Monday 24 June 2013

What I've Been Reading:
'Interview With the Vampire: Claudia's Story' by Ashley Marie Witter and Anne Rice

I have been a huge fan of Anne Rice's 'Vampire Chronicles' since I first discovered 'Interview with the Vampire' when I was 16 years old. She was the writer who introduced me to the Vampire canon and her writing has really influenced my reading habits.

While browsing through the graphic novel section at my local library, I came across this little gem, a graphic novel representation of Claudia's plot line, told from her perspective. I simply had to read this.

I've always been captivated by the idea of Claudia, of a child turned into a Vampire; a mind that grows from childish notions to an adult understanding of the world while trapped, frozen in time forever in the fragile body of a young child. How torturous it would be to remain a child forever, to have people treat you as an immature being when you are a decades old being, have seen a lifetime of change and several lifetimes of death.

This adaptation didn't really add anything to the story told in 'Interview with the Vampire', in fact it was pretty much just Claudia's scenes transferred from word to image. However, the images were so beautiful that I'm willing to overlook that. The drawings were in sepia throughout, with splashes of brilliant red to depict blood, whether the life-giving blood drained from victims or the blood tears Claudia frequently cries. I think the lack of colour was significant, added something to the story. Colour would have detracted from the storytelling, would have made Claudia's melancholia less dramatic and vivid.

I enjoyed this graphic novel and would recommend it to any fan of Anne Rice or even anybody who simply enjoys a good graphic novel.



4/5

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