Rating: 
Summary: Two dimensional Clarice
Review: Previous Thomas Harris books have entertained me and even educated me about the possible mind of serial killers. In Silence of the Lambs, I liked the dynamics between Clarice Starling, the young FBI agent in training, and Dr. Lecter. So of course I purchased this book in hardback as soon as it came out, to see what Harris could tell me next. Usual grisly and extreme behavior on the part of Hannibal occurs. He outwits most of the really stupid law enforcement people. A new character with much more power than most bedridden people are able to command is introduced, and this provides some amazing plot twists. Perhaps the book is a worthwhile read, based on what I've said so far. but the ending is so false in terms of Clarice's character development that the whole book becomes a disappointment. Harris takes this interesting 3 dimensional character and turns her into a girl toy. Human nature doesn't change that much, regardless of how many psychotropic drugs a person is fed. Maybe having the competent intelligent FBI agent taken down in the end works out some need on the author's part to tell us that unmitigated evil will win. I don't think a woman author would ever write anything so silly and unlikely as what Harris has done to Clarice, but, I don't want to make this a male female thing. It's just that the ending, besides being gratuitously horrible, is silly. Hope I didn't spoil the surprise for anyone!
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Bad Hannibal has fun
Review: This book is a great read. It is a lot of fun. The story is really interesting and fast paced. And there is a happy ending for some of the characters.
Clarice is treated really wierd. Her FBI people are setting her up (hint - don't annoy Hannibal), she is after him, he is after her. Hannibal is almost the good guy here.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: I took this book with me on my Plane trip to Australia. I figured that I would have a good 20 hours to read it. But when I started reading the book, I realized this was not the kind of book you could read in a short amount of time. I loved the book, and I loved reading it, I enjoyed it..and I did not want to read it in 4 hours and then have nothing to savor. I really loved the ending, which when I went to the movies I saw they changed...but I see the new DVD has an alternate ending, so I am really hoping they go back to the books original end.
If you liked Silence you have to read this book. It really is a great sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: good book
Review: This book deserves a lot more credit than the critics have allowed. its colourful, well thought out (well harris did have all last decade to think about it didnt he). this book is aimed at the intelligent reader as complex issues and emotions are in play. there is love and hate and revenge etc, but not in the simplistic, broard sense. harris gives more depth and meaning to these words by emphasising their variety and texture.
Hannibal himself is a wonderous character that brings the whole story together. he is a character that has freed himself of the restraints of society to such an extent that society perceives him as a vilian, in this book, more so than we saw in scilence of the lambs, we begin to see societys' real vilians.
The only bad point to this novel is that there is excessive use of physical attacks, whereas in scilence of the lambs, the attacks were more phsychological ones. though, saying that, the last 100 pages were almost pure mind games - absolutly briliant.unfortunatly the film missed that bit out but that doesnt take away from anthony hopkins excellent (as usual) performance, the film was nothing without him.
Also, if you have been as desperate as i have about finding out more about the mind of dr lecter himself, you must read this book, it reveals some of dr lecter while still keeping you in the dark enough to hope theres more to come from harris.
Rating:
Summary: as perfect as dr lecter himself
Review: this was the book i'd been waiting for, if anybody is like me, then you wanted hannible to escape in scilence of the lambs because you absolutly love him he was so gentlemanly and polite, whether it was in the book or the film, hannibal always struck me as genius. even if you dont like the books, if harris has got one thing right you have to give him dr lecter - he's so perfect! after reading scilence of the lambs i became strongly sucpicious that he was only being psychotic for his own amusement - having a good laugh at the system along the way. hannibal was always seen in so many different ways, scarry, manipulative, psychotic, the gentlemanly vilian, of cause as in all the books, hannibal isnt in fact the vilian (except perhaps in red dragon) its clear to see that harris' own understanding of hannibal changes with each book he writes and the character gets further and further developed until he becomes almost real. if you want to see the real hannibal, if you want to understand him or think you already do, please read this book. hannibal took my breath away, he couldnt have had a better ending for himself. if you watched the film "hannibal" and thought that was good, then read the book, its better, although i have to admit no one but anthony hopkins could have played dr lecters' part so well, and only jodie foster could have played clarice better. i think the fact harris chose to name the book "hannibal" rather than "dr lecter" or "starling" gives you a clue as to how harris wants to portray hannibal. he wants us to see the real hannibal - believe me he does that well enough, my view of dr lecter was completely altered. the final chapters were briliant, nothing like the end ofthe film, it was probably a bit too complex for the average cinema goer. read this book and youll love him as much as do.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best sequel book that has ever been written
Review: Thomas Harris has done it again. He has taken readers deep into the mind of Dr. HannibL "The Cannibal" Lecter, deeper than some people want to go. Right from the start when Clarice Starling fouled a drug raid, to the the end where Lecter cuts Krendler's skull cap off and cooks parts of his brian and Starling and Lecter eats them and makes jokes at Krendler's expense, is just a all-out shockfest. This is the first Thomas Harris book I have read and I am determined to pick up the other books (Red Dragon/Man Hunter to those that only know the movie version and The Silence Of The Lambs). I first got the book only to make my mother mad since she claimed that she didn't want me to read or see the movie. But after reading the book, I went out to the local movie store and rented Hannibal and loved it. This book I would recommend to anyone who loves horror, a little drama, and a all-out good read. Keep up the good work Harris.
Rating:
Summary: Hannibal was Great, but...
Review: I loved Silence of the Lambs. And I loved Hannibal, but not in the same way. While Silence of the Lambs is a psycological thriller, Hannibal is more of a psycological chaser. Clarice Starling returns in Hannibal; crippled politically by a recent botched shootout, Clarice takes up a more office life. But when Mason Verger (Hannibal Lecter's only victim that survived) chases Lecter from hidding, Clarice begins to track Lecter too. What she doesn't know is that Lecter is also tracking her. Mason attempts to capture Lecter, in order to revenge himself, for what Lecter has done to him. What follows is a race for Lecter. I personally liked Lecter better behind bars, where he did his damage mentally, not physically. BE WARNED: Hannibal is more violent and gorey then Red Dragon or Silence. Though I enjoyed Hannibal, it didn't have the same fast paced suspense as Silence. Don't get me wrong, it was just as fast paced but... it was lacking something. Maybe it was that Hannibal let Lecter win totally, he never lost. What ever the case, Hannibal lacks something. Hannibal is good, it just isn't Silence of the Lambs good.
Rating:
Summary: an artistic expression
Review: Like any piece of art that is worth discussion, Hannibal by Thomas Harris has inspired thousands of people to put forth their opinions. I believe that the purpose of art is to evoke an emotion, any emotion, from the people that experience it. That is why I love this book. I will not go into the story of the book because that seems to have been drudged through enough times by people more capable than I. I will however say that this book is definitely worth the read. For people who say that the ending is over the top and absurd I say to you that Life its self is absurd. Besides I really don't believe it to be all that unthinkable; all of Starling's protectors and friends at Quantico have gone in one way or another, she shows an indifference to victims (notice how she corrects herself when she refers to the Bimmel girl as a "floater" and also how she laughs when she sees the dead hunter, the "old" Clarice would have never done such things), the only part left of her is her anger at anything being held captive and tortured. One can assume that Clarice is being held captive in this world where she tries to do good in the face of men whom either want her to fail or want to "have" her or both. She's stuck and has nowhere else to go until someone has to save her from her own torture and pain. The reversal of roles here is slippery and quite striking. One of the trickiest ideas that Harris tinkers with is the idea that good has to have a bit of bad to it or else it would not last. Perhaps this is survival at its dirtiest or even purest form. I could go on but I feel that too much might ruin the novel for anyone who hasn't read it yet. Whether or not you liked this book does not matter, what matters is that it will always be a very memorable experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Difficult to believe it
Review: It is difficult for me to understand the reason for success of this book and excellent reviews it has received (someone has to keep selling, so reviews are the way, too..) I just finished reading it and went out to see if there are people out there who dislike it like me. In my opinion, the book follows a very cheap and primitive violence/shock line - like the worst of American horror movies, i.e. lot of cruelty, made-up perversities and ABSOLUTELY NO PLOT, nor a main idea. Well, this world probably needs washed masses, since believing in what's presented by Mr. Harris really requires no brain whatsoever. By the way, inventing shocking actions (like eating s.o.'s brain) takes very little imagination, almost anybody can come up with something perverse like this. On the other side, to create a purpose for such a behavior, to give it a reason so that reader can believe it is much much harder. So, for me personally, it's not a matter of "having stomach", I can handle it easily. What irritates me is that there is nothing, really nothing behind the violence depicted throughout the book. And I have not even asked about technicalities, like whether this or that would be possible... It's a sad fact of this world that authors like Harris make millions by writing such trash. I hate to give him another opportunity to make even more money, but here is my suggestion for his new book: it will be about a man who can read hexidecimal(you know, computer code), speaks 48 languages including dead Loothwinian and who makes (by hypnosis) innocent kids kill people and eats them both (this is his own method of climaxing..). The good guy will be a former president of U.S. who gets angry when he is thrown out of the White House due to his custom of ... (insert what shocks you the most) in public places and tries to kill this lunatic PhD man to earn back the fame and the Oval Office. VPB
Rating:
Summary: Brillant , excellent
Review: Human behavior is often very ugly and Mr. Harris honestly exposes the dark side of humanity. I love the way he works in Lecter's appreciation of the Arts and Food. The ending was very shocking and clever.
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