I finished rereading Interview a few weeks ago and was wondering if anyone would like to begin a discussion of the novel with me.

1. How much of the remaining VC novels do you think Rice had in mind when she wrote Interview? Obviously she had the sketches of Lestat's former life in her head, considering he had a bad relationship with just one surviving family member. Not only this, but his father mentioned keeping him from going to school and that he had desperately wanted to learn to read. Lestat also had a previous connection to the Theater, though the book doesn't explain how or why.
On the other hand, there are some obvious problems with this book vs. other vampire's versions of events. On the large scale, there is the obvious: Louis claims to have spoken with Lestat in the 20th century prior to 1984, while Lestat later reveals he was quite firmly in the ground at the time. This has been chocked up to "Louis lies," but I can't help wondering if this might have been intentional at some point. As I believe another guild member pointed out in another thread, there is one sentence in the book that says Lestat got passage back to New Orleans with the help of 2 vampires made by the same maker. According to Lestat, however, Magnus didn't make any other vampires that Lestat knew of. And, a small detail near the end of the book also describes Armand as having straight hair, which, okay, isn't that big a deal, but does prove that Rice's vision of the character Armand changed over time.

2. Do you honestly believe Louis thought Lestat turned him into a vampire solely for his property, or was it simply in Louis' character to say nothing about their tense affection for one another to Daniel? True, Louis does admit to feelings of "not hatred" toward Lestat once he is in Paris, but do you really believe Louis felt such abhorrence while they were in New Orleans together?

3. Louis suggests that Pual's death was the catalyst for his entire destiny. If Paul had not died, Louis would not have sought death, and Lestat would never have given it to him. However, do you believe that the only reason Lestat offered him death or immortality was because he had lost the will to live? Or would Louis have inevitably become a vampire so long as Lestat caught sight of him, regardless of whether Paul had died or not?