acaleyn reviewed Hannibal by Thomas Harris
Review of 'Hannibal' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
As always, one of my favorites
English language
Published Feb. 16, 1999
Hannibal
4 stars
(59 reviews)
Sequel to: [The Silence of the Lambs][1]
Invite Hannibal Lecter into the palace of your mind and be invited into his mind palace in turn. Note the similarities in yours and his, the high vaulted chambers of your dreams, the shadowed halls, the locked storerooms where you dare not go, the scrap of half-forgotten music, the muffled cries from behind a wall.
In one of the most eagerly anticipated literary events of the decade, Thomas Harris takes us once again into the mind of a killer, crafting a chilling portrait of insidiously evolving evil--a tour de force of psychological suspense.
Seven years have passed since Dr. Hannibal Lecter escaped from custody, seven years since FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling interviewed him in a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane. The doctor is still at large, pursuing his own ineffable interests, savoring the scents, the essences of an unguarded world. …
Sequel to: [The Silence of the Lambs][1]
Invite Hannibal Lecter into the palace of your mind and be invited into his mind palace in turn. Note the similarities in yours and his, the high vaulted chambers of your dreams, the shadowed halls, the locked storerooms where you dare not go, the scrap of half-forgotten music, the muffled cries from behind a wall.
In one of the most eagerly anticipated literary events of the decade, Thomas Harris takes us once again into the mind of a killer, crafting a chilling portrait of insidiously evolving evil--a tour de force of psychological suspense.
Seven years have passed since Dr. Hannibal Lecter escaped from custody, seven years since FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling interviewed him in a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane. The doctor is still at large, pursuing his own ineffable interests, savoring the scents, the essences of an unguarded world. But Starling has never forgotten her encounters with Dr. Lecter, and the metallic rasp of his seldom-used voice still sounds in her dreams.
Mason Verger remembers Dr. Lecter, too, and is obsessed with revenge. He was Dr. Lecter's sixth victim, and he has survived to rule his own butcher's empire. From his respirator, Verger monitors every twitch in his worldwide web. Soon he sees that to draw the doctor, he must have the most exquisite and innocent-appearing bait; he must have what Dr. Lecter likes best.
Powerful, hypnotic, utterly original, Hannibal is a dazzling feast for the imagination. Prepare to travel to hell and beyond as a master storyteller permanently alters the world you thought you knew.
[1]: openlibrary.org/works/OL23481W/The_silence_of_the_lambs
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].
