Rating: Summary: Incredible Review: Thomas Harris has made another masterpiece with Hannibal. What you think is going to happen in the end is incredibly off. After having read The Silence of the Lambs I wasn't sure if this could be anywhere near the suspenssfulness of it. But, it is.
Rating: Summary: Like Melville Review: Superficially "Hannibal," by Thomas Harris,is tensely disappointing. Thomas obviously has been persuaded by too many choppingmall-and-movie-F/X enthusiasts--personal perhaps, but definitely professional. Ironically, publishers seldom know what the "reading public" wants. And it's always bad when a writer succumbs to outside, monetary encouragement. When we, the pubic, read, it's very personal, and I for one do not want to be a victum to someone's past, not even a fictional character's. "Hannibal" reminds me of "Alien 3." The anticipated point of the story is that after each encounter there are more survivors--for the eventual, ultamate extermination of the evil creature. I don't care about reality; I want to see what's best for me and mine. I want to read about hope, not resignation, chemically induced or otherwise. Like "Alien 3," "Hannibal" leaves me with the bitter taste of Murphe's world, a taste I am tired of. I only want to know that there is hope, not that hope is limited. I want survivors. In short, bad job, bad saleout, Tom. However, years from now, I'm sure that countless students will earn their doctorate degrees from lengthy dissertations on "Hannibal." For all its chopping mall and modern special effects leanings, it's purpose is obtuse at best. Good stuff for future scholars. Bad stuff for the extant author.
Rating: Summary: Add me to the long line of Nay-Sayers Review: Oh please, PLEASE, save us from authors tired of their characters and aiming only for that bonus check from Hollywood. Ponderous, confusing, stomach-churning (and that's just the prose, not the plot)...was I disappointed? You bet I was. As was my husband.We both agreed the end-game received short shrift. had Harris bothered to spend more time there and less time with Verger and his horrendous plot for revenge, I might have been able to accept the ending. Yes, yes...the bare bones of justification were there but I'm sorry Mr. Harris, it was not enough. You glossed over the details of Lecter's psychological seduction of Starling leaving most every reader bewildered at her abrupt personality change. Shame on you. For those of you who haven't yet wasted your time, don't bother. Go read something by John Sandford instead, or re-read SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.
Rating: Summary: Huge Disappointment Review: I adored Silence of the Lambs and was quite excited to read Hannibal... it was extremely difficult to get into. SLOW initially. Finally it started to pick up and I was going to keep on giving it a try. I believe that Harris was trying way too hard to outdo his work from Silence of the Lambs. How gross can we make this? How ludicrous can this be? He tried too hard and I feel that it unfortunately was what ruined it. Harris is a quality writer - and it seems to me that he tried too hard to create a new masterpiece rather than writing a good book.
Rating: Summary: Hannibal Review: I was very disappointed in this book, I hated the ending, it made Starling out to be a complete idiot. It showed Starling with zero backbone and none of her cleverness from the first book. Hannibal (character) was good and I understood the concept of the entire book, I just think it could have had a different ending.
Rating: Summary: Oh Lord have mercy, for he knows not what he did. Review: HEADS UP! MAJOR SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW! First of all I think Mr. Harris is a brilliant writer. I bow down to you Sir, someday I hope to be a quarter as good of a writer as you are. Please know that my words here are not meant to be disrespectful, just how I see things as being truthful. Please don't hate me for this. Sir, I don't think you meant to, but you hurt your characters. I keep trying and trying to understand what you were doing with that ending but it makes no sense. You know Dr. Lecter would never allow himself to do something like that! Even if he did, which he wouldn't, couldn't and shouldn't, Clarice would be strong enough to stop him. Sir, when I read the end of that book I was sobbing! Please don't take this the wrong way, but that ending hurt me as much as it her Dr. Lecter and Clarice! What happened, Sir? Now Sir, this is your book, you have the absolute right to do whatever you want with your book, however this is going farther than just that. Hannibal is becoming a movie. Sir, it's bad enough to have this in writing, but if genius actors like Mr. Hopkins, and Mrs. Foster get on camera and act it out, it's set in stone! Sir, you can't do this to your characters, you can't hurt them like this! Please Sir do something to stop them. Now I've heard that the directors and producers are, however, through my experiences, I've learned not to trust what I hear. Anyway, please think about what I've said. Don't hurt Clarice and Dr. Lecter like this. You may not think your input can help out the movie, but your wrong. People, I just wrote my review like that just in case a miracle would happen and he would come to this sight. You never know, miracles do happen sometimes.
Rating: Summary: Disappointing Review: Readable, but lacking any credibility and deeply disappointing when compared to Red Dragon / Silence of the Lambs.
Rating: Summary: Excellent in part Review: While most other reviewers either liked this book or totally disliked it I'd rather say it was excellent from the psycho point of view. It was absolutely believable. In particular I liked the idea of the memory palace and the change of the lovely Clarice Starling. After this book you will see Lecter and Starling with different eyes. Contra: The whole revenge plot was quite predictable. I totally hated it. It just didn't fit into the character of this book. As Dr. Lecter would say: "This book lacks in taste."
Rating: Summary: PREPOSTEROUS! Review: No wonder Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins turned down the sequel. The writing is good to excellent; the plot twists are ingenious; and the explication of the villain's character/ psyche/ motives provided by the auhor is satisfying, especially because such "insight" is frequently missing in other novels of this genre. Nonetheless, the notion that Clarice would succumb to Hannibal's version of the Stockholm Syndrome shattered my suspension of disbelief, and left me shaking my head. No amount of literary contortion would convince me, or the others with whom I have discussed this book, that any confluence of circumstance would cause Clarice to become the willing companion of this engaging, but ultimately deadly madman.
Rating: Summary: Trash, plain and simple. Review: I thought Silence of the Lambs was a superb book, and looked forward to Hannibal for a long, long time. What a disappointment! Bad writing, unlikely events, and an ending that is so bad I couldn't help but be insulted. The fact that this book was published at all is astonishing, and can only be accounted for by previous good work. Mr. Harris should be ashamed at inflicting this nonsense on his public. I only hope this never makes it to the big screen.
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