Review on: Memnoch The Devil by Anne Rice
Series: The Vampire Chronicles (Book 5)
Rating: 5/5
(This book has some gore and violence in it, and might contain some religious controversy)
(Beware: Spoilers Ahead)
The fifth book in the Vampire Chronicles Series, Memnoch the Devil is about Lestat’s encounter with the Devil. In the earlier part of the book, Lestat de Lioncourt, Vampire Extraordinaire, has made drinking blood more than just a necessity. Though Lestat no longer drinks out of thirst, he has made the art of blood-drinking something of a game, sometimes stalking his prey for days and weeks on end, before finally ending their life. While stalking one of his victims Lestat realizes that he’s being followed by something unnatural and non-human; and afraid for his life, finally decides to end his little game with this victim, before his stalker gets to him. Lestat’s victim is Roger, an infamous man who has dealings with the underworld and has killed many people. Roger’s daughter on the other hand is quite his opposite, someone religious and pious and innocent. Later on, Lestat, reeling from killing Roger, finds himself in conversation with a supposed hallucination of Roger who asks him to help take care of Dora.
At Dora’s castle-like convent, he encounters his stalker who turns out to be the Devil himself. Memnoch as he calls himself, asks Lestat to join him as God’s adversary. Lestat decides to see for himself what Memnoch offers and is brought to see the awe-inspiring Heaven and Memnoch’s memories and experiences from the beginning to his becoming a “Fallen Angel”. Memnoch also brings Lestat to see the God’s crucifixion in the form of a mortal Jesus, as well as bringing Lestat to Sheol – a place where souls in unrest live. Lestat undergoes a sort of revelation before he decides to return to earth to tell his friends of his experience. And here, Dora finds Veronica’s veil which Lestat had brought back from Christ’s crucifixion and starts their own mini-revelation on Earth..which also affects religious-vampires like Armand.
This has become one of the most delightful Anne Rice book’s I’ve read so far. There’s just so much going on in the book. Though Lestat is a vampire, his experiences in the book make him very human, and thus someone to relate to. He develops a relationship with his victims before killing them, which eventually earns the notice of the very Devil himself. Though he kills Roger, he feels utter remorse after, sulking and eventually deciding to protect Roger’s daughter. Even his journey into Heaven, Sheol, and Memnoch’s memories, reveals to us a Lestat that is utterly vulnerable against non-human forces.
My favorite portion of this book is Lestat’s encounter with Memnoch, which encompasses the emotions fear, awe and intimacy. When Memnoch brings Lestat into Heaven, Lestat’s decision to accept something that is beyond him was just amazing. As a reader, it was like putting myself into Lestat’s position, allowing someone to guide me to somewhere that was beyond my comprehension. Anne Rice’s description of Heaven and the angels, didn’t explain using too many words, but it sounded so right, and it sounded like the perfect most comprehend-able description that you could give it. Her later description of the angels and their experiences, especially Memnoch’s encounter as a mortal human, seemed so reasonable, like I was reading a biography of sorts, and it made sense. Anne Rice, though a fiction writer, makes the content of her book so believable that readers relate to it, react to it, understand it, and believe it (in a fictional sense of course). I am constantly in awe at how she wrote this book, because I know her books are all amazing, but this is just a level higher than her usual which is already amazing.
The only thing missing in my emotional journey through this book, was the ending. Lestat goes back to the human world and tells his friends of his encounter and they think him crazy and out of sorts. He’s delusional but eventually the others believe him, especially Dora who discovers Veronica’s Veil with him. Compared to Lestat’s encounter in the heavenly plane, the ending seemed like such a downer. Though I was reading it and understanding the words, it just felt like the flow of the story at the last part was just so different.
Incidentally, Armand figures heavily in that very last part of the book, and is affected by Lestat’s journey and Dora’s revelation, which is in preparation for the next book in the Vampire Chronicles series, “The Vampire Armand”.
Content-wise, this is the most thought-provoking Anne Rice book I’ve read so far. Rereading this will probably bring about other realizations, and focus on how Anne Rice describes various parts of history, and other aspects of Christian religion.