Hannibal

Rating:
Summary: Sorry Mr. Harris
Review: As opposed to some of the great three part books I have been reading lately, this set of stories grew progressively worse. Red Dragon absolutely blew me away. I thought that seeing the movie first would ruin this book to some degree, but it did not...Red Dragon was simply incredible. Silence of the Lambs was structured very well, but Hannibal seemed to fall short on so many levels. I enjoyed the Verger/Lecter parts, but even that building drama was anti-climactic. It's a good read compared to a lot of the other junk that's filling the shelves today, but Harris has raised his bar to high for Hannibal to stand by itself well.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book fizzles out at the end. None of the drama between Clarice (the FBI agent) and Hannibal that made "Silence..." famous.

The ending does not live up to the hype which you need to read through 550 pages to get to. Skip the last chapter it is a waste of trees and ink.

Grusome but fizzles at the end.

Rating:
Summary: The story eats itself !
Review: I, like the rest of the world, waited in great anticipation for this sequel. I saw the movie first, was disappointed and was convinced that the story had merit and that there was an adaptation problem for the screen version. I ordered the book and read it in a day. This story that starts off so brillantly and with such a nice intricate plot structure ends up slowly nibbling itself away. You will end up with a stomach ache at the end instead a satisfied full feeling.

There is a wonderful trilateral tension between Starling / (FBI), Mason and his henchmen and Hanniabal. At first the plot moves along very nicely, with these three elements intricately intertwined. Good developement with the new character Mason, a very satisfiying pace and some nice twists and turns. The symbolism and larger metaphors are easy to pick up yet not overbearing. Yet about 2/3's into the story it starts eating itself.

Instead of focusing on the primary trilateral plotline, Harris degenrates the story by pulling up the sub-plots and supporting characters to carry the novel toward the latter end. Most troubling though is that Harris has misunderstood why people "liked" Hanniabal in "The Silence of the Lambs." People did not like the character, so much as they are fascinated and horrified by him at the same time. Much the same way people will stare with great intrest at a large insect that is squirming around in an aquarium. Harris has not understood this fact and it is what makes the ending so unbearably bad.

One is truly under the impression that Harris must have been pushed by someone to complete this novel prematurely. Unfortunatly for his readers he gave in to a shock ending that simply will not digest or make any consistent sense in his readers' minds, given his previous development of these characters.

Rating:
Summary: Yuck. But I mean that in a good way!
Review: Before my review, let me state that no matter how much you think you can stomach, you should probably check with your doctor or shrink. This book is just plain sick (yes, that is a pun).

The story is rather simple. Clarice, after local police mess up a drug bust she was in charge of, is told to find Lecter. On her way to find him, she meets Mason Verger, Lecter's only surviving victim. Barely surviving, anyway. See, Lecter gave him a drug, and told him to cut his face off. Now, in a bubble, he helps Clarice. But then he sells her to Krendler, who despises Clarice, after he made an offer, and she refused. Where is Lecter? Read to find out.

I read this book after having seen the movie. And after reading it, I would change my rating of the movie down to a three. Why? It cuts out my favorite charactor: Margot Verger, Mason's sister, who he raped many times in their childhood. I don't like her because of her looks or something, but because she is interesting.

And the movie leaves out a lot of Mason's and Hannibal's past. In this book, we learn just how sick he was, and why he liked his history book (that bit was just plain sick, no pun intended). And what of Hannibal's sister, Mischa? Ah, can't win them all.

The book is rather well written, and plotted. A little too much dialougue though. Luckily there is a nice amount of pieces that make you go "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!". And that is just what gives the book its charm!

Rating:
Summary: Good entertainment, mediocre sequel
Review: The novel is certainly exciting and entertaining because it makes your heart pound with sheer adrenaline. The dangerous cat and mouse game that Pazzi and Lecter play--who is the mouse?--is one of the most fun parts of "Hannibal". We all realize early on that Pazzi will be one of Lecter's victims and suffer a ghastly death, but Pazzi's manner of death, when it does come, is beyond apalling. It is fierce, bloody, and well executed.

The main disappointment was the revelation of Lecter's source of madness. I have always maintained that although Lecter is evil by nature, he seems to have a moral reason for killing. He ascribes to some higher understanding that his victims are too stupid to see. Only the select few can come into contact with him and not die. Disclosing his violent and cannabalistic nature as resulting from his sister's young death was a bit disappointing. I would have preferred Lecter's evil to be shrouded in mystery and incomprehensible.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the sequal, but bad movie adaptation
Review: This is much better than Silence because it portrays Hannibal as a human rather than a monster. The memory palace idea was brilliant and the ending was fitting to end such an epic. I love how Harris added in the story of Barney and Margo, which although not being related reflected on the main narrative. Harris' strength is not stylistic it is in the story, which is why his books make good movies. Unfortunately, the scriptwriters for Hannibal didn't have the balls to write a script true to the book. Ridley Scott's directing was magnificent and the acting was good (but not like the original), but the story was lacking.

Rating:
Summary: Meat, bones...and a soul
Review: I was somewhat let down by the movie adaptation of Hannibal. I'm a fan of Ridley Scott's movies (Alien and Blade Runner are two of my all-time favorites) and I thought both Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore did a more than competent job. It wasn't a bad movie, but I left the theater feeling that something was missing. I think I would have liked it much better if I didn't have the book to compare it to.

If you enjoyed Silence of the Lambs, in book and/or movie form, you owe it to yourself to read Thomas Harris' extremely well-written and compelling sequel, Hannibal. I had heard luke-warm things about the book when it was released two years ago, so I initially held off reading it. Then with the approach of the movie's release, I thought I'd give it a try.

I was more than pleasantly surprised at the quality and elegance of the writing and the overall smoothness and fluidity of the story-telling. This is very literate writing. Not the kind you often find in mass-market paperbacks these days. In Stephen King's review of the book, he said that anything that helps blur the lines between literature and popular fiction is a welcome thing. I would have to agree. Harris' characters are vivid and deeply drawn. They come alive on the page. His metaphors are rich and provocative. Almost Shakespearean at moments.

And yet Hannibal reads like the entertaining thriller that it is, at turns action-packed and at others almost comically gruesome. The ending of the book may be difficult for some readers to stomach. Either you don't like what Harris does with Hannibal and Clarice, as the makers of the movie did not (they changed the ending) or you go with it as a bold stroke of story-telling genius. Either way, this fine book is well worth your time. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: SUSPENSE AT ITS FINEST!
Review: Tomas Harris has given us "Red Dragon" and "Silence of the Lambs," but in my opinion this book tops both of those. From start to finish, the book is chilling, riveting and uncanny.

This edge-of-your-seat masterpiece finds the infamous Hannibal Lecter posing as Dr. Fell, a curator in Florence, Italy. F.B.I. agent, Clarice Starling, is once again hot on Lecter's trail. However, she has a few problems of her own following a "shoot-out gone wrong" and is suspended from active duty. However, we all know something as trivial as a little suspension could not possibly prevent Clarice from continuing her pursuit of Lecter.

Meanwhile on another continent, an Italian detective by the name of Pazzi is also hot on the trail of Lecter for reasons of his own - a payoff from one of Lecter's former victims, Mason Verger. Pazzi gains access to the FBI's Most Wanted List and discovers the charming Dr. Fell is none other than Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Unfortunately, Pazzi's adventurous quest for financial gain leads to his untimely demise.

At first glance, Verger's deformities might elicit a degree of sympathy from the reader. When you discover he is a child molester who actually brought about his own disfigurement, with a little help from Lecter, of course, you will quickly lose any campassion for this evil man. Verger has his own self-serving justice in mind when Lecter is returned to him - a very slow and painful one. Ironically, Verger falls victim to his own heinous plan and meets the fate he had planned for Lecter.

The end finds a new twist when Lecter save's Clarice Starling's life. It is clear we have not seen the end of Dr. Hannibal Lecter for, once again, he escapes. If you are looking for a great book that will keep you reading through the night, this is it!

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL!
Review: I first saw the movie, "Hannibal" and was complety blown away. The movie was good, but the book was SOOO much better! I didn't think that was possible, but it is. This book is beautifully written, full of suspense and other little things. How Thomas Harris describes Florence, Mason Verger, and other things makes me want to melt. Everyone should read this to be graced by the same magic...

Rating:
Summary: a book you need to finish
Review: The best yet I could not put it down I read it in the bath at work, I dreamed of him. In the silence of the lambs you fear and loathe him but in Hannibal you find yourself strangly rooting for him, a bad guy none the less but in a unusual way you dont want to see his downfall as an evil twisted criminal we all love to hate. This book portrays a different side of Lector, an insight into his mind and the places he goes in thought. A brilliant and engrossing book, I cant wait for number three.