Rating: 
Summary: What happened??? The "Silence " of Good Characters...
Review: I have called book stores for 11 years anxiously awaiting "Hannibal." What a disappointment!! After having read both RED DRAGON and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and viewed both movies, it is pretty clear where the third book in this series should have went; (1) a prequel to RED DRAGON that tells the story of how Will Graham captures Hannibal Lector, or (2) SILENCE'S Clarice Starling is assigned to find Lector and needs Will Graham's help to do it, so they become unwilling partners. So what happened to HANNIBAL? The book's plot starts off well with Clarice's job, Italy is good for a hiding place, the revenge plot good, but then falls off a cliff...what happened to this story? HANNIBAL, which could have had a good ending and saved it from being laughable, ends on the most ridiculous note. But death was the theme of this book in more ways than one. Many who give this book 4-5 stars like it because of the gore and violence. But what is truly a tragedy is the characters, all of whom are ruined and will never appear as their former selves again. This is not literary growth, but a "silencing of the characters" by slaughtering them (not literally) in HANNIBAL. Clarice, a strong-minded, intelligent, young woman in SOL has been turned into mush, making childish decisions and her character reduced to that of a pet for Lector. Jack Crawford's death is disrespectful to the man he is and is a joke. Lector as the protagonist is an interesting twist - but the book's most intelligent man who sees plots against him from a distance, is caught buying a bottle of wine? Please. The characters are certainly not the ones we saw in previous novels. And the ending is so unbelievable, it deserves an award for best fanatasy. I guess in the fourth novel we will find Clarice, comforted by Will Graham and Jack Crawford, having awakened from a "dream" like the third season of Dallas and everything will be fine. My question to Thomas Harris is-- what will you be writing now that you have destroyed all of your characters?
Rating: 
Summary: Definite page turner
Review: Overall, I really liked this book, I flew through it. It is well paced and well executed; however, I have mixed feelings about the ending...
Rating: 
Summary: My 5 stars worth
Review: What are all these complaints I've been reading that "Hannibal" is not "Silence of the Lambs" or "Red Dragon?" Of course it isn't! Thomas Harris already wrote those books - why does he need to write them again - especially since every so-called thriller writer in the world has been trying to do that for him. It amazed me that so many people did not like this book - all of us either love it, or hate it with very few votes in the middle. Some people finished this book in one sitting - but I waited, and finished it in two nights. I knew it would be awhile before I found anything this much fun again. (By the way - if I don't like a book I don't finish it - so it strikes me as odd that many of the people who didn't like it were disgusted with the ending.) Nothing I can write can do this book justice. In the end I can only thank Thomas Harris for giving it to us.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book! Cool ending
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed understanding some of the motives behind Lecter's behavior. I wasn't all that fond of the gory descriptions of cannabalism but hey, that's Harris. I unlike alot of people enjoyed the ending. Come on, it was going to happen somehow, why not with a little brainwashing. Hannibal is a very unconventional fairy tale with the monster as the unconventional "hero". It was worth the wait hopefully it isn't the last book with our favorite doctor. Just hope we don't have to wait as long and hopefully there will be a movie. I have to say as a work of psychological horror it ranks up there with Dostoevsky. Harris marvelous job!
Rating: 
Summary: I Hate Myself Right Now
Review: I did a really stupid thing this weekend. I had this book on order with Amazon, but went momentarily insane and decided I didn't want to wait 2-3 days, so I cancelled my order here and went and bought it at a chain bookstore, where I had to pay 10 bucks more for it because they only had a 10% discount. I figured hey, it'll be worth it. WRONG!!! WHY, oh why didn't I wait and save over 10 bucks? Forget that, why didn't I wait for paperback? What the hell was wrong with me? I read the mostly bad reviews but every time someone said they hated the book because it was so gruesome, tasteless, and gory I thought, "sold me!" Also, the way people talked about the ending I was intrigued. I also figured hey, it's Thomas Harris, he's a gifted writer, how bad could it be? Well let's see. First of all, it didn't shock me. It wasn't even that gory. It wouldn't even make the list of the top 25 most disgusting books I've ever read (though I have to admit in all fairness I've read some pretty digusting, nasty books). The ending didn't shock me, I figured out what was going to happen about half way through the book. I didn't buy it, either. I think even if Hannibal looked like George Clooney that no sane, rational woman would fall for him. As for the writing, it reads more like he wrote it in 10 days (and that's being kind) not 10 years. Just sloppy, half-assed, and thrown together. The way he keeps changing persons and tenses is so pretentious and annoying, and you just get the feeling he threw it in because he was getting bored. In fact, if I read this book without knowing who wrote it and someone asked me if I thought it was written by Harris or a ghostwriter, I'd be convinced Harris didn't write this. I read it straight through in less than 12 hours, not because it was so gripping I couldn;'t put it down, but just to get it over with (I also was in denial and kept thinking it would get better soon). I have no problem with stuff that's gruesome or tasteless, don't get me wrong, but this was just boring, and it seemed like he was trying too hard to shock the reader (which didn't work). So my main complaint is that this book is just a complete insult to his reader's intelligence. Try just a TAD harder next time, Mr. Harris. My main memory of this book is a mental picture of my purse opening up and dollar bills flying out of it. I could have saved my money and just taken the 25 bucks and thrown it out in the street. Trust me, if you buy this just to see how bad it is (like I foolishly did) you will HATE yourself in the morning.
Rating:
Summary: PASS THE BUCKET
Review: TH has got to be kidding. Did we drop a little acid before getting in front of the word processor, Tom?? Not only is the book totally unbelievable, it's just plain gross. It reads like a book that was passed around in class, letting each new person write the next chapter. Doesn't flow, doesn't fit, doesn't make much sense at all. If the movie script actually follows the plot (which I highly doubt), they'll never get Jodie Foster. She's smarter than an ice cube, thank God. As for the folks who rave about this book, giving it 5 stars, well . . . whatever.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the previous novels by Harris. Very complete.
Review: I was blown away by it. I finished the book in two sittings. Lecter teaches this world a valuable lesson. You must read and absorb to understand. I felt content to put down the book in the end, as if I had just dined with the doctor. I feel I am a better person having read the novel. Now I can sleep, and maybe even hear the lambs screaming...
Rating: 
Summary: Certainly got people talking...
Review: Like everyone else who has left a review of Hannibal on this site, I was eagerly awaiting the publication of a new Harris novel. I believe that Red Dragon is the epitome of Mr. Harris' novels (to date), with the Lambs not far behind. Hannibal, on the other hand, cannot so easily be defined in terms of "good" or "bad," so I'll settle on "in between, depending upon the readers' interpretation" of what is surely a dream-like, dopey reading experience. People complain about the ending, claiming that Starling could not have acted the way she does, et cetera... In fact, she would not, and I am convinced that Mr. Harris would not have made such a blatant mistake in character portrayal. He's usually been true to his characters' actions, and I believe this instance is no exception. The explanation for her startling actions, if I am not mistaken, lies on page 369, as Dr. Lecter rakes dozens of vials into his pockets [from the hospital pharmacy.] People: this is foreshadowing. All the medications stated--and Harris goes to great lengths to enumerate them--are barbiturates and hypnotics administered before hypnosis. The Bantam Medical Dictionary states that such drugs are highly addictive (perhaps explaining Starling's "platinum" hair at the end.) If, indeed, Dr. Lecter has got Starling addicted to whatever barbiturate cocktail serves his intentions (and he knows the stuff), then the FBI agent's demeanor could possibly be understandable. As for those who didn't like the book because of the sundry horrors it harbors, well, what can I say? This is a book of fiction. If you can't accept such material inside a book, then I think you ought to board a spaceship and leave humanity behind, because, in reality, human beings are capable of committing things as inhuman and as disgusting as those perpetratef by Hannibal (need I cite a few names? Think Serbia, Cambodia...)
Rating:
Summary: Far above the average airport thriller
Review: Curious. I remember Mr. Harris saying he was not interested in creating a seqel to 'Silence of the Lambs' when the movie became such a smash hit. And yet, here is this piece of work. As many customers have pointed out, the first part (half? three quarters?)is absolutely brilliant. The man is using all his weapons to suck us in - not just plot, but language,figures of speech, fascinating echos and repitions, literary allusions - a whole bagfull of splendid and intriguing literary devices. This part of the novel is surreal, intriguing and completely compelling. But then, as Harris, himself observes later on -"We are not used to seeing Dr. Lecter free, uncaged and in the world" (or something like that). And we're not. Hannibal Lecter uncaged is a different beast entirely, still fascinating, still odd, but not as creepy and horrifying as the imprisoned, masked, intelligent creature we knew before. Clarice is as splendid as ever, until she comes under the extraordinary spell of the "freed" Dr. Lecter when she also (with the help of drugs and a completely corrupt and ungrateful FBI) changes into something unexpected and (maybe)disappointing to those who loved her ingrained feminist leanings and tendency to examine her own life(with Dr. Lecter's help, of course). I can't decide whether its a brilliant display of an author's independence or a knuckle under to Hollywood to just get it finished. In any case, I would reccomend a clutch of Cole Porter albums to those faithful readers who are a bit confused. It seems the perfect accompaniment to a wonderful yet completely unexpected continuation of the Hannibal Lecter story.A. Causey
Rating:
Summary: "Monster" disappointment
Review: 200 pgs into the story I caught myself skimming. The ending felt like a betrayal. Certainly a novel this hyped would fall short of expectations, but please, Mr. Harris, have some respect for your readers, not to mention your characters. I've thrown the book away so as to never, ever lend this one out with my name attached.
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