Rating: Summary: A nice twisted ending... Review: I had been anticipating the release of Hannibal months before its release. I was waiting impatiently at the bookstore the day of the release. The Silence Of the Lambs is one of my all time fave books. I also liked Red Dragon and Black Sunday. I was not at all disappointed. No, the book isn't as good as its predecessor, it takes a new direction, so quit comparing it to the SILENCE. Open your mind, this book takes on twists and turns into the human psyche unexplored in earlier works. Harris did some amazing research for his foreign settings also. I love, love the fact that Starling shows her dark side in this book. Its just good, creepy fun, don't take it too seriously and you'll enjoy. Harris is a rather elusive writer and I think that is his charm, if he churned out books like,say, Stephen King every week I would lose interest. It is worth waiting 10 years in between books. Harris, I hope your hard at work on the next installment, I will be the first to buy it! Also,what is this horrible news that Jodie Foster isn't going to be in the film version? Hopkins is returning. Michell Pfieffer was the original choice to play Starling, and she is THE ONLY other actress I will accept. If Gillian Anderson plays Starling I think I'll pass..
Rating: Summary: Mr. Harris ... you need help Review: Dear Mr. Harris, I read it to the end because I thought ... well ... "maybe it's me, I've been a little distracted lately, I feel I should be enjoying this ... but I'm not". What in the hell have you done to Clarice? Talk about a sell-out! And, what sort of mind can come up with that last scenario? Oh boy, I'd be worried if that had come out of my imagination. If the film is going to be true to the book, I will not be going to see it. I've given it two stars because I, at the very least read it until the end (and wish I'd skipped that last bit!).
Rating: Summary: Falls well short of expectation..... Review: God forbid that a young, struggling author should criticise someone as established and successful as Thomas Harris, but the truth is I feel obligated to do it anyhow. If the rumours of Jodie Foster's withdrawl from the third "Lecter" movie are true, then I can hardly blame her. Clarice Starling is not the same character as she was, she's lost a great deal of vigour and determination that helped her catch Lecter in the first place.Hannibal's plot is decent for the first three quarters, by ignoring the confusing Italian terms and language that Harris uses, the reader can make sufficient sense about what's happening. From then on though, the whole book changes into something as abstract as one of the art gallery pictures Harris tries to describe. Flashes of violence never live up to the imagination of the first two books, the characters become shadows of their former selves and I, as a reader was left with a heavy sense of disappointment for a book I'd been waiting months to read. I'm not saying it's a bad book, just a let down from "Red Dragon" and "The Silence Of The Lambs". You'll have to make your own judgement but if you're expecting the power of the other two books, you'll be disapointed.
Rating: Summary: what a waste of time Review: Why did thomas harris take so long to write such a jumbled, pointless and rambling book like this. You think if the man had spent so long on a book at least a few things would be evident. Simple things like a plot, a sense of intrigue and motives for the characters. This book lacks all the above. The whole time I spent reading this (time incidentally that was not well spent) I could not help thinking what is the point of all of this. The characters are shallow, Clarice especially. He seems to have run out of ideas for her and painted her as simply as possible. Even when I had finished the book, the same question repeated itself why? If you loved black sunday, red dragon & silence of the lambs please dont buy this! It sucks
Rating: Summary: What a disappointment! Review: I've never felt compelled to offer a review on Amazon, but Hannibal inspired me. There are some books I wish I could un-read. This was one of them. I threw the book away after reading it. I am no English major, yet I couldn't help notice the number of obvious grammatical errors in the book. Apart from poor technical achievement, the author also irritates by attempting to impress us with his knowledge of art and food and finer things to the point where he appears conceited. And finally, we're supposed to like Hannibal? He still eats people! That's wrong... isn't it? Don't buy this book. If you have started it, put it down. It won't get any better if you stick with it until the end.
Rating: Summary: Hannibal is a compelling vision, and not easy to shake. Review: I found Hannible to be a tale so sharp and clear, so effortlessly woven with the sights, smells and sensations of the world of it's characters, that the book connected at a far deeper level than I am accustomed to. I listened to the unabridged audio tape version of the book on my drive to and from work and found myself constantly drawn to think of the passages I'd just heard throughout the rest of the day. Although dark and disturbing, the exquisite skill which Hannibal Lechter uses in manipulating those around him is truely masterful. Upon finishing the book I went back and listened to passages again just to revel in the settings. A wonderful journey through a dark and mysterious mind, but a mind which ultimately is not so different after all.
Rating: Summary: This reader felt cheated! Review: It was with much anticipation that I began reading the long awaited, sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs". Despite the fact that the book held my interest, I couldn't help but feel cheated. Harris created a strong heroine with the character of Clarice Starling in "Silence..." I was excited to read how she was going to catch Lecter the second time around. The plot was only thickened with the addition of another sinister character named "Mason Verger" out to exact his revenge using Starling as bait. Although the book was well written, one thing I just couldn't get past was the fact that the writer didn't remain true to the character of Clarice Starling. She is not the same character we came to know in the first book at all. It is always nice to have plot twists,and have a character react in way that you would not have anticipated, but it really felt as though Starling didn't belong in this book at all. Perhaps Harris felt pressure to bring all the same characters back for that big Hollywood sequel. I don't know. As a reader, and a fan, I felt cheated. This Clarice Starling should have been left out of the book. I just hope that when the movie sequel to "Silence of the Lambs" is made, the screenwriter does Starling justice, and doesn't betray her character the way Harris did in this book.
Rating: Summary: Hannibal - Yikes! Review: I should have put the book down and walked away while I still had the chance but I had to know how it ended. As I read the last page I was just plain angry! I hoped that Mr. Harris would continue the strength, intelligence and unwavering sense of right and wrong he had brought forth in his characters in "Silence of the Lambs". Boy, was I wrong. I have can't remember being so disappointed in a sequel to any book in a long time. It seems that all his chacters have taken a leave of their senses and turned,well, just plain stupid. Also, this book was probably one of the most graphic(violence), disgusting books I have ever set eyes on. There easily could have been less "blood and guts" and more imagination. For my money, I would definately skip this one!
Rating: Summary: "Hannibal" a disappointment Review: And it started out so interesting! But by the end, Hannibal seemed way out of character, and Clarice wasn't the same Clarice from Silence of the Lambs. I was disappointed by the ending. Not nearly as good as Harris' other works.
Rating: Summary: Anyone else having issue with the CD ? Review: I'd just bought the CD this past weekend and have been listening to it in the car to and from work... at the close of disk 1 Clarise has put herself in a potentially dangerous situation, a little suspenseful so I quickly pop out disk 1, put in disk 2 with some eager anticipation... only to find myself in the middle of the story of Turin Turumbar, BOOK 2 of the Silmarilion (I happen to also own the CD of the Silmarilion set also, so that's how I know... also a GREAT book by the way, highly recommended...). I guess this doesn't really qualify as a review but I was VERY surprised to see that of all of the reviews currently posted, none made reference to the audio CD's. I also wanted to put something out there to see whether others had experienced the same issue.
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