Hannibal

Rating:
Summary: Hannibal is typical far-fetched thiller!
Review: This was a page turner all right but it fell way short of my expectations. The plot is way out there and Harris seems to be trying too hard to gross everyone out. He throws in a bunch of deep literary and artistic references trying to gain some respect for an otherwise run-of-the-mill thriller. If you didn't already know and love these characters you wouldn't even give this book a second glance. It reminds me of a recent movie sequel set in space.Speaking of movies all the actors from "Silence" should run from this script. As-is "Hannibal" cannot be made into even an average movie.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo
Review: I only wish that I could read more books as polarizing and thought-provoking as "Hannibal". Folks, this is challenging material. It's dark, it's disturbing, it's complex, and it isn't "fun". However, Harris' work is utterly successful and brilliant.

From reading the reviews below, I suspect that most of the one-star ratings come from readers confused with Jonathan Demme's interpretation of Hannibal Lecter versus Thomas Harris'. TH doesn't care his work is cinematic sequel material, and he shouldn't.

I could wait a few years before my next literary visit with Dr. Lecter...but if the character still lurks in a future book, I look forward to it.

...and two years later, I still feel the same way. Great book.

Rating:
Summary: Familiarity breeds desensitization as in "Vice is a monster.
Review: Mason Verger, a deserving victim of Dr.Lecter's exotic skills, slithers to the forefront as the detestable villain we'd most want to consign to another session in the hands of the good doctor. Verger's millions enable him to buy the help of Clarice's enemy, Paul Krendler. Through Krendler, Verger manages to stay several steps ahead of Clarice as she searches for Lecter who has shown up after an absence of seven years. Whimsically, Dr. Lecter has changed his name to Fell while residing in Florence, Italy. Here a policeman turned Judas meets his fate a la Lecter. Flashbacks reveal the doctor's past psychic wounds. As in Pope's "Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace." -so do we find our dread fascination with the doctor growing and changing. For Clarice, Hannibal will be either a white knight or the rider on a pale horse. Before we learn which, Clarice foils the horrifying Verger. While some will not approve of the ending, I found it extremely palatable.

Rating:
Summary: The Ending Isn't the Only Problem...
Review: Add my name to the list of those very disappointed with this book. I rarely take the time to read fiction, but Red Dragon and Silence were impossible to put down, and I was anxious to dive into this one. It's hard to believe that Hannibal was written by the same author--yes, Harris' artistic prose and attention to detail are evident here (including a veritable lesson in Florentine culture), but he forgot to include the suspense, the intricate plot, and the subtle, fascinating character development present in Dragon and Silence. (One point that the 5-star and 1-star reviews seem to agree on is that Hannibal is a departure from it's predecessors, and in this case, that's too bad...) There have been a lot of complaints about the subject matter, the ending, etc., and I agree to some extent. (The weak attempt to explain Lecter's behavior via childhood flashbacks is what one would expect to see on an episode of Oprah...) But the biggest problem with this book is that it's just plain boring for the most part. I suppose that I'll give Harris another chance--given the brilliance of Dragon and Silence--if he pens yet another sequel. As the saying goes, 'two out of three ain't bad'.

Rating:
Summary: Hannibal surprises.......why are we surprised?
Review: Like many others, I went into this book expecting a mere sequel to Silence of the Lambs. What a pleasant surprise awaited me! Those who expect more of the same here will be sorely disappointed, but for those who are ready to cover new ground....to explore the depths of human perversity.....this is the book for you. I liked the fact that I couldn't predict where the book was going.......and I LOVED the ending. It doesn't seem at all fantastic or "out there" as other readers have suggested. In fact, it made sense in a demented sort of way. For me, it showed just how supremely evil and intelligent Hannibal Lecter really is, and enhanced his monstrous qualities. Shed your expectations and step into a world full of more monsters than you ever dared to dream of even in your worst nightmares, and king of them all is Hannibal Lecter.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely Dissappointing!
Review: I waited patiently for eleven years for Thomas Harris to write another book, then one day I see the cover of a magazine telling of the publishing of Hannibal.Being really excited I ordered my copy and waited patiently for the mail to bring it to me.And then I found out I waited all that time for this? This book does not even read like Red Dragon (my favorite)or Silence Of The Lambs.Will Graham does not even seem to exist anymore as he was not even mentioned once.The characters that do return do not seem to be the same people that so excited me before.Mr.Harris does not seem to have written this book with the same detail and intrigue I was expecting.It seems to me that this book was thrown together in a hurry after a vacation in Italy.It seems to have been written in the last year or so ...doesn't it? I am extremely dissapointed in the way Mr. Harris has wasted his fine characters! And by the way .....What is this ending? No way the Clarice from Silence goes along with this ending! Is Mr.Harris destroying this series on purpose?

Rating:
Summary: Clarice, we hardly knew ye
Review: Being interested in the thriller/horror genre but finding many such titles much too graphic, obvious and/or badly written, I was happy to have stumbled upon Silence of the Lambs (on a remainder table, no less, long before the release of the movie). Mr. Harris' prose is well constructed, and he gave us two memorable characters in the shape of Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter. Unfortunately, he has ruined both of them in Hannibal. Please--a kinder, gentler Dr. Lecter and Clarice as the Bride of Frankenstein? It's insulting to both, and I particularly dislike the way Clarice's honor is so cheaply bought. I am sure that Mr. Harris is enjoying the remuneration from his latest blockbuster, but I'm sorry to have contributed to it. In the book's favor, I can say that I read it within 24 hours of its purchase and found it enjoyable right up to the time that Clarice and Hannibal revealed themselves to be nothing but a gold-digging ex-cop and a misunderstood sugar daddy.

Rating:
Summary: Lecter is no John Wolf
Review: Harris has returned in good form. Hannibal, unfortunately, has not. And Verger is a bad caricature. But the story holds you in there and makes you want to keep reading. I still prefer Red Dragon, and to a lesser extent, Silence. The most incredible psychopath of them all, though, is John Wolf (Prettiest Feathers, and Tunnel of Night). I laughed at parts of Harris. Philpin terrifies me.

Rating:
Summary: Unpredictable to the last.
Review: Hannibal was definitely unpredictable to the last. And having just finished it, I wonder if that's such a good thing. It feels like a book written in fits and spurts. Harris pulls a few disconcerting writing tricks in this book, worst of all speaking to us (the reader) directly, breaking the imaginary 'fourth wall'. I didn't find it particularly gruesome or distasteful, only boring. I only finished Hannibal because I had to know what he (Harris) would do to end this mess. Too bad. I should have just stopped. I loved his other books and the highest hopes for Hannibal, buying it the day it came out. I read Silence of the Lambs in one sitting. Hannibal was far too slow to start for that. It is a tragic waste of two of the best literary characters of the late 20th century. I see why Jonathan Demme passed and will bet that both Hopkins and Foster will, too. In fact, I don't see how this will get made into a movie at all. Note to Ridley Scott: RUN!

Rating:
Summary: The only book I've ever wanted to return to the bookstore...
Review: This book, hyped though it was, has absolutely NO redeeming features. Aside from the fact that the plot is slow and plodding, Mr. Harris makes every possible error possible when writing this novel. One of the strenghs of "Silence" and "Red Dragon" is Hannibal Lector, aside from Mr. Harris' extensive knowledge of forensics. In "Silence" Hannibal Lecter explains to Clarise that "he can't be summed up with his experiences in the past," so to speak. That's what makes him so terrible, so inconceivable. . . and yes, so compelling. So what does Mr. Harris do? He lets the reader get to know Lecter, and wouldn't you know it, but all his atrocities are the result of. . . yes, a childhood trauma. It takes Hannibal Lecter and reduces him to nothing, just another serial killer, nothing special. Okay, so that's not enough to completely ruin the novel, despite the plodding plot. I won't ruin it, but the end of the novel is absolutely the most irrational, unbelievable and unsatisfying endings in the history of literature. I've read 2000 novels -- every possible genre included, including most every classic possible -- and this is the only novel I've EVER read that I've wanted to return to the bookstore. I can handle sad endings, tragic endings, happy endings, ambiguous endings. . . as long as its believable, but HANNIBAL is none of those things. Part of me has to think that Mr. Harris HATED the fact that the movie, not his previously fantastic writing, made him a success. It seems that he wanted to make JODIE FOSTER and ANTHONY HOPKINS pay for the fact that they made him; i.e. he wanted to write a book that he'd make money for, but that neither one of them would want to make, so as to spite them. Lord knows Hollywood will toss big bucks their way -- 40 million, between the two -- but if they're anything like me, they'll decline. (Afterall, they get 20 million each for every movie they make -- Hannibal isn't the only one out there and each of them has their choice of projects).Okay, to sum up. Slow and plodding plot, gratuitous violence (by that I mean unnecessary to build toward a climax or move the plot forward) an utter disdain for his fans (as witnessed by his degradation of previously explored characters), a writer who feels "smart" enough to comment on the very reality of the universe without making his point. . . the list of problems could go on and even be forgiven, if not for the ending, which not only was completely unbelievable, but totally out of context when compared to what was written previously.THIS WAS A TERRIBLE BOOK. BORING, SLOW, PLODDING AND UNBELIEVABLE, DO NOT BUY IT!!!!