The Mummy or Ramses the Damned (1989)

Pur non aspettandomi un capolavoro sono rimasta delusa. La storia è largamente farcita di luoghi comuni con l'aggravante della prevedibilità. ( )

Not that expected much from Anne Rice, I still expected better than this - a romanticised 'mummy' tale, not much horror and weak characters. The first pages seemed to promise so much, and after reading the whole book, I don't know, I felt cheated from some more interesting intrigue, more action, better characters, etc.

I suppose it could pretend to be a basic novel, but the whole thing felt like a 'copy and paste' cliché from old movies, with some modern writing thrown in, and, worse of all, the annoying bland characters make the whole thing suitable for people who actually *don't* like Anne Rice, which is a surprise. The mummy itself, Ramses, ended up looking like a complete Edwardian romantic fop! Maybe our modern tastes have been fashioned to expect strong lead characters and/or plots that would be out of the ordinary, I can't say, but seriously, I had expected to find some Anne Rice in Anne Rice. ( )

Julie Stratford’s father is a retired shipping mogul who now spends his time as an archaeologist in Egypt. He uncovers a tomb that claims to be that of Ramses the Damned, even though his tomb was already found. Everything in the tomb is written in hieroglyphs, Latin, and Greek, and the mummy is accompanied by scrolls claiming that Ramses is immortal, was a lover of Cleopatra, and can and will rise again.

Anne Rice's beautiful, lyrical writing is again present here. Unfortunately, it is destroyed by a mainstream romantic plot that completely undermines the willpower and respectability of the heroine. Additionally, there is stark Eurocentrism present in the story. The clearest example is the fact that the elixir of life turns brown eyes blue. So there are no immortals with brown eyes. I am so disappointed, Anne Rice. Whereas the Vampire Chronicles are a lovely mix of social commentary, lyrical writing, and all the best tropes of genre fiction, The Mummy is a beautifully written book that is destroyed by a kind of offensive, all-too-common plot and Eurocentrism. Even beautiful writing can’t overcome that.

Check out my full review: http://wp.me/pp7vL-BN ( )

A friend of mine recommended this book to me, telling me that of all of the many Anne Rice books she had read, this one was her favorite, even over the vampire books. Besides this book, the only other book by Rice I've read is Interview with the Vampire, and I think in a lot of ways that is the more impressive book. Interview with the Vampire had its uneven and downright creepy aspects. But it also had a take on vampires that feels original to me even decades after it was published and having read dozens of vampire books.

I don't feel The Mummy quite matches that originality, and yet it is a solid story, arguably more tautly written than Interview and with a much more conventional romance. Not that the novel doesn't have a way of making a hoary movie cliche feel fresh, at making us feel and think through what might be the price of immortality--that it indeed might be more a curse, even a form of damnation for the Earth.

In a way this is a story within a story--with layers of history involved. Set in 1914, on the cusp of the modern age, it deals with the pharaoh Ramses the Great, born a thousand years before the infamous Cleopatra, who nevertheless claims to have been her mentor and lover--to be an immortal. He awakes from his wrappings when British Egyptologist Lawrence Stratford finds where he's been entombed and exposes him once again to sunlight. Ramses becomes "Ramsey" and falls in love with the archeologist's brilliant daughter Julie.

So this novel is a blend of horror, dark fantasy, romance and historical fiction--and an absorbing one. The figure of Ramses himself is quite a character--charismatic and complex. This was a gripping yarn from beginning to end. I don't know that I'd exactly call it a favorite, but I am keeping it on my bookshelf despite my limited space, and would recommend it to lovers of stories of Ancient Egypt and gothic romance. It's entertaining and atmospheric. The ending cries sequel and strikes an ominous note, but doesn't feel abrupt or unfinished to me. After all, it's a staple of horror films and books that right in the last scene or paragraph, after you think evil is defeated, there's a sign it has survived or can rise again. ( )

Summary: Lawrence Stratford, wealthy London business man and prominent Egyptologist, has made the find of a lifetime: the tomb of a mummy, filled with Greek and Roman artifacts, but filled with scrolls that proclaim him to be Ramses II, the Pharaoh who had ruled 1000 years earlier. Ramses claims in these scrolls to be immortal - an eternal wanderer, teacher, and lover of Cleopatra - and that he is not dead, but merely sleeping beneath his mummy wrappings. However, Lawrence is murdered before he is able to truly investigate his discovery, and the mummy travels to London, to Lawrence's daughter, Julie. She's charmed by the story, but doesn't really believe it - until she sees the mummy come to life to save her from the same fate as her father. She's overwhelmed by Ramses - immortal as he claimed, intelligent, gorgeous, charming, and every inch a king - and is soon swept up in showing him the wonders of the early 20th century, even while trying to protect his secret from those who desire immortality for themselves. Unsurprisingly, she falls hopelessly in love with him, a love that can only be fully returned once Ramses has put his past behind him. But as they travel through modern-day Egypt, his memories of the past, and of his lost love threaten to engulf Ramses... and then a chance discovery at the Cairo Museum will lead him to commit an unspeakable act, one whose horrific consequences will resonate through the rest of eternity.

Review: I read this book so many times as a teen that it's impossible for me to give it a clear-headed evaluation now. While I can't tell how I would have reacted to it if this had been my first read-through (or even my tenth read-through), I was still able to pick out the things that kept me coming back time and time again. Anne Rice is a whiz at evoking historical periods, and her portrayal of colonial Egypt is no exception. The romance is epic and sweeping - hard to get any more epic when a literal eternity hangs in the balance. The characters are recognizable and multi-layered, and intensely sympathetic; it also doesn't hurt that Ramses is a hugely attractive leading man. Finally, Rice effectively plays on the horror conventions of her story on multiple levels - both in the straightforward horror-movie "the mummy walks!" way, but also in a more subtle way, when the characters and the reader are forced to contemplate the horrors of true immortality.

There were also a few things that I picked up on that probably would have annoyed me if this had been my first time reading the book. Rice is a fan of switching her POV character every few paragraphs, which is admittedly effective at moving the story along, but which I think is overused here, making the narrative seem a little jumpy. The main conflict also doesn't really show up until halfway through the book; the first part doesn't ever feel like it's dragging, but there is a somewhat abrupt shift. Finally, I wasn't quite as caught up in the romance this time around as I was half a lifetime ago; although Ramses was definitely still crush-worthy, I found him a wee bit whinier than I remembered.

But honestly, none of these things really mattered; I still enjoyed the heck out of this book - maybe not quite as much as I did when I was fourteen, but definitely enough to let it keep its place on my "favorites" shelf. 5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Is this one of Anne Rice's best books? No. Is it a thoroughly entertaining story? Yes. Is my current love for it based primarily on my fondness for it as a teen? Probably. Do I still think that anyone who likes books set in Egypt or fans of historical romance Gothic horror novels should give it a try? Absolutely! ( )