of this book seems not to be to tell a tale of the vampires, but only to further Rice's latent agenda to besmirch Christianity. Albeit, there's nothing wrong with that in itself; but I was expecting to hear about vampires, and instead I hear about nothing but God and The Devil.
If you plan to read this book (and perhaps you should if you plan to read the rest of the chronicles - which are worth a read, btw), I would highly recommend skimming through the 250-some pages at the middle of the book, paying close attention only to the beginning and end of the tale.
Aside from that, this isn't much of a "vampire chronicle." The purpose of this book seems not to be to tell a tale of the vampires, but only to further Rice's latent agenda to besmirch Christianity. Albeit, there's nothing wrong with that in itself; but I was expecting to hear about vampires, and instead I hear about nothing but God and The Devil.
If you plan to read this book (and perhaps you should if you plan to read the rest of the chronicles - which are worth a read, btw), I would highly recommend skimming through the 250-some pages at the middle of the book, paying close attention only to the beginning and end of the tale.
June 11, 2023
Eh this wasn't for me at all. Just wanted it to end. But I still want to continue with the series.
February 14, 2010
Phfft. Flarp. Argghh. This book was so stupid. I was really looking forward to reading the entire Vampire series especially after I really enjoyed "Tale of the Body Thief" but this one is just terrible. 3/4 of the book is a monologue by Memnoch which is so boring and parochial; he just keeps repeating himself. It's like Anne Rice forgot how to write. Lestat does almost nothing the whole book. Notable hilarious exception involves a woman's menstrual blood (which is mentioned about 6 times throughout the whole book with one final paragraph-long sentence that describes him drinking this blood. The word "nethermouth" is used! The writing is atrocious but I will press on with the next book.
June 22, 2010
5.0 stars. Except for The Queen of the Damned, this may be my favorite installment of the Vampire Chronicles. I loved the descriptions of both heaven and hell and the arguments between Lestat and Memnoch regarding the nature of good and evil. Highly Recommended!!!
December 6, 2011
I deeply admired "Interview' w/its rich writing style of place and period, and its dispassionate portrayal of characters like Claudia, who after being a 6 year old vampire for decades has become a steely-eyed predator(ahem instead of a 100 year old vampire vegan w/an insatiable desire to...sit through high school english again and again). The Vampire Lestat was equally good w/a wonderful shift in perspective that gave a great new spin to the character an events that transpired. The books that followed were slight but entertaining affairs, but this latest is awful. A thinly disguised telling of Anne Rice's personal mythology of the Abrahamic religions. Nothing new: The Devil is a misunderstood humanist, while God is a brutal patriarch who walked the walk but never forgot he was the Big Cheese.There's no need for Lestat, no need for Vampires. Just a long, very long, explanation by Lucifer about the nature of reality.
March 17, 2013
Seriously. Anne Rice was a Born Again Christian when she wrote this book. It shows. Too bad. Lestat as a wannabee saint? Please.
August 23, 2024
Genuinely what was she on here. This is...so bad.
Do you want to hear the Bible retold, but worse? Do you want a cameo by Jesus, but he's an asshole? Do you want to hear the Devil/Satan with a Dumber Name monologue for hundreds of pages while Lestat does a subpar version of baby Daniel's "And then what?" which is mostly him gasping melodramatically? Do you want Lestat lapping up menstrual blood in a deeply unsexy manner?
Well you're getting them!
And then, American Psycho-style, the whole narrative loops around and means nothing.
1.5, because at least this did bring us:
--An extremely funny opening line ("Lestat here.")
--Lestat ruffling Armand's hair
--Lestat drinking from Jesus being a thing that happened
--The ending where Lestat sees his reflection in the window of a closed car dealership, aka the passage that sparked the feud between Anne Rice and the founder of Popeye's chicken. Please do yourself a favor and read about this.
Do you want to hear the Bible retold, but worse? Do you want a cameo by Jesus, but he's an asshole? Do you want to hear the Devil/Satan with a Dumber Name monologue for hundreds of pages while Lestat does a subpar version of baby Daniel's "And then what?" which is mostly him gasping melodramatically? Do you want Lestat lapping up menstrual blood in a deeply unsexy manner?
Well you're getting them!
And then, American Psycho-style, the whole narrative loops around and means nothing.
1.5, because at least this did bring us:
--An extremely funny opening line ("Lestat here.")
--Lestat ruffling Armand's hair
--Lestat drinking from Jesus being a thing that happened
--The ending where Lestat sees his reflection in the window of a closed car dealership, aka the passage that sparked the feud between Anne Rice and the founder of Popeye's chicken. Please do yourself a favor and read about this.
March 26, 2020
I read the first three books in The Vampire Chronicles a long time ago, and I enjoyed them very much. A friend of mine told me to skip The Tale of the Body Thief, so that's why I chose to jump ahead and read this, the fifth book in the series (I got my copy at a thrift store for a dollar a few years back).
In this book, the vampire Lestat is stalking a drug overlord named Roger, who deals in cocaine and stolen art. Apparently, he's also killed a lot of people, he's supposed to be a really bad guy (remember most of Anne Rice's vampires only feed off the blood of "the evil-doer"). During this time Lestat discovers that Roger has a daughter who is a Televangelist and is deeply religious, and Lestat falls in love with her.
While Lestat is tracking Roger the cocaine lord, Lestat is being stalked by something else which turns out to be the Devil himself. The Devil reveals to Lestat that his real name is "Memnoch" and hates to be called Lucifer, Satan, or any of the other names the Devil is referred to. Memnoch also believes that he is not Evil, or at least that's what he insists to Lestat. Memnoch the Devil wants to get Lestat to work for him, and he takes him on a journey through Heaven as well as Hell, along with some other places and points in human history. There is also a long part in the book where Memnoch tells Lestat his whole story of how he began and how he came to be the Devil. It's a very long part of the book....think of that part as Interview with theVampire Devil
.
Now Anne Rice is good, but sometimes her stories get a little weird. For instance, there is one part in the book where Memnoch . Yikes, that is fucked up!
I liked this book a lot! I feel like some deeply religious people might have some problems with it, in fact I believe I did hear that it was somewhat controversial when it first came out. But again...I liked it a lot! It was different, and it was nice to return to Anne Rice's world of vampires after such a long time.
So five stars!!! Now I'm off to read Prince Lestat!
In this book, the vampire Lestat is stalking a drug overlord named Roger, who deals in cocaine and stolen art. Apparently, he's also killed a lot of people, he's supposed to be a really bad guy (remember most of Anne Rice's vampires only feed off the blood of "the evil-doer"). During this time Lestat discovers that Roger has a daughter who is a Televangelist and is deeply religious, and Lestat falls in love with her.
While Lestat is tracking Roger the cocaine lord, Lestat is being stalked by something else which turns out to be the Devil himself. The Devil reveals to Lestat that his real name is "Memnoch" and hates to be called Lucifer, Satan, or any of the other names the Devil is referred to. Memnoch also believes that he is not Evil, or at least that's what he insists to Lestat. Memnoch the Devil wants to get Lestat to work for him, and he takes him on a journey through Heaven as well as Hell, along with some other places and points in human history. There is also a long part in the book where Memnoch tells Lestat his whole story of how he began and how he came to be the Devil. It's a very long part of the book....think of that part as Interview with the
Now Anne Rice is good, but sometimes her stories get a little weird. For instance, there is one part in the book where Memnoch . Yikes, that is fucked up!
I liked this book a lot! I feel like some deeply religious people might have some problems with it, in fact I believe I did hear that it was somewhat controversial when it first came out. But again...I liked it a lot! It was different, and it was nice to return to Anne Rice's world of vampires after such a long time.
So five stars!!! Now I'm off to read Prince Lestat!
August 10, 2016
It would be a bit pointless to be reading Rice's books without having a notion of her journey through being catholic->agnostic->catholic->bitching about catholic church. Since last book of the series, The Tale of the Body Thief, Rice seems to be trying to write down and refine her thoughts on the way she perceives the catholics' religion, God, the Devil, and the moral obligations underlined by them. In the previous book this is somehow a secondary topic (barely touching the idea of the imperfect God and the learning Devil), the tale being more focused on Lestat's chance at redemption, at being human again and at finding out and really understanding what exactly it means to be human.
However, on Memnoch, Rice goes full-crazy-bitch on our asses. She gets insanely ambitious with the bases she's trying to cover and basically redefines the whole catholic story of creation/evolution, giving it a twist more alike to what she thought of it at the time. On this story she's focusing even more on her idea of an imperfect, violent, careless God ("why does he let all the shitty things happen" is a recurring question) and a learning and caring Devil, him being the one out of the two that actually tries to "end suffering".
Hell, Lestat is basically a secondary character from chapter 6-7 onto 21-22. But, to stop us from missing him, we do get some nice lines such as the Devil saying:
With this out of the way, Rice does fail quite a bit on this one. Since the last book you get the feeling that she was starting to shift towards a more dialogue-driven plot (with huge 30 page chapters of a conversation between Lestat and someone else, something not common in say, The Queen of the Damned, that had a lot of narrator-action), and this book comes to reinforce that. When you pair this huge "dialogue" chapters with the unnecessarily long story of creation, and Lestat interrupting the Devil every couple lines to whine about something (he keeps on getting more and more beaten down by it all, more desperate, purposeless.. he basically becomes a deeper version of Louis), it ends up as a damn slow book.
Again, her take on God and the Devil is an interesting one, and her portrayal of God reminded me to what Saramago wrote in his The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, but still, she could have maybe cut off the 30 page chapter describing heaven. Because, seriously, who cares what heaven would look like...
There's light, everyone's happy, end chapter. Take us to hell, lady!
But ah, the end of the book. If there's something Rice knows how to do is end a book. This one felt like she thought it would be the last book in the series, before she started reheating all the other vamps and telling their stories (and come on, they're not Lestat so again, who cares), and the final lines would've been great series-ending-lines:
Awesome.
However, on Memnoch, Rice goes full-crazy-bitch on our asses. She gets insanely ambitious with the bases she's trying to cover and basically redefines the whole catholic story of creation/evolution, giving it a twist more alike to what she thought of it at the time. On this story she's focusing even more on her idea of an imperfect, violent, careless God ("why does he let all the shitty things happen" is a recurring question) and a learning and caring Devil, him being the one out of the two that actually tries to "end suffering".
Hell, Lestat is basically a secondary character from chapter 6-7 onto 21-22. But, to stop us from missing him, we do get some nice lines such as the Devil saying:
Hell is where I straighten things out that He has made wrong. Hell is where I reintroduce a frame of mind that might have existed had suffering never destroyed it! Hell is where I teach men and women that they can be better than He is
With this out of the way, Rice does fail quite a bit on this one. Since the last book you get the feeling that she was starting to shift towards a more dialogue-driven plot (with huge 30 page chapters of a conversation between Lestat and someone else, something not common in say, The Queen of the Damned, that had a lot of narrator-action), and this book comes to reinforce that. When you pair this huge "dialogue" chapters with the unnecessarily long story of creation, and Lestat interrupting the Devil every couple lines to whine about something (he keeps on getting more and more beaten down by it all, more desperate, purposeless.. he basically becomes a deeper version of Louis), it ends up as a damn slow book.
Again, her take on God and the Devil is an interesting one, and her portrayal of God reminded me to what Saramago wrote in his The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, but still, she could have maybe cut off the 30 page chapter describing heaven. Because, seriously, who cares what heaven would look like...
There's light, everyone's happy, end chapter. Take us to hell, lady!
But ah, the end of the book. If there's something Rice knows how to do is end a book. This one felt like she thought it would be the last book in the series, before she started reheating all the other vamps and telling their stories (and come on, they're not Lestat so again, who cares), and the final lines would've been great series-ending-lines:
Awesome.
September 4, 2017
This is the 5th book in the Vampire Chronicles series, picking up after the events of the Tale of the Body Thief.
Lestat once again feels that he's being followed, except this time, it is not by a human being, but by the Devil himself. The Devil, who prefers to go by the name of Memnoch (and not Satan or Lucifer), approaches Lestat because he wants him to be his assistant. Memnoch takes Lestat through the story of Creation, takes him into Heaven and Hell, and explains his disagreements with God.
I found this book to be utterly fascinating, and I think it's because I am obsessed with the idea of angels and the supernatural lately. Anne Rice's take on Creationism and religion is just superb and I was thoroughly engrossed and drawn in. What I also enjoyed, was knowing that while Anne Rice was writing this, she was figuring out what her beliefs were, and I liked being able to go on the journey with her.
This was very different to the other books in this series, but I thought that it was fresh and it has really kept my interest in the Vampire Chronicles alive. I will definitely continue with this series going forward, as and when I get my hands on the rest of the books.
Lestat once again feels that he's being followed, except this time, it is not by a human being, but by the Devil himself. The Devil, who prefers to go by the name of Memnoch (and not Satan or Lucifer), approaches Lestat because he wants him to be his assistant. Memnoch takes Lestat through the story of Creation, takes him into Heaven and Hell, and explains his disagreements with God.
I found this book to be utterly fascinating, and I think it's because I am obsessed with the idea of angels and the supernatural lately. Anne Rice's take on Creationism and religion is just superb and I was thoroughly engrossed and drawn in. What I also enjoyed, was knowing that while Anne Rice was writing this, she was figuring out what her beliefs were, and I liked being able to go on the journey with her.
This was very different to the other books in this series, but I thought that it was fresh and it has really kept my interest in the Vampire Chronicles alive. I will definitely continue with this series going forward, as and when I get my hands on the rest of the books.
July 24, 2020
2 Stars
Review:
This wasn't my favorite in the series, so I'll keep this brief.
Things I Liked:
- I admittedly do not know much about the details of the history and mythology of Christianity, so I don't know how much this book actually aligns with that, but Anne Rice's take on things here with Heaven, Hell, Creationism, evolution, angels, and Satan was interesting in its own way. And I liked how this book combined Christianity and evolution.
- This quote. Seriously, it just cracks me up.
Things I Disliked:
- I read these books because I like the vampires. Those are the characters I've come to know and love and be invested in. But this wasn't about them. I mean, maybe something from this book will come up in a future book or something, but this was about Memnoch and the creation of the earth and the evolution of Man. You could take the vampires out, replace Lestat with any random person, and this would be the same. The vampires were hardly in it
- On a similar note, there was hardly a plot because the entire book was Lestat's victim telling his life story and then Memnoch telling his life story. And honestly, this whole life story thing is getting tiring. Almost every book in this series is full of characters literally explaining their life stories, but who actually does that???
- Dora was weird in an unrealistic sort of way. Like, when Lestat came back and randomly decided to rip off her underwear and drink her period blood, without asking her permission, in front of both Armand and David, she just let him, like it was a totally normal thing. And I'm not even sure that was the weirdest thing about her.
- The book was just a slog. I had to force myself to keep reading.
My review is sub-par, but this one that I came across describes my thoughts perfectly and is also entertaining, so check it out if you want more thoughts. Overall, I was just disappointed in this one because the vampire characters I've come to know and love (or at least be intrigued by) were hardly in it.
*I’ve read this book multiple times. This review was written after my 2nd read.*
Reread Ratings:
No Rating (1st Read – mid/late 2000s)
2 Stars (2nd Read – 2018)
Recommended For:
Fans of Books 1-4 in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Anyone who likes beautiful yet deadly vampires, descriptive writing, and amazingly complex characters. (Well, maybe not this particular book in the series.)
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight
Review:
This wasn't my favorite in the series, so I'll keep this brief.
Things I Liked:
- I admittedly do not know much about the details of the history and mythology of Christianity, so I don't know how much this book actually aligns with that, but Anne Rice's take on things here with Heaven, Hell, Creationism, evolution, angels, and Satan was interesting in its own way. And I liked how this book combined Christianity and evolution.
- This quote. Seriously, it just cracks me up.
"Armand envies you and spies on you far more than you might think."
"I hear Armand and I see him and I ignore him," [Lestat] said.
Things I Disliked:
- I read these books because I like the vampires. Those are the characters I've come to know and love and be invested in. But this wasn't about them. I mean, maybe something from this book will come up in a future book or something, but this was about Memnoch and the creation of the earth and the evolution of Man. You could take the vampires out, replace Lestat with any random person, and this would be the same. The vampires were hardly in it
- On a similar note, there was hardly a plot because the entire book was Lestat's victim telling his life story and then Memnoch telling his life story. And honestly, this whole life story thing is getting tiring. Almost every book in this series is full of characters literally explaining their life stories, but who actually does that???
- Dora was weird in an unrealistic sort of way. Like, when Lestat came back and randomly decided to rip off her underwear and drink her period blood, without asking her permission, in front of both Armand and David, she just let him, like it was a totally normal thing. And I'm not even sure that was the weirdest thing about her.
- The book was just a slog. I had to force myself to keep reading.
My review is sub-par, but this one that I came across describes my thoughts perfectly and is also entertaining, so check it out if you want more thoughts. Overall, I was just disappointed in this one because the vampire characters I've come to know and love (or at least be intrigued by) were hardly in it.
*I’ve read this book multiple times. This review was written after my 2nd read.*
Reread Ratings:
No Rating (1st Read – mid/late 2000s)
2 Stars (2nd Read – 2018)
Recommended For:
Fans of Books 1-4 in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Anyone who likes beautiful yet deadly vampires, descriptive writing, and amazingly complex characters. (Well, maybe not this particular book in the series.)
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight
February 15, 2018
When I started out reading this series, a friend warned me that some books would be heavily impacted by Christian notions. Now, this is not a bad thing per se but I tend to struggle with books that focus too much on religious aspects. I thought the worst was behind me when I finished book 3. Book 4 (The Tale of the Body Thief) was amazing and I had great hopes for book 5.
A book that features 'devil' in its title might easily be about religion but I wasn't prepared for the amount of theological discussion that was thrown my way.
Let's be honest, the first half of the book was pretty amazing. Lestat, being his obsessive self, still struggles with the happenings surrounding the Body Thief while he stalks his newest victim. Getting closer to his next kill he notices someone following him with heavy steps. Steps belonging to the devil and he needs to ask himself 'What does a vampire do when the devil chases him?'
I enjoyed my time with this part of the story. Unfortunately, the pacing took a turn for the worse when they started to go through basically thousands of years of religious development. While this crash course did hold some interesting aspects, I don't want to read chapter after chapter about it.
About 75% in the book I understood that this book was the build-up for the next one. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to the solution. I hope I get to read the next book soon because I might forget all about this one soon.
Nevertheless, Lestat is still a pretty cool character - I like his way of looking at things. Always falling way too quickly for any kind of obsession and ignoring every rational voice around him. In this regard, David is one of my favorite characters.
To be honest, I'm torn about Memnoch - something between 'He's a bore' and his character holds a lot of potentials.
I'm still looking forward to the next book in the series and hope that it will focus more on those aspects that I love about the series.
A book that features 'devil' in its title might easily be about religion but I wasn't prepared for the amount of theological discussion that was thrown my way.
Let's be honest, the first half of the book was pretty amazing. Lestat, being his obsessive self, still struggles with the happenings surrounding the Body Thief while he stalks his newest victim. Getting closer to his next kill he notices someone following him with heavy steps. Steps belonging to the devil and he needs to ask himself 'What does a vampire do when the devil chases him?'
I enjoyed my time with this part of the story. Unfortunately, the pacing took a turn for the worse when they started to go through basically thousands of years of religious development. While this crash course did hold some interesting aspects, I don't want to read chapter after chapter about it.
About 75% in the book I understood that this book was the build-up for the next one. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to the solution. I hope I get to read the next book soon because I might forget all about this one soon.
Nevertheless, Lestat is still a pretty cool character - I like his way of looking at things. Always falling way too quickly for any kind of obsession and ignoring every rational voice around him. In this regard, David is one of my favorite characters.
To be honest, I'm torn about Memnoch - something between 'He's a bore' and his character holds a lot of potentials.
I'm still looking forward to the next book in the series and hope that it will focus more on those aspects that I love about the series.
February 17, 2018
When Anne Rice fans are asked which of her books they feel most passionate about — whether positively or negatively — the answer is almost invariable: Memnoch the Devil. Acting as a bit of a precursor to Rice’s Christian fiction novels of the mid-00s, this book is tonally out of step with the previous Vampire Chronicles (save for, perhaps, Interview With the Vampire, as this too has the ‘feel’ of an interview in spots) And seems to be cause for great joy, and disgust, in many readers.
Lestat wants to know the will of God, and the Devil: what are their purposes for him? Which does he serve? What is Heaven, what is Hell, what is the true story of creation, where and why is purgatory? These questions and more Memnoch, Lestat’s guide of the spiritual regions, are answered. This one is steeped in biblical and evolutionary history; I found it fascinating but can understand those who can’t get on with this book.
Perhaps more than anything, this novel is remembered for the infamous scene in which Lestat feeds on the bleeding crucified Christ. That moment, I think, sums up this book well. This certainly isn’t for all readers, but I had a great time. This book offered up questions I often find myself pondering and will continue pondering for time to come. The idea of an imperfect, foolish God and a tricky, boastful, but generally well-natured Devil (or Memnoch) is intriguing . . . not to mention the concept of what Hell really is. But I won’t spoil that!
I’m totally addicted to this series now and am blowing through the books. I don’t want it to end.
Lestat wants to know the will of God, and the Devil: what are their purposes for him? Which does he serve? What is Heaven, what is Hell, what is the true story of creation, where and why is purgatory? These questions and more Memnoch, Lestat’s guide of the spiritual regions, are answered. This one is steeped in biblical and evolutionary history; I found it fascinating but can understand those who can’t get on with this book.
Perhaps more than anything, this novel is remembered for the infamous scene in which Lestat feeds on the bleeding crucified Christ. That moment, I think, sums up this book well. This certainly isn’t for all readers, but I had a great time. This book offered up questions I often find myself pondering and will continue pondering for time to come. The idea of an imperfect, foolish God and a tricky, boastful, but generally well-natured Devil (or Memnoch) is intriguing . . . not to mention the concept of what Hell really is. But I won’t spoil that!
I’m totally addicted to this series now and am blowing through the books. I don’t want it to end.
August 20, 2008
I "L O V E D" this book. Very intriguing with its ideas and topics, highly unusual and controversial to say the least. In short, an awesome story of the vampire chronicles that just continues to mesmerize its readers. Same series, totally different direction. A. Rice is a talented author. Hard to put this down.
August 14, 2017
Here we are on book number 5 for the Vampire Chronicles. The narrator has to this point remained the same and has done an immaculate job bringing all of these characters to life.
Lestat is once again sensing a presence around him. But this isn’t just any presence…. This is an evil presence. Could it in fact be the devil himself?
What you must understand about Lesat is that through this entire series he seems to be warring with himself. He just cannot come to terms with what he is. He doesn’t know if he is evil, whether he has a conscience, or if he is an angel. He seeks answers to life’s most unanswerable questions. It’s a never-ending battle with Lestat. He can’t accept what he is but can’t imagine being any other way.
So, given the chance to visit Heaven and Hell, meet God and the Devil, Lestat hopes he will finally get his answers.
While this book’s pace kept up with the Tale of the Body Thief, I found it less interesting. Parts of it intrigued me, but not to the same degree. I am not a religious person in the least and the bible references were for the most part over my head. I wasn’t raised with any sort of understanding of the bible. But I still found the story to be for the most part, enjoyable.
My biggest issue with this book was Lestat’s literal obsession with drinking a woman’s period blood. I’m sorry, but there are VERY few things that make me feel as if a line has been crossed. And for me, that was just too much. I could not handle that. I felt that he was thinking about it or talking about or doing it every other paragraph. It was repulsive. I read about zombies eating brains and intestines, people being gutted, someone defecating…all of that is fine. But seriously, you are a vile person to write about a vampire eating period blood, Anne Rice. That’s just nasty.
It was the one thing that took me out of the book. It completely outshines anything else that happens in that book and will most likely be what I recall first when thinking of this book. I was close to calling it quits while reading it but soldiered on.
Other than that aspect of the book, it was a good read. It was a quick and fast-paced read that called a lot of questions of morality to mind. If you don’t mind a vampire feeding on a woman’s menses, you’ll enjoy this book!
Lestat is once again sensing a presence around him. But this isn’t just any presence…. This is an evil presence. Could it in fact be the devil himself?
What you must understand about Lesat is that through this entire series he seems to be warring with himself. He just cannot come to terms with what he is. He doesn’t know if he is evil, whether he has a conscience, or if he is an angel. He seeks answers to life’s most unanswerable questions. It’s a never-ending battle with Lestat. He can’t accept what he is but can’t imagine being any other way.
So, given the chance to visit Heaven and Hell, meet God and the Devil, Lestat hopes he will finally get his answers.
While this book’s pace kept up with the Tale of the Body Thief, I found it less interesting. Parts of it intrigued me, but not to the same degree. I am not a religious person in the least and the bible references were for the most part over my head. I wasn’t raised with any sort of understanding of the bible. But I still found the story to be for the most part, enjoyable.
My biggest issue with this book was Lestat’s literal obsession with drinking a woman’s period blood. I’m sorry, but there are VERY few things that make me feel as if a line has been crossed. And for me, that was just too much. I could not handle that. I felt that he was thinking about it or talking about or doing it every other paragraph. It was repulsive. I read about zombies eating brains and intestines, people being gutted, someone defecating…all of that is fine. But seriously, you are a vile person to write about a vampire eating period blood, Anne Rice. That’s just nasty.
It was the one thing that took me out of the book. It completely outshines anything else that happens in that book and will most likely be what I recall first when thinking of this book. I was close to calling it quits while reading it but soldiered on.
Other than that aspect of the book, it was a good read. It was a quick and fast-paced read that called a lot of questions of morality to mind. If you don’t mind a vampire feeding on a woman’s menses, you’ll enjoy this book!
September 12, 2015
Lestat has come a long way from whence we first met him. He has known mortal pain and chose his vampiric fate over a chance at salvation. Lestat sought to find the answers to his unanswerable questions; where is God? Am I damned? Now, Lestat will find the answers to these questions.
We meet Memnoch, the devil. In this book Lestat will tell us all the secrets of heaven and hell.. Mortals and the undead alike have gotten this story all wrong..and Memnoch is here to set the story straight.
Yes, the devil is an outcast, but was the banishment just? What did Memnoch learn when he was cast down to earth to live as mortals do? Lestat is awakened by this knowledge and as a result, so are we.
Essentially, through this conversation between Memnoch and Leatat we see the biblical history and creation of mankind and life as we know it. It is interesting to see God written this way, to see biblical history written this way, and when you throw vampires into the mix, it's always a fun time..
One of the things that I love about this book, and what sets it apart for me from the rest of the series (so far), is that Memnoch the Devil isn't just a work of fiction. This book has philosophical undertones to it that stick with you. No matter what your beliefs may be, this book will make you sit back and think. The truly genius thing about this is, as you ponder and digest all these events so does Lestat, and in this sense, you truly take the journey with him.
I get that this book may not be for everyone. There are a lot of religious views, however different from societies main beliefs, drenched throughout her book. Perchance we are seeing Anne Rice's own struggles with religion here, but I felt that overall the tale was interesting and thought provoking.
The end of the book was amazing to me. What happens to Lestat, when he essentially goes crazy, is both endearing, funny and sad at the same time. I literally fell in love with his character. I saw the whole journey of the story and I wished for more...
October 9, 2014
If only Anne Rice weren't a Catholic.
This book is wretched. Truly horrible. I could only get through about half of this badly written cosmological cruft. The story is so utterly ridiculous; Rice apparently thinks she's written a successor to Faust, but instead she ends up indulging her Catholic fantasies about God and the Devil and all that other bullshit.
This book could have been awesome. If she had only told the story of David's new life, how he is adjusting, how he is interacting with the Talamasca... A novel about David's sudden death and an investigation by his previous employers would have been amazing.
Instead, we get the worst parts of the Queen of the Damned (the stupid Gretchen bit, the nonsensical David 'hearing God and the Devil' arguing bullshit, and Lestat's constant whining and naiveté) expanded into a really terrible long story.
There's almost no plot. Ever since Interview with the Vampire, these novels have always been heavy on exposition, but this one takes the cake. It's so boring and predictable; I could not stop my eyes from constantly rolling.
It's almost like after several successful books, someone stopped editing Rice's novels and they allow her to put whatever bizarre nonsense into the book; for example, every two pages she is mentioning how delicious smelling Dora's period-blood is. She goes on these weird ramblings where the narrator is arguing with himself about his own word choice... The whole thing reeks of bad editing (or no editing at all).
I don't think I will even continue this book series, even though my goal was to read them all in preparation for Prince Lestat to come out... After having read this I think I'm going to wash my hands of this series entirely.
Another reviewer said the book would more aptly be called “the Bible according to Anne Rice” or “Anne Rice’s theological musings”. Perhaps even “Memnoch lectures you endlessly while Lestat practices his melodrama”.
This is so true, especially the last one.
Putrid.
This book is wretched. Truly horrible. I could only get through about half of this badly written cosmological cruft. The story is so utterly ridiculous; Rice apparently thinks she's written a successor to Faust, but instead she ends up indulging her Catholic fantasies about God and the Devil and all that other bullshit.
This book could have been awesome. If she had only told the story of David's new life, how he is adjusting, how he is interacting with the Talamasca... A novel about David's sudden death and an investigation by his previous employers would have been amazing.
Instead, we get the worst parts of the Queen of the Damned (the stupid Gretchen bit, the nonsensical David 'hearing God and the Devil' arguing bullshit, and Lestat's constant whining and naiveté) expanded into a really terrible long story.
There's almost no plot. Ever since Interview with the Vampire, these novels have always been heavy on exposition, but this one takes the cake. It's so boring and predictable; I could not stop my eyes from constantly rolling.
It's almost like after several successful books, someone stopped editing Rice's novels and they allow her to put whatever bizarre nonsense into the book; for example, every two pages she is mentioning how delicious smelling Dora's period-blood is. She goes on these weird ramblings where the narrator is arguing with himself about his own word choice... The whole thing reeks of bad editing (or no editing at all).
I don't think I will even continue this book series, even though my goal was to read them all in preparation for Prince Lestat to come out... After having read this I think I'm going to wash my hands of this series entirely.
Another reviewer said the book would more aptly be called “the Bible according to Anne Rice” or “Anne Rice’s theological musings”. Perhaps even “Memnoch lectures you endlessly while Lestat practices his melodrama”.
This is so true, especially the last one.
Putrid.
July 1, 2023
Giving this 3.5! It wasn’t better or worse than the last book I read in the series, it’s equal so it deserves an equal rating.
Though this book was a hell of a mindfuck, trying to keep up with all the information and the explanations and the at times pure confusion what was going on! The beginning of the book started so strong and it was so wild, the revelation ghosts were real, god and the devil? It was interesting and tied in stuff we learnt in previous books really well! Though I can’t wholeheartedly give it more than 3.5 for the sheer “what the fuck”ness of the whole concept of the book…like purely what the hell happened here lmaoooo! The blood of Christ?? Essentially Time travel?? Entertaining nonetheless!
Though this book was a hell of a mindfuck, trying to keep up with all the information and the explanations and the at times pure confusion what was going on! The beginning of the book started so strong and it was so wild, the revelation ghosts were real, god and the devil? It was interesting and tied in stuff we learnt in previous books really well! Though I can’t wholeheartedly give it more than 3.5 for the sheer “what the fuck”ness of the whole concept of the book…like purely what the hell happened here lmaoooo! The blood of Christ?? Essentially Time travel?? Entertaining nonetheless!
August 4, 2010
When a writer pens down a plot based on the evergreen bestselling book, people are bound to sit up and take notice. This I suppose was Anne Rice's idea behind Memnoch the Devil. I haven't read even one of the Vampire Chronicles and the only other Anne Rice book I read to date was a load of crap named 'Violin'. Memnoch surprised me with its vast scope but starting off with an intriguing plot thread, it soon degenerated to a very flat and predictable ending.
Consider this, the devil taking along a vampire on a tour of heaven,hell and earth through the bloody alleyways of history to explain to the vampire why he should take sides with him against god. Interesting isn't it ?? So it was, till about midway through the book and then it was like a trapdoor opened somewhere and the entire stage and actors vanished and were replaced by puppets. There are dialogs galore about the nature good and evil, god and devil, salvation and damnation and all things spiritual from a Christian concept. Needless to say I was gripped with this style of story telling as I am not familiar with the concept of Christianity as a whole ( I am yet to read the bible). Even to someone as uninitiated as me, the plot seemed to meander after sometime and the conclusion was an obvious one.
The concept of the devil has always posed a lot of questions for me, the fact that such an antithesis exists to the concept of god has baffled and interested me. I hoped to find some answers, but now I have more questions...
Consider this, the devil taking along a vampire on a tour of heaven,hell and earth through the bloody alleyways of history to explain to the vampire why he should take sides with him against god. Interesting isn't it ?? So it was, till about midway through the book and then it was like a trapdoor opened somewhere and the entire stage and actors vanished and were replaced by puppets. There are dialogs galore about the nature good and evil, god and devil, salvation and damnation and all things spiritual from a Christian concept. Needless to say I was gripped with this style of story telling as I am not familiar with the concept of Christianity as a whole ( I am yet to read the bible). Even to someone as uninitiated as me, the plot seemed to meander after sometime and the conclusion was an obvious one.
The concept of the devil has always posed a lot of questions for me, the fact that such an antithesis exists to the concept of god has baffled and interested me. I hoped to find some answers, but now I have more questions...
December 31, 2017
still 4 stars. noooooo, don't go! I'm not ready for my revisit to be over
October 11, 2023
feel like i got tricked into attending the anne rice school of theology 👎
May 29, 2021
[3.5/5]
Une première partie intéressante mais une seconde nettement plus laborieuse, notamment à cause de cette abondance de religion et surtout un quasi monologue sans fin sur plusieurs chapitres. Cependant, ça ne m'a pas déplu d'y croiser un Lestat torturé ; c'est d'ailleurs la première fois qu'il me semble aussi empreint d'humanité.
Une première partie intéressante mais une seconde nettement plus laborieuse, notamment à cause de cette abondance de religion et surtout un quasi monologue sans fin sur plusieurs chapitres. Cependant, ça ne m'a pas déplu d'y croiser un Lestat torturé ; c'est d'ailleurs la première fois qu'il me semble aussi empreint d'humanité.
January 9, 2015
Just when I thought that this series couldn’t get any deeper, MEMNOCH THE DEVIL became the next book to read in this incredibly deep, rich and complex vampire mythology. I had previously heard from some reviewers that the previous book in this series, THE TALE OF THE BODY THEIF, is where the series begins to take a turn for the worse and that this book is where it all bottomed out and became virtually unreadable and to those reviewers I ask: ‘Did we read the same books??’
If those reviewers were looking for a straight up vampire novel, then yes, they were most likely disappointed then for that aspect. If the highly religious read this book and are the type that can’t separate their personal beliefs from reading a work of fiction, then yes, they were also probably highly offended by this book and would in turn not find any kind of enjoyment out of it either.
MEMNOCH THE DEVIL is a controversial work, without question, as it takes us on an examination of the Christian religion, with Lestat being the central character that is faced with his grandest moment yet of self reflection and questioning of everything he ever thought true in his 200+ years of existence as the Devil himself takes him through the story of God, Jesus, Heaven, Hell and creation.
Do I agree with the views in this book? Do I think this book is a revelation of what is REALLY going on in the spiritual world? The answer to both of those questions would be no. I do however think that Anne Rice wrote an extraordinarily deep work of fiction, so deep that if one finds themselves open-minded enough, it may in fact place some imaginative wonder into your thinking about just how little we really know of the afterlife, creation, how we got here etc; the likes of which you may have never pondered before. And to me, stories like that, are the very best written works you can possibly read!
To those doubting this book….just read it! You may find yourself being very impressed like I was. I enjoyed this book immensely, so much in fact that it may be my favorite one of the series so far!
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