Hannibal

Rating:
Summary: "Grippingly Terrifying?"
Review: Don't get me wrong, this book was great, amazing, and fabulous, but jeeeeezzzz, you look at the reviews and they tell this book is horrifyingly scary, then you read it and say "Well, that was a good book, but it wasn't scary". Maybe I just don't get scared from books, but I'll tell you one thing, if this was a movie, I'd see it right away. You see, you feel more suspense in a movie when you see the setting and the characters. Look what happened with "Silence of the Lambs". It won best picture. But, don't get me wrong, you should really read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Hannibal Goes Nowhere!
Review: I purchased Thomas Harris' book "Hannibal" after reading the celebrated "Silence of the Lambs" years earlier (which I thought was good but over rated). Hannibal starts off well. The writing style at times is a little un-even but the story engages. The descriptions of Florence and other copious asides was interesting, but not relevant to the story and made for a lot of fluff. As the novel pushes onward to it's unpredictable yet predictable climax, I felt a little "ripped-off." Agent Sterling's ambiguous laconic character left much to be desired. In reality, she would definitely be gay and more interesting as a person if this were so. As the ending approached, I had a strong feeling of being let down. Although my sense of what Mr. Harris was trying to communicate is that in reality people are never what they seem to be. Too bad it was done in such a round about and uneven way.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Quite possibly the most anti-climatic disappointing ending ever published. With Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs as procuresses to this novel I was anxiously expecting a winner, but instead I read a poorly written novel that leaves the audience wanting closure and satisfaction. Harris tries to use shocking scenes instead of reality based sequences, the characters are unbelievable as is the story and the reader is never allowed to be sucked into Harris's world. The ending leads me to believe that Thomas Harris is trying to set up his next big payday. If you are curious I rated Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon as a 4 & 5 respectfully.

Rating:
Summary: Give Me a Break
Review: Not having read any of Harris's other books, I had no preconceptions when I picked this one up. But the novel never seems sure where it wants to go, and after drifting around a bit, ends up as a string of setups whose purpose is to seduce us into agreeing that the victim of each inflated atrocity gets what he deserves--kind of a mixture of Marvel comics and pornographic sadism. It becomes essentially a series of disconnected revenge fantasies perpetrated by the wicked and powerful for the pleasure of us, the meek and powerless. Completing the condescension with multiple references to the icons of haut bourgeois consumption, a la "Lives of the Rich and Famous", Harris dangles before us scenes of Lecter buying perfumed soaps in Florence, sipping Chateau Petrus (fabulously expensive red wine), Chateau d'Yquem (fabulously rare and expensive sweet white wine}, and Montrachet (the most expensive white burgundy--easily several hundred a bottle). It's only too easy to imagine Harris calling his local wine merchant and saying, "Say, what are the world's three most famous and expensive wines?" And surely, Lecter must realize, with his exquisite sense of smell, that the dominant perfume in all of these treats is the musk of self-congratulation.

By the end of the book, ones senses Harris's fatigue and loss of control, as Starling is reduced to a gleaming wet dream surrounded by candles and flowers no interior decorator could have arranged more artfully.

Akways, in the background, one hears the clanking machinery of the library research teams, generating esoterica about hog breeding, medieval Florentine architecture, various fetish automobiles--all stuff Ian Fleming did years ago, and better. I'd say give this one a pass.

Rating:
Summary: Is Harris kidding us?
Review: What a diabolical offering. My question is "did Thomas Harris really write this?" The book is riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Where is the grace with which Silence of the Lambs was written? The characters (esp. Hannibal) are all reduced to caricatures. The crime scenes are so over-the-top that instead of being left with that feeling of abject horror, you just skim through them.

In Silence of the Lambs, Harris displayed an awesome understanding of human nature and the tiny flaws in our characters which make us so intriguing. Reading Hannibal, I was left with a feeling that he was stumbling about, not really getting to grips with his characters. It reads like it was written by a committee.

I hope 'they' don't make a movie out of this.

Rating:
Summary: Please Mr. Hopkins, Don't Make the Movie
Review: Ok... Before I let rip, I didn't read Silence of the Lambs, Or Red Dragon, I saw the Movie years back, loved it, waited for the next book, and hoped for a sequel that would be a good read that would go well on the silver screen. When I got to the end of this book this morning, I said "Thank God.. I made it to the end". Did the editor forget to leave out the drivel?

The Dr. Lector character maintains his depth and passion, which is why this gets two stars and not one, but this was relied upon much to heavily. Their is an element of tension, but it staggered towards it like a whining child in a supermarket, and when it finally made it, it was a relief and no real surprise. Stephen King remains the master of suspense and horror.

The final insult came with the books conclusion, I personally found it poor, an insult to Starlings character, and much too difficult to believe.

I had the image of Anthony Hopkins throughout the book, and he will bring color to the part, but with a book like this to base a film upon, there will be no need to write an acceptance speech this time.

Rating:
Summary: The worst book I've ever read
Review: This is the absolute worst piece of garbage I've even laid eyes on. Mean spirited, condescending, gratuitously gory, poorly written, horribly researched, ugly, vicious, stupid, and sloppy. Unforgivable tripe from an author who should know better. He ruined his own carefully-drawn (in other books) characters for this exercise in reckless writing. It hasn't even been edited! Harris flops around from tense to tense like a dying carp. His excuse for a plot seems to be an exploration his own dislike for his readers. It's totally mutual, now. I tossed my copies of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon" along with "Hannibal".

Rating:
Summary: Horrible
Review: As a fan of Thomas Harris' previous books, I was excited to read his newest offering. I was very disappointed with this book, because it seemed like he was forced to write it. He introduces new characters in every chapter, but as a reader you never quite care for them. We know that they will eventually be Hannibal's victims. I was most disappointed with the ending and understand why Jodie Foster would not want to do the sequel. It is against her character and it seems that Harris didn't know how to end the book. It was a big disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Hannible-A Betrayal of Starling's Character
Review: I was completely disappointed with this book. Not only is it gruesome to the point of being an unbelievable tale, the author totally betrayed the character of Clarice Starling by making her weak and by having her completely abandon her beliefs and strong will!! Clarice would have NEVER done what the author had her doing at the end! Very, very disappointing!!

Rating:
Summary: Wow...
Review: After both reading and watching Silence of the Lambs, I could not wait to read Hannibal. Although I did not get the book until now, I was not disappointed. The book was glued to my hand for three days as I devoured the writing.

The main plot is this. It has been seven years since Hannibal Lecter escaped from maximum security prison, and he is living like a king in Florence. But an old patient of his, Mason Verger, has not fogotten what Lecter did to him and swears to get revenge. What follows is a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse where only the strongest will survive.

The book loses one star on two main points. One, I was not a big fan of the ending and find it slightly unbelievable. Two, I don't like how Lecter was reduced to facts in order to explain his actions. He was so much better as a mystery.

Other than that, I highly recommend this book to anyone with a strong stomach. Harris comes up with some of the greatest metaphors I've ever heard, and the gruesome details only add to the suspense. This book is a chilling look at the dark side of humanity. Lecter does things that make you want to throw up, but you will still like him and still want him to win. You will scream at yourself because of this. You will be disgusted, and after the book is finished, you will absolutely love it.