acaleyn reviewed Hannibal by Thomas Harris
Review of 'Hannibal' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
As always, one of my favorites
Mass Market Paperback, 546 pages
English language
Published May 26, 2000 by Dell.
Hannibal
You remember Hannibal Lecter: gentleman, genius, cannibal. Seven years have passed since Dr. Lecter escaped from custody. And for seven years he's been at large, free to savor the scents, the essences, of an unguarded world.
But intruders have entered Dr. Lecter's world, piercing his new identity, sensing the evil that surrounds him. For the multimillionaire Hannibal left maimed, for a corrupt Italian policeman, and for FBI agent Clarice Starling, who once stood before Lecter and who has never been the same, the final hunt for Hannibal Lecter has begun. All of them, in their separate ways, want to find Dr. Lecter. And all three will get their wish. But only one will live long enough to savor the reward.... (back cover)
You remember Hannibal Lecter: gentleman, genius, cannibal. Seven years have passed since Dr. Lecter escaped from custody. And for seven years he's been at large, free to savor the scents, the essences, of an unguarded world.
But intruders have entered Dr. Lecter's world, piercing his new identity, sensing the evil that surrounds him. For the multimillionaire Hannibal left maimed, for a corrupt Italian policeman, and for FBI agent Clarice Starling, who once stood before Lecter and who has never been the same, the final hunt for Hannibal Lecter has begun. All of them, in their separate ways, want to find Dr. Lecter. And all three will get their wish. But only one will live long enough to savor the reward.... (back cover)
Chris reviewed Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3) by Thomas Harris
None
3 stars
The other Hannibal on my shelves is a historical novel by Ross Leckie, and the other book of Leckie’s I have is The Gourmet's Companion. Harris's Hannibal however hovers between horror, highbrow and humour, giving the reader an unsatisfactorily fairytale ending - Clarice Starling is a cop, dammit, and Hannibal Lecter for all his culture and urbanity is not only a murderer but one who murders because very largely he feels like it - and they're not supposed to end up in a loving relationship. In the last resort then Harris is refusing to give the reader what the reader thinks they want. It isn't a cop thriller Harris is writing, no matter what the reader may think to be reading, and Harris feels under no obligation to provide the 'death in a hail of bullets' ending that the cop thriller genre requires as one of its cliches. …
The other Hannibal on my shelves is a historical novel by Ross Leckie, and the other book of Leckie’s I have is The Gourmet's Companion. Harris's Hannibal however hovers between horror, highbrow and humour, giving the reader an unsatisfactorily fairytale ending - Clarice Starling is a cop, dammit, and Hannibal Lecter for all his culture and urbanity is not only a murderer but one who murders because very largely he feels like it - and they're not supposed to end up in a loving relationship. In the last resort then Harris is refusing to give the reader what the reader thinks they want. It isn't a cop thriller Harris is writing, no matter what the reader may think to be reading, and Harris feels under no obligation to provide the 'death in a hail of bullets' ending that the cop thriller genre requires as one of its cliches. The brain-eating scene was funny, though. Maybe that's the problem. It's all so Grand Guignol and overdone that it loses any sense of reality. [the film changed the ending, having her under sedation and having alerted her colleagues to come after her if she doesn't return].
