Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Anne Rice speaks

Several people have linked to this around the Internet so I feel I should march along. Anne Rice has apparently gotten fed up with Amazon reviewers and has written her own review of "Blood Canticle." She strikes back at her critics.

Getting really close to the subject matter is the achievement of only great art. Now, if it doesn't appeal to you, fine. You don't enjoy it? Read somebody else. But your stupid arrogant assumptions about me and what I am doing are slander. And you have used this site as if it were a public urinal to publish falsehood and lies. I'll never challenge your democratic freedom to do so, and yes, I'm answering you, but for what it's worth, be assured of the utter contempt I feel for you, especially those of you who post anonymously (and perhaps repeatedly?) and how glad I am that this book is the last one in a series that has invited your hateful and ugly responses.

***
But I leave it to readers to discover how this complex and intricate novel establishes itself within a unique, if not unrivalled series of book. There are things to be said. And there is pleasure to be had. And readers will say wonderful things about Blood Canticle and they already are. There are readers out there and plenty of them who cherish the individuality of each of the chronicles which you so flippantly condemn.

The review has a "real name" badge next to it, which means that if this isn't the real Anne Rice, it's somebody who has a credit card in her name (or access to her computer.)
You know, I kind of want to make fun of her for this, but I feel kind of sad. She's got tons of money and a rather rabid following. She's got (what appears to be) a happy family. (Well, her husband died recently, could that have anything to do with this?) Why get this upset over the crazies at Amazon? Does it really drive you that nuts that a few people make nasty comments about you?
I enjoyed the first few Vampire Chronicles novels, but haven't read them in years. If this is any indication where Rice's mind is at, I don't think I need to read any more anyway. (But one never knows, there are plenty of good writers who are neurotic, dysfunctional or just crazy.) Ah well, it's all kind of sad.
Looking at the negative reviews, there are a lot of them and many of them are by anonymous reviewers. But there's enough bad reviews from people who do leave their names that maybe Anne should realize, perhaps there is a problem with the book?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

At least most of those negative reviews used
paragraphs. Are we supposed to feel bad for her for
churning out crap? A lot of these people are
disappointed because they LOVED Interview, Lestat, &
QOTDamned. As you and I did. We've heard the reviews
of the books that followed- and we lost interest.

The "crazies" at Amazon are just everyday people,
again disappointed by her "work". And they have a right
to say it. If she can't take criticism, she's in the
wrong field. Maybe she can team up with George Michael,
and they can both stroke each others ego's. Egads.

ANOTHER digruntled former-Rice fan

Anonymous said...

I’m not at all anonymous when I submit this and I have a tendency to open up constructive discussions with others that might touch a few nerves. However I take nothing too seriously nowadays and everything is fair game. Good ink or bad ink (does it really matter anyway, I mean come on for cryin out loud).

The story of Blackwood Farm was absolutely wonderful. I loved it to death, and it’s doing fine!

By no means is this a complete review, and I hammered it out in pure feeling just as I finished the last page! Just a blurb if that!

Sometimes they say if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. I’m not from that generation! I was “King” of Egypt once and I never held my tounge. I’m still alive! (okay just kidding).

When a comment is given such as these or any other like it for that matter I always take them with a bucket of salt and a calm reasurence that at least they had the decency to tell me something. It can never do any harm what so ever! If anything… it does just the opposite! THAT IS VERY WELL KNOW. Marketers and planners of all kinds know this, and sometimes such a tidal shift happens seemingly by accident. It’s just fiction! It’s fun! Good or bad is simply a matter of opinion and state of mind! Perspective? Whatever. But if works of art generate that much response whatever the hell the response is, hateful, loving or somewhere in the middle it makes no difference and provides the needed fuel to continue a journey!

So smile! Your on camera and we’re looking forward to the next one.
We haven’t quite had enough of Vampires and Witches yet and it would be interesting to see another Union.

__________

Well I felt compelled to write a tiny little review of Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice.

I just finished it (Thank God)

I absolutely LOVED everything up until Memnock (fell asleep during Lestat), But everything, and I mean everything she’s written on the Chronicles I completely enjoyed, sitting glued to my seat and finishing most of them in one siting (and then I read them again, and again, and I made a play about one of them). I’d since moved on to other stuff in my life and was pleasantly surprised when I saw Blackwood Farm Available for the first time in Hardcover. Trapped by the first chapter, and then subsequently tortured to death by endless dialogue of Quinn, telling me everything in such lush vivid detail I could not stand it! I was seduced by the beauty of the language and bored to tears by its never ending, sometimes senseless rant and recounts of what happened in the past. It reminded me of sitting in my great grandmothers home in Franklin Louisiana(pop. 1000) back in were you had to sit and listen to her tell her story. Good stories they were, she was over a hundred, and I learned a lot from listening to her. I am not saying that I actually enjoyed every minute of her crying voice, crakling out the details of one family member after another. It made me restless and afraid to sit with her for more than 10 minutes after that.

I must have, during my departure from Anne for a few years, gotten use to “The page turner” all books that were great stories but seemed to keep everything moving along with varying textures and pacing. But reading Blackwood Farm was like being stuck waist deep in a morass pit of molasses while mosquitoes buzzed above my head.

I do so LOVE Anne’s writing and in this book I especially loved SOME of the dialogs and language of Quinn and all his (oh so) familiar interactions with strange things….(more later)

I felt something was missing. The book felt more like an “I have to” rather than an “I want to”.

Baaah…

Not a complete review, but I just put it down and I had to say something…this is the first link I found online…

Sincerely,

Damn Opin
a casual admirer and participant you may never see with your eyes