vampire-scripture

[vampire-scripture]

I had an idea of Lestat as the man of action, the man that could do things that I never could, the man who could make decisions that I’d never had the nerve to make, and the person who could go through life joyfully in spite of the questions that torment me, the doubts that torment me, the horror of death that torments me. (...) [Lestat] never really absorbs a tragic definition of himself for very long. He always comes back laughing at everything and just rebounding. It may take him a few years, but he always does it. I really wanted to explore a personality different from my own. - Anne Rice (source)

[vampire-scripture]

Hi! Thank you so much, the ones I have read posted as Lestat are the ones leading to the publication of Prince Lestat in 2014, and did not find any reference. But I am going through the other posts, and as soon as I find them I will post them ^^

Lestat, Louis and Armand complaining about each other's books

This is not an exhaustive list, if you find any others and are willing to share, I'd be eternally grateful ^^.

I read [Interview with the Vampire] over and over. And then in a moment of contemptible anger, I shredded it to bits. - Lestat, The Vampire Lestat

As for the lies [Louis] told, the mistakes he made, well, I forgive him his excess of imagination, his bitterness, and his vanity, which was, after all, never very great - Lestat, The Vampire Lestat

"That's Louis's language," Armand said patiently. "Please don't quote that book to me" - Queen of the Damned

Interview with the Vampire, of all preposterous titles! – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

"Weep. I'd like to see you weep. I've read a great deal about your weeping in the pages of your books but I've never seen you weep with my own eyes." "Ah, that makes you out to be a perfect liar," [Lestat] said furiously. "You described my weeping in your miserable memoir in a scene which we both know did not take place!" - Lestat and Louis, The Tale of the Body Thief

That's why [Louis] described me so vividly yet poorly in his book over and over again – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

I insulted [Louis's] writing all the time. That was a joke. Well, sort of a joke – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

Louis had poured out his story, published under the absurd title Interview with the Vampire – Armand, The Vampire Armand

But it's the way [Lestat] describes things that happen to him that maddens me, the way that he connects one incident to another as though all these random and grisly occurrences were in fact links in some significant chain. They are not. They are capers. And he knows it. But he must make a gutter theatrical out of stubbing his toe - Armand, The Vampire Armand

And it was Louis’s outrageous lies about me, intentional and unintentional (some people should not be granted a poetic license) - Lestat, Blood Communion

Bonus:

Louis's testament: "Behold, the void." And Lestat's history: "And this and this and this, and it means nothing." - Khayman, Queen of the Damned

She'd tried to read the Vampire Lestat's book - the whole history of Dead guys back to ancient times and all but there were just too many big words and konk, she was asleep. (...) and the first one, the one with the title she could never get straight, something like "conversations with the vampire," or "talking with the vampire," or "getting to meet the vampire," or something like that. Davis would read out loud from that one sometimes, but Baby Jenks couldn't take it in, snore! (...) the book was full of stuff about banana leaves and iron railings and Spanish moss. - Baby Jenks, Queen of the Damned

[vampire-scripture]

Thank you so much, here is the one you mention in your tags (I love it ^^):

Even [Louis's] unusual beauty and unfailing charm were something of a secret to him. When you read his statement that I made him a vampire because I coveted his plantation house, you can write that off to modesty more easily than stupidity, I suppose. - Lestat, The Vampire Lestat

Lestat, Louis and Armand complaining about each other's books

This is not an exhaustive list, if you find any others and are willing to share, I'd be eternally grateful ^^.

I read [Interview with the Vampire] over and over. And then in a moment of contemptible anger, I shredded it to bits. - Lestat, The Vampire Lestat

As for the lies [Louis] told, the mistakes he made, well, I forgive him his excess of imagination, his bitterness, and his vanity, which was, after all, never very great - Lestat, The Vampire Lestat

"That's Louis's language," Armand said patiently. "Please don't quote that book to me" - Queen of the Damned

Interview with the Vampire, of all preposterous titles! – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

"Weep. I'd like to see you weep. I've read a great deal about your weeping in the pages of your books but I've never seen you weep with my own eyes." "Ah, that makes you out to be a perfect liar," [Lestat] said furiously. "You described my weeping in your miserable memoir in a scene which we both know did not take place!" - Lestat and Louis, The Tale of the Body Thief

That's why [Louis] described me so vividly yet poorly in his book over and over again – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

I insulted [Louis's] writing all the time. That was a joke. Well, sort of a joke – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

Louis had poured out his story, published under the absurd title Interview with the Vampire – Armand, The Vampire Armand

But it's the way [Lestat] describes things that happen to him that maddens me, the way that he connects one incident to another as though all these random and grisly occurrences were in fact links in some significant chain. They are not. They are capers. And he knows it. But he must make a gutter theatrical out of stubbing his toe - Armand, The Vampire Armand

And it was Louis’s outrageous lies about me, intentional and unintentional (some people should not be granted a poetic license) - Lestat, Blood Communion

Bonus:

Louis's testament: "Behold, the void." And Lestat's history: "And this and this and this, and it means nothing." - Khayman, Queen of the Damned

She'd tried to read the Vampire Lestat's book - the whole history of Dead guys back to ancient times and all but there were just too many big words and konk, she was asleep. (...) and the first one, the one with the title she could never get straight, something like "conversations with the vampire," or "talking with the vampire," or "getting to meet the vampire," or something like that. Davis would read out loud from that one sometimes, but Baby Jenks couldn't take it in, snore! (...) the book was full of stuff about banana leaves and iron railings and Spanish moss. - Baby Jenks, Queen of the Damned

[vampire-scripture]

Lestat, Louis and Armand complaining about each other's books

This is not an exhaustive list, if you find any others and are willing to share, I'd be eternally grateful ^^.

I read [Interview with the Vampire] over and over. And then in a moment of contemptible anger, I shredded it to bits. - Lestat, The Vampire Lestat

As for the lies [Louis] told, the mistakes he made, well, I forgive him his excess of imagination, his bitterness, and his vanity, which was, after all, never very great - Lestat, The Vampire Lestat

"That's Louis's language," Armand said patiently. "Please don't quote that book to me" - Queen of the Damned

Interview with the Vampire, of all preposterous titles! – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

"Weep. I'd like to see you weep. I've read a great deal about your weeping in the pages of your books but I've never seen you weep with my own eyes." "Ah, that makes you out to be a perfect liar," [Lestat] said furiously. "You described my weeping in your miserable memoir in a scene which we both know did not take place!" - Lestat and Louis, The Tale of the Body Thief

That's why [Louis] described me so vividly yet poorly in his book over and over again – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

I insulted [Louis's] writing all the time. That was a joke. Well, sort of a joke – Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

Louis had poured out his story, published under the absurd title Interview with the Vampire – Armand, The Vampire Armand

But it's the way [Lestat] describes things that happen to him that maddens me, the way that he connects one incident to another as though all these random and grisly occurrences were in fact links in some significant chain. They are not. They are capers. And he knows it. But he must make a gutter theatrical out of stubbing his toe - Armand, The Vampire Armand

And it was Louis’s outrageous lies about me, intentional and unintentional (some people should not be granted a poetic license) - Lestat, Blood Communion

Bonus:

Louis's testament: "Behold, the void." And Lestat's history: "And this and this and this, and it means nothing." - Khayman, Queen of the Damned

She'd tried to read the Vampire Lestat's book - the whole history of Dead guys back to ancient times and all but there were just too many big words and konk, she was asleep. (...) and the first one, the one with the title she could never get straight, something like "conversations with the vampire," or "talking with the vampire," or "getting to meet the vampire," or something like that. Davis would read out loud from that one sometimes, but Baby Jenks couldn't take it in, snore! (...) the book was full of stuff about banana leaves and iron railings and Spanish moss. - Baby Jenks, Queen of the Damned

[vampire-scripture]

[vampire-scripture]

This blog is intended to be an appreciation of Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. To enjoy her written word. It will consist of book quotes (and Rice's quotes / videos) compiled by theme, parallels, characters or things I find interesting.

[vampire-scripture]

Why did Lestat become a Rock star?

So, since there seems to be conflicting views about what the canon is, if it was all for Louis or a more complex reason. I put together a compilation of quotes from the source material that suggest that even if Louis was one of the reasons, it was not the main reason, rather a complex and impulsive decision Lestat made because a wide combination of factors, very in character for Lestat. I will not make arguments, just quote the text, as it is written. If you think I am cherry picking, I am more than open to more quotes or references to the text or Rice's words that would help paint a different picture.

Rice - Vampire Companion

"Lestat," says Rice, "is the bloodthirsty, wolf-killing, violent person who aspires to be something infinitely good and can't be". Lestat also becomes a rock star, partly because he wants to spread vampire lore through his songs in order to inspire mortals to eradicate vampires and partly because he loves to play to an audience: "I could feel the attention as if it were an embrace." He equates actors and musicians with saints, so the medium of rock music seems to him to be the perfect way to do good with his evil nature. - The Vampire Companion

Lestat feels Louis distorted what happened, and did not really know the whole story. He tells his side to set the record straight, to show how much more there is to being a vampire than Louis was able to convey - The Vampire Companion

The Vampire Lestat

Both these quotes are from BEFORE Lestat even knew about Interview with the Vampire

Yes, I wanted to get closer to it. I wanted to do it. Maybe make the little unknown band of Satan's Night Out famous. I was ready to come up. - The Vampire Lestat

I told them that I wanted to sing with them, that if they were to trust to me, we would all be rich and famous. That on a wave of preternatural and remorseless ambition, I should carry them out of these rooms and into the great world. - The Vampire Lestat

AFTER reading IWTV he gives several reasons

To protect / for Louis : 

Regardless, for what (Louis)'d done, others would surely hunt him down. And there are very simple ways to destroy vampires, especially now. If he was still in existence, he was an outcast and lived in a danger from our kind that no mortal could ever pose. All the more reason far me to bring the book and the band called The Vampire Lestat to fame as quickly as possible. (...) And I ached to write my story for him, not an answer to his malice in Interview with the Vampire, but the tale of all the things I'd seen and learned before I came to him, the story I could not tell him before. - The Vampire Lestat

Other reasons (including Louis) - all of them given after the one just quoted above

And I wanted my band and my book to draw out not only Louis but all the 12 other demons that I had ever known and loved. I wanted to find my lost ones, awaken those who slept as I had slept. - The Vampire Lestat

But there was another reason for the whole adventure-a reason even more dangerous and delicious and mad. And I knew Louis would understand. It must have been behind his interview, his confessions. I wanted mortals to know about us. (...) We would be known, and we would be hunted, and we would be fought in this glittering urban wilderness as no mythic monster has ever been fought by man before. How could I not love it, the mere idea of it? - The Vampire Lestat

But to tell the truth, I didn't think it would ever come to that-I mean, mortals believing in us. Mortals have never made me afraid. It was the other war that was going to happen, the one in which we'd all come together, or they would all come to fight me. That was the real reason for The Vampire Lestat. That was the kind of game I was playing. But that other lovely possibility of real revelation and disaster - The Vampire Lestat

But I am going on the stage. I am going to be Lelio again the way I never was in Paris. I will be the Vampire Lestat for all to see. A symbol, an outcast, a freak of nature-something loved, something despised, all of those things. I tell you I can't give it up. I can't miss it. - The Vampire Lestat

"Louis, I mean for something and everything to happen, " I said. "I mean for all that we have been to change! What are we but leeches now-loathsome, secretive, without justification. The old romance is gone. So let us take on a new meaning. I crave the bright lights as I crave blood. I crave the divine visibility. I crave war - The Vampire Lestat

He admits at the end of the book that he put everyone he loved, including Louis, in danger (which admittedly might just be a miscalculation):

I'd realized it for the first time when the Porsche exploded with Louis still inside it. This little war of mine would put all those I loved in danger. What a fool I'd been to think I could draw the venom to myself. - The Vampire Lestat

2. Following books

As I've said, I wrote the book and made the album because I wanted to be visible, to be seen for what I am, even if only in symbolic terms. - Queen of the Damned

And how wondrous this age was, and how I'd become a rock star for a brief time, because I thought that as a symbol of evil I'd do some good. (...) But she must understand, exquisite nun that she was, how much I'd wanted as the rock singer to do good.- The Tale of the Body Thief

I was suddenly furious. “It was for me that I did it!” I said. “All right. I admit it. It was a disaster, but it was for me that I did it. There was no ‘us.’ I didn’t want the human race to wipe us out, that was a lie, I admit it. I wanted to see what would happen, who would show up for that rock concert. I wanted to find all those I’d lost … Louis, and Gabrielle, and Armand and Marius, maybe Marius most of all. That’s why I did it. Okay. I was alone! I didn’t have any grand reason! I admit it. And so goddamned what!” - Prince Lestat

And it was Louis’s outrageous lies about me, intentional and unintentional (some people should not be granted a poetic license) that prompted me to write my own autobiography and tell the secrets of Marius to the whole world.- Lestat, Blood Communion

And as I prepared for my one and only rock concert in San Francisco in the year 1984, I did dream of an immense battle, an apocalyptic confrontation to which elder blood drinkers would be awakened and drawn irresistibly, and young ones incited with fury, and the mortal world committed to stamping out our evil once and for all. Well, nothing came of that ambition. Nothing at all - Blood Communion

Visibility, significance, recognition! All that I’d ever wanted when I took to the rock music stage, all that I’d ever wanted as a boy heading to Paris with a head full of dreams, all I’d ever wanted I now had right here with my brothers and sisters! - Blood Communion