Also featured in "Vittorio The Vampire", by Ann Rice, is Fra Filippo Lippi, a painter who lived in the first half of the 1400's in Italy. I get the feeling, more and more, from Rice, that she is trapped in this genre by her fans and by her publishers, but that she really wants to write historical fiction about the Renaissance. This book, which I just finished, was really good, except for the parts that were about vampires. Rice is a wonderful writer. It's quite a shame that she has to spoil it by writing about vampires. Her knowledge of the Renaissance is quite extrordinary, and her descriptions of the period painters are sufficient to make me want to go to see these works in person.
Anyways, Filippo winds up being a major character in the book, although he never appears personally in the action, except by way of a recounting of a glimpse of him by a younger Vittorio.
And, by the way, his paintings are indeed beautiful.
All contractual obligations aside, Rice should take a sabbatical and write something under a nom de plume, like the Lennon & McCartney did to prove that their stuff wasn't popular only because those two names were attached to it.
Rice has a loyal base who are going to buy anything she puts out as long as it's in the same vein of content. Quality doesn't enter (much) into the equation. It'd be interesting to see what comes out. I've heard many good things about her writing, but I can't bring myself to drop good money on something in that genre. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a cute movie but that's where my interest in them stops.
Posted by: phydeaux on March 10, 2003 08:12 AMMaby you should see behind the image of the vampires. If you like history that much, you must know human being enough to unerstand the parallel
with ordinary mens and spiritual mens. How they look, how their see behind the appearence.
Its always the "nobodys" that put down a "somebodys" work. after reading a few of these comments I always love to respond with ...lets see YOU do better! ;) Anne Rice IS a genius. If you can do better, shut-up and do it!
Posted by: Bachi on May 5, 2003 03:32 PMI find remarks like this utterly absurd. The implication that one must be an expert in doing something before critiqueing someone else's work is complete nonsense. Certainly you can tell when you don't enjoy a meal without being a chef?
Furthermore, it seems to indicate that you didn't actually read what I said. I said that she is a brilliant writer, and amazingly knowledgeable, but that her readers appear to be morons, and have trapped her in a very limiting genre.
Posted by: DrBacchus on May 5, 2003 03:45 PM