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97 of 115 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Elegant Thriller, November 19, 1999
By A Customer
I can't recall a more elegant thriller than "Hannibal"-- in its careful, restrained use of language, its well-drawn characters, and especially in its commanding use of painstaking research. The book is replete with interesting facts about medicine, history, forensics, zoology, animal husbandry, medieval literature, art, cooking, the city of Florence, the Italian language, classical music, and wine-- all presented with Thomas' sure, confident touch. This is not a conventional sequel, and many fans of "The Silence of the Lambs" will surely be horrified by this book's extremely shocking conclusion. Those in particular who regarded Clarice Starling as a feminist icon (including, perhaps, Jody Foster) may feel betrayed. However, I think Harris should be commended for his courage. The easiest (and most profitable) thing for him to do would have been to give us a "Silence of the Lambs" rehash, tailor-made for another blockbuster film adaptation. Most of the plot concerns Mason Verger, a meat-packing tycoon and an early victim of Hannibal Lecter. A child molester whose victims include his own sister, Verger is as diabolical in his way as the doctor himself. Paralyzed and disfigured by his brush with Lecter, he is planning an elaborate and ghastly revenge-- which Harris describes with a morbid lyricism worthy of Edgar Allen Poe. The conflict here is between two monsters: one attractive (Lecter), one unattractive (Verger). Harris subtly encourages us to root for Lecter, giving "Hannibal" a moral landscape far more ambiguous, more disturbing, and more ironic than most thrillers. Although I'm saving my pennies for the hardcover version, the 6-hour audio abridgement that I was lucky enough to find at my local library features a nicely understated reading by Thomas Harris himself-- speaking in a craggy, Mississippi-inflected voice that made me think of Mark Twain.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Fitting End To The Lecter Trilogy, February 14, 2001
Being one of Thomas Harris' most dedicated fans, I purchased this novel upon the day of its release and eagerly gobbled up every sinewy morsel. After finishing, completely in awe of Harris' work (as always), I was astonished that so many had been disappointed, even appalled, by this offering. Speaking as one who has gone as far as to seek out and purchase first editions of all four Harris novels, I can say this..."Hannibal" was NOT as good as "The Silence of the Lambs"...this much is true. Then again, "The Silence of the Lambs" wasn't as good as "Red Dragon" was. But "The Silence of the Lambs" was still a fine novel and a fitting sequel to "Red Dragon"...just as "Hannibal" is a fitting final entry in the series. What Harris has given us here is almost a parody, a caricature of Lecter as he appeared in the first two novels...and why not? Now that Lecter is free, is it not plausible that he would be behaving quite differently than he did while confined? As for one reviewer's note that Lecter has been transformed into a "psychopath-wizard-pharmacist-scholar-surgeon"...well, apart from being a wizard, Hannibal has always been skilled in anatomy (see the previous books for further elaboration on this point) and his training as a psychiatrist would certainly explain his knowledge of pharmaceuticals...and who can deny that the good doctor has ALWAYS been a scholar? So, why is it that the same readers who believed Lecter capable of accurately depicting the Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo (as seen from the Belvedere, mind you) solely from memory find his actions and capabilities in this novel so far-fetched? Lecter's intelligence, let us remember, has never been successfully measured by any standardized testing. As for Starling's actions in the book's closing chapters, she WAS under the influence of heavy drugs when she first bonded, shall we say, with Lecter...and, after learning the reasoning behind Lecter's cannibalism, she felt a certain kinship with him, and even an empathy for this man who was initially described to her as a monster. And what this novel does so brilliantly is to bring to light the root source of Lecter's psychosis...something which had always been the subject of fierce doubt. After all, people don't become serial killers (much less CANNIBALISTIC serial killers) without reason. And the childhood trauma experienced by Lecter as a child in WWII Europe certainly explains well enough why the doctor has such a taste for human flesh. And let's not forget that Thomas Harris didn't HAVE to write this novel. He was at the peak of his popularity with "The Silence of the Lambs" after the film version prompted many to pick up the novel at their local bookstores...he had written three #1 best-selling novels, all of which were adapted for the screen, and he was living the good life in Italy, feeling no financial or career-oriented pressure. He never had to write another word as long as he lived. He had earned his living, and he'd certainly made his mark. This novel was a GIFT from Mr. Harris to us, his loyal fans worldwide. It's a gift which I, personally, had been waiting YEARS for...and I loved every word of it...
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Biggest disappointment of the year, November 30, 1999
I've waited ten years for the sequel to The Silence of the Lambs; ten very patient years because I believed the longer the wait, the bigger the payoff. Wrong. If Thomas Harris spent the last ten years meticulously writing this latest installment, I'll eat my liver. Now hang on, I don't mean to say this is a bad novel, in fact it will make a tremendous movie. That's the problem...it read like a screenplay. The characters I grew to know in the last novel just didn't seem real enough and I didn't really feel anything about anyone. The writing seemed rushed, and as a whole rested on the laurels of Silence of the Lambs, of which there were many references. On the other hand, the story is pretty darn good. So this is a mixed review...great story, disappointing writing. To be frank, I first smelled trouble when the highest accolades came from Stephen King, whose endorsements I take with a truckload of salt. I recommend you read it, just don't set your hopes as high as I did and you'll enjoy a good story. And be sure you have an Italian-English dictionary on hand for those annoying non-translated passages.
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