Still one of the greatest vampire novels ever! To be honest, in every book I read I still look for the same amount of discussion of philosophy mixed with an exciting story, and I am still disappointed when I don't find it. It is the perfect combination of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World, and I often have to stop while reading it to think about what I am actually reading.
To me, there has never been (and probably never will be) as perfect a vampire as Lestat. Not sure if I would want to meet him in real life (if such a thing were possible), but he is one hell of a fantastic character.