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Hannibal

Hannibal

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An exceptional read...but not without flaws
Review: I loved this book! In a world so concerned with making sure that all stories have clearly delineated "good" and "evil," it is so refreshing to find a book that operates above these limiting options. It seems to me that the point is not that Lecter is evil and Clarice is good, but rather that Lecter represents a force that stands outside our limited vision and notions of morality. Watching Clarice's (unfortunately too-quick and not-entirely-believable) transformation is thrilling precisely because we get to watch her emerge from the cocoon of her "traditionally moral" world and enter a world whose moral absolutes are not yet ours to understand (nor, for that matter, are they likely "absolute"). May her tastes (and her mentor's) continue to expand!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Evil masquerading in high culture
Review: After years of anticipation, Harris offers the opportunity to journey into the mind of the notorious and infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter, clearly Harris' pride and joy. The novel is beautifully scripted and filled with many insights into the world that Lecter inhabits and his movements within. Dr. Lecter's rarified tastes extend beyond his cuisine into the realms of music, literature, art, and a supercharged Jaguar. The problem, in my opinion, is that it would seem that he is a force of nature, a manifestation of evil, rather a human being who moves through the novel as if in a lucid dream of Lecter's own design. Harris is undoubtedly proud of his creation who is stronger, smarter and more clever than anyone he has ever encountered. His invulnerability seems rather implausible and I often wished that there was a greater foil to him.

If this were compared to a chess game, the opening was enticing which draws the reader into the plot, the mid-game had a decent amount of intrigue although certain parts seemed suspended in a tired loop, and the end-game is predictable and falls short of being compeling and even believable. It will certainly beg a third installment which I hope will reconcile the mistakes of this one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This is an interesting follow-up to Silence of the Lambs
Review: While this book has been deemed a sequel by some, it isn't really- it features the same characters, but that's about it. It definitely was an interesting read, and Harris's prose is outstanding. There are wonderful descriptions of everything from Florence to a lobotomy. I was a bit disappointed with the ending of this book, I didn't feel it followed how the characters had been developed, but overall it is an excellent book and I would advise all Harris fans to read it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Been There Reading, But Don't Agree With Most Of The Reviews
Review: Ok, guys those of you that hated it stop already, let those of us who enjoyed it have a chance.

I agree with very little of any of the negative reviews I've read on Amazon. It is action packed, moves very fast, it is hard to put down. I read it in one day, and found it very enjoyable, can't wait for the movie to come out.

A suprise ending, for a suprising book. A great read for the summer when the lights are on or you are outside. Harris, did a great job of tieing in "Silence" as a summary and held my attention. You go boyfriend, you go and keep on writing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: superbly written with an ending that is so unreal.
Review: Because I have never read a Thomas Harris book before, I was not tempted to compere it to his others. Yes, I did see silence of the lambs, and did not expect to like it as much as I did, because I do not consider myself a horror fan. Hannibal, I could not put down. Thomas Harris's style of writing was intriguing. The reason the end is so unreal to many is thier fixed opinions of what should happen. Thomas Harris is to be admired for taking this step. After all what Starling is doing can be seen as effective rehabilitating of a criminal. That is, if she could just get him to stop eating people.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disappointing after such a long wait for this sequel!
Review: It seems almost as though parts of this book were written as a screen play, and it makes the flow choppy and puzzling at times. It is not Harris's best work. During the entire novel I was rooting for Dr. Lecter, which felt odd. The ending was a total disappointment, and hard to believe. I felt that most of the violence and gory situations were added for shock value only, and not because they played an integral part in the telling of the story, as in "Silnce Of The Lambs" (which may be the best book I've ever read!). I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to the average reader, as it leaves a bad taste in your mouth that lasts for days after the last page has been read.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A bad book that will most likely be made into a bad movie
Review: Reading this book I feel that Harris wrote this knowing it would be made into a movie. Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs were books that made sense.

I could believe that such seriel killers in those books could be out there some where. I could believe that the FBI would handle the cases the way Harris wrote them.

Hannibal as a whole felt like I was reading a made for TV movie on the USA Network. There were characters in the book that had no business being in the storyline. Such as the friendship between Barny and Margot Verger. I felt like these characters were forced on me so Harris could bulk up the book.

Everthing written in Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs had a purpose. Anything he wrote in those books, even the things that seemed vulger to some were used to push the plot along.

In Hannibal anything that could be deemed vulger or sexual was used for shock value. Kind of like having a nude scene in a B movie just to see a naked girl.

This book seemed to be written just to cash in on the success of Slience of the Lambs. It's a bad book that will be made into a bad movie. Of course the movie will probably gross $100 million in its first week.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Pitiful
Review: If you want to experience mindless psychological terror watch the news from Kosovo. If you want to read a GREAT novel, try "The Triumph and the Glory". I read it between missions and it was VERY inspiring. If you want to read something sensitive, try "Stones from the River" and if you just want to be entertained you can't beat Bill Murray's new autobiograpy. But it is obvious Harris could care less about what he put in Hannibal because he knew it would sell into the stratosphere no matter how much it reeked. And believe me, it reeked.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Is this the same Clarice Starling?
Review: "Hannibal" starts off exteremely promising. Seven years after the escape of Dr. Lecter, three different people are chasing Lecter toward different ends. Mason Verger, a surviving victim of Dr. Lecter, is bent on revenge. Renaldo Pazzi, an Italian detective, has the motive of money and retrieving former glory. Then there is Clarice Starling who's intentions for finding Dr. Lecter are a little less clear. Clarity is a big problem with the last of Thomas Harris' trilogy. There is no pace to the book, and if there is one, it would be like watching a race between a turtle and a snail. The largest portion of the book occurs in Italy, and through this section, I had to fight to maintain interest. But my largest problem was that of Special Agent Clarice Starling. Her character seems vastly different from "Silence of the Lambs". It was like she came straight out of an "Ally McBeal" episode. Her emotions come off as hollow and she shows no strength of character. And as for the end, I must say it's a surprise, but a poorly developed one. It seems like it was tacked on after a fairly interesting climax. This may be the first book I've ever read where the movie is better (at least i hope so).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Unintentionally Funny. Emperor has NO Clothes.
Review: Not content to tell the great story he is capable of producing, Harris sets about tying anvils to the text. Artsy pretentions abound, from forced literary references to high-culture laundry-lists to disengaging "experimental" narrative departures. For all his high-minded aspirations, Harris never rises above one-dimensional villains who keep exotic eels in tanks, play classical piano, and have six fingers on their left hand, among other tired cliches endemic to the genre. In addition, Harris is unafraid to include thinly-disguised rehashes from Lambs (Starling/Mason interview as Starling/Lecter interview, searching abandoned prison as searching abandoned warehouse, Dr. Chilton virtually resurrected as Paul Krendler, although, this time, it's impossible to believe in him.)The whole of the Florence sequence needed to go. Starling's character is utterly destroyed. There is one truly bizarre scene towards the end which almost makes suffering through the whole mess worthwhile, since, by that time, you will likely have stopped trying to take the book at all seriously. If you liked Red Dragon and Silence of The Lambs, I advise you to avoid this disaster, so that those two worthy books remain untainted in your memory.


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