Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession

a superb, moving memoir

I was eagerly awaiting Anne Rice's first memoir and my expectations weren't only met, they were greatly surpassed. This is a wonderfully detailed and elegiac account of Rice's loss of faith, her more than thirty years of athiesism, and her eventual re-embrace of faith. I've read Rice's books for more than thirty years now, and have witnessed the outsider searching for light, for meaning throughout her many, many great books on vampires and witches, among others, books which will be read and admired for generations to come. The explorer finally found what she was looking for, and her readers are the fortunate beneficiaries of the lessons learned from her journey. Read. Enjoy. Share. This is a terrific book!

9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

Tears of Truth

When her truth touched my heart, tears ran down my face.

3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Thought provoking yet an easy read

A great exploration of the author's life faith-experience from her childhood through adult rejection and eventual return to her faith. The book creates a challenge on the part reader to explore his/her faith beliefs and how these beliefs formed and are a part of his/her individual personality. I applaud the author's openness and honesty in describing her beliefs. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will probably re-read it in the future.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Spiritual Metamorphosis of Anne Rice

Anne Rice has once again produced a clear, concise easy read that is well worth reading. I found this book to be a strong, compelling report of one person's return to Christianity. I have always felt that Ms. Rice had a very deep spiritual center and that it came through in the Vampire series. "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession" represents a turn away from fiction to reality. Her writing is honest and direct and gives one a lot of food for thought. This book held my interest and showed me that it is never to late.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is what it means to be a Catholic.

In a world where ridiculing the Bride of Christ is considered not only okay but almost mandatory, it is refreshing to see that Ms. Rice truly did find her way out of the darkness, called by her heart and the Holy Spirit. This is why, in the age of secular humanism, so many Catholics remain Catholics...because they know and understand truth. Kudos to Anne Rice, a captivating read, for even the most fervent Vampire Chronicler!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Don't even bother...shite

Dull

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

conceived in the mist and not in the crystal

At first this memoir seems too much of a ramble for those of us accustomed to the plot and pace of Anne Rice's formidable novels. The scenes of childhood would be especially unclear to those without a bit of Catholicism or awareness of its rites and rituals. She resists the urge to tell the tale of her mother's drinking. Rice says she never really read books as a child - huh? We are treated to cloudy images of processions and novenas, to hints of childhood activities, but we never get a really clear picture.
For those who persevere, the book begins to coalesce around the end of chapter 5. As Anne emerges as an adult, we can more easily recognize the beginning, middle, and end of a story. And with that story, loyal readers are treated to a few brief but insightful paragraphs about her fantastic stories, and the author's concise reports of their essential truths.
Rice's return to Catholic devotion should not be a surprise to those familiar with her work; however, most of us would not have thought it to be the difficult journey which she describes it as. Eventually it is a tale of how she evolved, how the Church has evolved, and yet how both have retained a sameness that is assuring and magical.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Coming home-Called out of Darkness

Ms. Rice's journey away from and back to her faith is the story of so many of us in the same generation. Who hasn't questioned their own faith? The fact that she is able to put down in words what so many of us feel.
Kudos.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Must Read for All

Enjoyed the book. Brought back many memories of my own Catholic upbringing. Thanks for sharing your journey.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great Read!

Anne Rice's memoir, Called out of Darkness, is a unique way to see the personal life of a famous American author. Rice makes connections with people of every age in what she calls her "spiritual confession." She describes her loving connection with God and Catholicism in an interesting and unique narrative style while simultaneously creating an intimate atmosphere. Readers feel as though they are part of Rice's life as she details her childhood experiences and their connection to her religion. Readers similarly see the ways and reasons behind Rice's loss of faith as she chronicles her college years and the influence of the modern world on her traditional beliefs. Her return to faith creates a memoir with coherent connection from beginning to end.
The first five chapters of Rice's novel describe her childhood experiences with God and Catholicism. Rice makes a connection with her audience in this section as she describes how her religion impacted her life before she could even read. The world she portrays in her description of the chapel she went to as a child is full of beautiful imagery and meaning. Her argument in this first portion of her book is that, "as scientists tell us, what we learn through pictures or icons is strikingly different from what we learn through the written word" (Rice 14-15). Since a large portion of Christianity (and especially Catholicism) is taught from the Bible, this point shows Rice's unique connection and devotion to God before she even got into the bulk of what her religion was comprised. This fragment of the novel makes connections with an older crowd, reliving the days without washing machines and dryers, refrigeration, or television. The descriptions of the past create a unique imagery that may be difficult for a younger crowd to mentally create, but her descriptions of the feelings and activities of this time are easy for a younger crowd to connect to.
The next section of the memoir is only one chapter long, but catalogues Rice's college years and the different reasons why Rice left the church. This section connects strongly with a college crowd because students at this age are currently experiencing the same trials and tribulations that Rice discusses. Rice talks about her struggles to remain faithful to the Catholic church while being a young woman, "hungry for knowledge, hungry for information, hungry for facts" (Rice 120). Rice attributes her choice to leave the church not to sexuality or pressure to abandon her morals, but to the influence of the modern world on her traditional values and their constant strain on her daily life. Readers can connect with Rice as she chronicles her peer education in college and the influence of her classmates on her views of Catholicism. She tells of her loss of faith and the experiences that followed, including her introduction into the literary world and the writing of her first novel, Interview with the Vampire.
The last section of the book discusses Rice's abandonment of atheism and her decision to return to a new and reformed Catholic church. While Rice discusses her atheism in this section, she also comments that it was never really existent. Even in her novels that supposedly upheld the concept of a Godless society, there was a strong religious undertone. In the ending portion of the memoir, Rice discusses her experience in returning to faith, using excerpts from her diary and the themes that she intended in her more famous novels as proof to this p

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Not quite what I expected.

I had bougth this book expecting a book about her spirituality mostly, and was disappointed by the first half being mostly descriptions of places of her childhood. I have read all the Vampire Chronicles and was very curious about her decision to write books on the life of Christ and as such I was intrigued to read this book. It was kind of boring, and that alone was a little but of a letdown.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I was thrilled

This book is thrilling for anyone who loves Jesus Christ and longs to see his light shine into an lost, and darkened soul, reviving and bringing her to joyous life, to read this book was to feel that light and Joy, that is shining so brightly through her spirit, I was touched and challenged by her story. This story and her life was truly inspired by God, for his ultimate greatness.
early in life ,I read the first two vampire chronicles and felt so overwhelmed with a feeling of despair and a darkened spirit. a friend and I mutualy agreed to put them down at that time even though we were drawn to them. later I realized that to be my own conviction of the holy Spirit, I never thought I would be able to read Anne Rice again!
Im thrilled

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It had it"s Moments

Being Catholic, the author provided some renewed education in the religion that we sometimes forget.
At times, her accounts were humorous regarding the saints & their lives. Overall-rather boring. I am glad I had the audio version because I would never had finished the book.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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