Hannibal

Rating:
Summary: Harris is laughing all the way to the bank - SUCKERS!
Review: Wow! Can you say "SELL OUT"? Was this book about Hannibal or the history and tourism of Italy? Very disappointing after the genius of Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs. I loved the detailed background of Hannibal's childhood (made you BEGIN to feel sorry for him), and was even intrigued by his growing fondness for Clarice, but this book failed miserably in its story. The ending was cartoonish and disgraceful to the characters that Harris intrigued us with in his previous novels. Hannibal remained true to himself, but Clarice once a strong and complex figure, was reduced to a puppet. A disgrace to her Silence of the Lambs portrayal.

I guess we are all suckers for purchasing this book, feeding the hype, and ultimately encouraging a once great author to continue to bow down to his agents and come up with a quickie Hollywood story to be made into a higher revenue generating movie.

Sad,sad, sad. I hope we at least get to see a reality tv show "Clarice & Hannibal's Wedding" - that might be worth something?!?

Rating:
Summary: Stephen King thinks this is THE 21st century horror novel
Review: It is not hard to see why. Harris has spent much time on writing this one and in the hands of the right editor this book is nothing short of expertly published. Not only does it stand out as a very important development in the world of literature and the art of writing but it is also a great story to boot. There is not one page, not one sentence, not one word that has not been looked at or mulled over by the author. You can tell by reading it that this book has been in development for probably something close to a decade. Every paragraph reads like a paragraph that has never been made before. Every clichéd driven plot, character and dialogue has been skilfully avoided. The descriptions are on top form and the book delivers on all counts.

First of all this is horror. This is not a murder mystery. Harris has thrown aside any preconceived ideas about what this sequel is going to be like and it pays off in aces. He could easily have given us ANOTHER Silence of the Lambs but what is the point to that? Instead this is a book about Hannibal... a cannibal.... a cannibal who is a man called Hannibal. That many figures from Silence of the Lambs are back here is only incidental to the fact that Hannibal knows them. The book is entirely based on his life following his escape from the asylum in Lambs and the life he has chosen to lead.

Hannibal is really the most extreme anti-hero character ever conceived. He is the pivotal character in the story, not Agent Starling!, and it is through him that we experience the world of Hannibal. This book is about just that and then some more. Here we learn what made Hannibal a cannibal and why he is what he is. That should be enough to get anyone who is even remotely interested in Lambs to read this book.

The premise to this story is a simple one. One of Hannibal's victims, a Mason Verger, has survived his attack and for years lies bedridden with his appalling injuries as he abuses little children. He has also hired some bounty hunters to track down Hannibal and will pay them whatever it costs because of his silver spoon heritage. Agent Starling discovers the plot to kidnap Hannibal and tries to get him for herself by way of deception. It is all out action and psychological horror from start to finish with a great ending too.

This is all about Hannibal and fans will love it. Just do not go into it expecting the same as what you got before. This is horror through and through.

**As a note avoid the movie which is very different and has a terrible Hollywood ending**

Rating:
Summary: jimbo
Review: Yes, this book has been reviewed to death. I thihk, however, in light of the film, it deserves one more rebuttal. I loved the book, as it clarified the character and motivations of Hannibal Lecter. Not justified, but clarified. I was anticipating the movie and was horrified at the ending. The end of the book tied the main characters together and produced for me a satifying conclusion to the whole series. The movie, bless the Hollywood writers, (they cannot leave the authors material alone, can they?)destrooyed the entire effect. I am surprised Sir Anthony put his name on such a mess. I found this book the best of the three, and the perfect way to write finis to the character. Although, secretly, I hope he resurfaces.

Rating:
Summary: scary but weird
Review: Isn't it amusing to notice that the reviewers who downgrade the book don't spell the characters' names right? I've seen Lectors, Lechters, and even Lectures. This can only mean that they haven't touched the book, but just watched that lame Hollywood adaptation.
First of all, any knowledgeable reader is bound to notice that Harris is preparing you for the ending all along the course of the book. Starling becomes an outcast, Lecter is chased by an alliance of powerful enemies, and justice can be only served ... by Lecter.
A couple of problematic spots:
Mason is unrealistically evil and thus becomes more of a caricature of a moneybag tycoon. However, the short overview of how his father manipulated the lawmakers rings true.
His fascination with - well - pork and how it can be used for torture is overboard and cartoon-ish.
The physics and calculus mentioned are not substantial enough to actually support any theory.
Just a couple of false notes in the last paragraphs. I would prefer them to be a little more mysterious rather than so "picture-perfect".
Too much gore. As "Silence" has ably demonstrated, horror can be conceived with scarce gore, but ample character portrayals.
Other than these relatively small faults, the book is quite good, it has a sense of finality (meaning no more sequels) and it might be best to leave Dr. Lecter be, for there are certainly more monsters out there, even if they don't serve brain pate and enjoy Dante.

Rating:
Summary: Great book to read
Review: This is about a woman named Clarice Starling and her life working as a FBI officer. Clarice is the best FBI officer there ever was in Washington. Here she will face the biggest challenge of her life. First she must get out of trouble she is already in after a drug bust. Now she must meet a cannibal. She met this person once before and will face him again. She met him a long time ago and put him in prison for a while. His name was Dr. Hannibal Lector.

I do like this book, because it fits me, well short of. It is an action packed book with some grouse, bloody scenes. I saw the movie to this book before. This book as well as the movie contains a lot of action right from the start of the book.. The reason why I didn't like this book is because it does contain some romance and some old time stuff or past history tings as some of us will put it.

This is a good book for most of you people out there.

Rating:
Summary: Harris Re-Introduces Us To Hannibal Lecter
Review: Thomas Harris, best known for the creation of the character of Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter, bring his popular anti-hero back for one last crusade in the pursuit of Clarice Starling.

This time, though, Lecter is on the lamb, living in Florence, Italy, where he has been in hiding for several years after escaping from his prison. Known for his cannabilistic actions against many of his clinical patients, Hannibal is hunted by the sole survivor of his exploits, a badly mutilated billionare, Mason Verger. Verger, who was attacked and maimed by Lecter many years before, employs the expertise of several bounty hunters and inside contacts within the F.B.I to locate and capture Lecter.

Having been shamed for actions in a drug trafficing arrest gone wrong, Starling is suspended from the F.B.I., and her shaming is made public as a means of naming a scapegoat in the accident murder of several police and F.B.I. officers. Her shaming reaches Lecter, who has long been smitten with Starling in his own way, and he sets out to help avenge her name.

This story is, if it can be believed, much darker and surreal than "Red Dragon and "Silence of the Lambs." Where "Dragon" and "Lambs" shared the clinical process of an F.B.I. agent hunting a serial killer, this story is told from the multiple perspectives of a vengeful billionaire, a shamed officer and a serial killer. Its conclusion is shocking and for many fans of the series, completely dissatisfying, though I personally liked the ending, even if I am on the fence as to whether or not I completely believe it could happen the way it does. (NOTE: If you have seen the movie, the book is completely different). Still, for fans of the series, the long break between novels was definitely worth the wait.

Hannibal is a good read and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy of Lecter novels. Whether or not Lecter returns in any future novels remains to be seen, but if this is his last appearance, then it can be said that his exit from the literary world is as shocking as his entrance was twenty years before.

Scott Kolecki

Rating:
Summary: Grimmest, most depressing ending I have ever read
Review: I will not upset the one or two people who haven't read this book but still want to by giving it away. Suffice that I understand entirely why the film ending is different, that I threw it out after finishing it and advised friends and acquaintances not to read it, and think Mr Harris needs help if he thinks this was an appropriate ending for a lead like Clarice Starling. If we want to see evil win we have only to look out the window; in fiction I prefer to have some hope left to me.

Rating:
Summary: A Superb Psychological Thriller
Review: Thomas Harris's 'Hannibal' is suspense at its finest. Harris is able to capture a 'sense of the sinister' with precision and textual economy, sustaining the mood throughout the story. From the genesis to the denoument, the novel's potency is preserved.

Three vignettes are worth mentioning. The first, on pages 65-68, is a brilliant case study of the psychotic mind. Here we see Lecter exercising his pathological disdain for accepted social behaviour by openly flossing after eating Steak Tartare at Maxim's. To compound his plunge into darkness, Lecter refuses to tip, stating coldly, "I knew I should have gone to Burger King. Doesn't that clown in the kitchen know how to cook a raw meat dish?"

The second, on pages 145-157, demonstrates the author's dexterity with character development. In this defining passage, Clarice Starling declines Lecter's invitation to go ballroom dancing in a skilfully constructed interplay that includes the line, "But Hannibaby, I've heard you trip not only the light fantastic but everything else on the dance floor!"

The final excerpt validates the author's reputation as a master of both conflict and pathos. On pages 212-236, Mason Verger, one of Lecter's surviving victims, is hospitalized, and the mood is taut. The intensity develops, eventually exploding when Verger shouts to the trembling nurse, "Will you get this pelican out of my nightshirt! I said I wanted a bed-bath, not a bird-bath! If that creep hadn't eaten my hands, I'd wring its neck!".

Thomas Harris is a wiley wordsmith and his book is a classic. And it seems apposite here to clarify my reason for turning down a role in the film. It wasn't the money, as reported in 'Rolling Stone'. It was because I hadn't played a pelican before and my agent said I'd never get the walk right.

Rating:
Summary: What the...?
Review: Who would have guessed that such an expertly rendered series would degenerate into harlequin romance so suddenly and compeletely? To be fair, I was enthralled for the first 98% of this novel. It was the last 2% that I found so utterly disappointing. My advice to a prospective reader is to buy the cheapest paperback copy of this book that you can find and rip out the last chapter. If I had omitted the final chapter from my reading, I would have given Hannibal a 4-star rating instead of 1.

Rating:
Summary: Gruesome
Review: I like a gory book for the sake of scariness; however, this book was just silly and gross. I was so disappointed. My advice - skip this, and read Red Dragon if you haven't already.