"And I remember still the pain, the anguish, the frustration that I could not confide to anyone about what the swing meant to me. I was almost ashamed of how much it meant" (Introduction XXV).
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| I read this introduction as I waited for Ale to do her two hour volunteering at the Burton Barr library branch. |
"So this is how the Vampire Chronicles came about. It was created as an alternative reality in much the same way as my secret paracosm had been created and always with trust in the characters to create the story, and to elevate in their speech the painful themes I could never escape: Why are we here? What is the meaning of all this? How can we conceive of immortality so easily while facing the horrible fact of our own inevitable death? Can art save us if religion can't? Does art—in its most splendid and transcendent forms—prove that God exists? Are dancers and singers and actors and writers like Mary Shelley really saints of a new secular faith that can make heaven on earth in magnificent ballets, and operas, and films, and novels?" (Introduction xxviii).
"I can only go to that 'rag and bone of the heart' through complete creative surrender. That is the way I fall deeper and deeper into pain and darkness—listening to Lestat, following him as he smiles and winks and beckons. That is the way I construct a sustained response to the life I've lived that invites the reader to the very same surrender.
—Anne Rice
MARCH 2018" (Introduction xxix).
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