Rating: 
Summary: Why is this book (and movie) so popular?
Review: I've been trying to figure out what made Hannibal the book and the movie box-office hit that it is... and why I liked it as much as I did. While reading the book My Ishmael, by author Daniel Quinn, I finally figured it out. It's not the horror of cannibalism that's made it such a hit, it's Hannibal Lector's stepping outside the "keeping of food under lock and key,"* and dining on "free-ranging" human flesh, that fascinates people so much; the violation of a taboo that is absolutely essential to our culture (*See My Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn). If you want another take on this taboo in a tribal setting, see the book Alive, which was also made into a movie. In Alive, a high school ball team, stranded by an airplane crash high in the Andes mountains, agonizes over staying alive by eating the flesh of their dead companions on the plane. The point is only heightened by Hannibal's highly intelligent, charismatic, and cultured demeanor in both the book and as portrayed in the movie by Anthony Hopkins (one of the finest actors I've ever watched). Try to imagine either the book or the movie even being published in the 1950s, say? Let alone being a major hit? I give it 5 stars and hope for the future!
Rating:
Summary: Horrifying yet captivating...
Review: The first time I read the book I put it away with other books that I plan to never read again. I was thoroughly put out with the ending - and couldn't conceive of Clarice's change of behavior. About six months later I took it out and read it again, more slowly this time. This time I was able to feel, from Clarice's POV how utterly wretched Krendler and the FBI had treated her and could understand why she would end up taking off with the delectable Dr. Lecter. I should admit that Dr. Lecter attracts me in a variety of ways, but I think mostly because I enjoy his wicked sense of humor. He may be partly a monster, but a monster with his own moral code. He stays true to himself. Loved the scenes where Pazzi was bungling through trying to capture Dr. Lecter and get the reward money for himself. You knew that he just was not as mentally agile as Lecter and would end up dead, one way or another. I liked the film version of Pazzi's death better than the book while I MUCH preferred the book's ending to the movie's. After the second reading, I wanted Lecter and Clarice together. While I'm not sure he is able to truly love, he comes as close as it gets with Clarice - he admires her truth, her morality (while ragging on her about it), her mind (and her feet). I think she does come to love Lecter, faults and all. His wit, his elegance, his intensity all attract her. Of course, being able to visualize Anthony Hopkins in the role of Lecter helps a lot towards me accepting Lecter. The man has charisma to spare. (A note: DON'T try and cast someone else as Lecter in "Red Dragon," it just won't work.) Bravo! Now, how about a book set about 5 years after the ending of this one and letting us see where they are at and what they are up to? One note, I liked the little bon mots that AH added during the movie. The "goody-goody" and "okey-dokey" during tense scenes was just enough to keep you from jumping out of your seat. Would like to see them made part of any future book(s).
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: Harris should have just written a screeplay, rather than try to make the story into a Novel. It's very poorly written. He put all his ideas down without any sense of grammar--makes for a very difficult read. Go see the movie--forget the book!
Rating:
Summary: Don't Read It. It Spoils the Earlier Works.
Review: I wanted to like this book. In fact, after I was done, I tried to convince myself I liked this book. And even after that, I tried to convince myself I must have missed something. Well, consider this review penance for even thinking those thoughts. The problem was that because I really enjoyed both Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, I thought I had to love the latest Hannibal Lecture opus. One of the criticisms of this book is that it is violent. Duh! This is a book about a serial killer. Not only a serial killer, but also 'the' serial killer of popular culture (don't read that as if he's going out and killing popular books and movies). I think if you are really worried about that then you know already this book isn't for you. The real problem with the book is that the story stinks! It is awful! The first part fools you into believing that time has passed and things have changed. While a bit depressing, this part of the book does have strength. Then, the introduction of the antagonist, Verger, really starts the ball spiraling in unhealthy direction. This disabled and sickly character just is disgusting and lacks enough depth or flatness to make him effective. But the true tragedy doesn't come to the end, when Lecter and Agent Starling end up in a bizarre, bizarre tandem. I'm trying not to give it away because it is different from the movie, but it is wrong. In the end, I think Harris wrote this book so people would stop asking when the next Hannibal Lecter book was coming out. I give him that rather than believing that a man who has written such good books before would actually sell out this big and obviously. This book is not worth the money. If you must read it, email me, or find a friend like me who has a copy. I'm pretty sure they'll want to get rid of it too. Don't buy this book; otherwise you'll spoil how good the first two were.
Rating:
Summary: If I could rate it in the negatives I would!
Review: I have read a lot of books in my time and I can say without hesitation that Hannibal likely ranks as one of the worst ever. Non-existant editing and totally ridiculous from start to finish. This is the only book in memory that I actually wanted to either throw out or burn! If you have not read anything by Thomas Harris forget this one and read Red Dragon or SOL. If you have read these but not Hannibal, trust me, avoid this book at all costs.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: Amazing book. It started off as a real page turner. In Hannibal, Dr. Lecter has escaped from prison and has been on the loose for several years. Mason Verger, one of his previous victims is trying to catch him to see him die. Hannibal contacts Starling in letters occasionally. Watch out for the end. It is an absolute surprise.
Rating: 
Summary: Hannibal, not as in Missouri no mo'
Review: OK, in previous works we learned that The Cannibal was familiar with such bucolic pastimes as fishing for doodlebugs with a straw and slaughtering those eponymous spring lambs. And the good Dr. showed an uncommon affection toward Little Clare Starling, a bumpkin with a nice handbag. Implication being the big L was from down home somewheres, perhaps a native of Mississippi like the author. But now...oh, lordy. We learn Lecter's some kind of Eastern European aristo, who's got kind of a complex over how those nasty deserters dun et his lil' sister. (Maybe it was just the presentation.) No wonder Ms. Foster bailed on the sequel. Nonetheless, must confess, read every word, so I guess the author's concessions to Hollywood don't totally alienate the fava beans and big chianti crowd. Wonder what this book would have been if Gene Hackman had taken the part in *Silence*.
Rating:
Summary: Please recycle
Review: Throwing a book away, literally putting it in the trash along with the cat food cans and rotten tomatoes, is taboo. If a small but imperious voice in my head had not kept repeating "you don't throw books away", that is where my copy of Hannibal would be. Buried in some gigantic rubbish heap, or at the most, shredded for pulp. It may still get there - selling it back to my favourite used book store would be contributing to the spread of garbage in the world. Most thrillers have some redeeming value in their versions of the modern-day fight between Good and Evil. Not this one. Rich faceless sadistic paralysed child-abusing animal-abusing ex-torturer pursues Hannibal the cannibal, aided and abetted by various sickos armed with experienced man-eating pigs. People end up gutted and brains get eaten. This is the kind of read that makes you feel dirty. I'm not proud of having finished it.
Rating: 
Summary: Keep The Lights On!!!
Review: Don't read this book at night or you may want to leave a light on! Thomas Harris has written a third book about Dr. Hannibal Lecter and this one is the most intriguing. I found it hard to believe that there was someone creepier than Hannibal Lecter but Mason Verger is worse. Clarice Starling has more depth in this book and the plot twists around her and several new characters.
Rating: 
Summary: YUCK!
Review: I don't exactly know what a definition of pornography would be, but I think one element of it is to dwell at length and lovingly on things don't deserve it. In that sense, "Hannibal" verges on violent pornography. Some people simply get shot--it takes one sentence. Others get their brains eaten or are gutted or have their arteries sliced open for them to bleed out. Those deaths take two to three pages. There is a lot of hate and contempt in this novel. Anyone who can't afford $200 knives or $300 bottles of wine, who flies coach or goes to gun shows, they are some of the targets. I can't consider this a sequel. Hannibal and Clarice seem like different people than they were in "Silence of the Lambs," especially at the end. As for the ending, I can't figure out if Harris is serious or joking. He appears to have lost some of his touch. The ending could almost be considered satire or parody. Nearly everyone in this book is despicable. Those who aren't are still very strange. The whole thing has a nightmarish quality to it. I read it once, but I'll never read it again.
| 
