... Hannibal is the third of Thomas Harris’ “Hannibal Lecter” novels, so it’s the third in a trilogy. But having said that, the second novel, The Silence Of The Lambs, wasn’t actually an official sequel to the first story, Red Dragon. Therefore, Hannibal is really not the third in a trilogy, but ... Read review
4/10/07 HE IS ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTING CHARACTERS IN ALL OF LITERATURE. AT LAST THE ... more
EVOLUTION OF HIS EVIL IS REVEALED. Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck.
Postage & Packaging:refer to website Availability:in stock
Hannibal killed nine people before he was caught. And five on his escape. Two of his ... more
victims survived - one of them craves revenge. He is very rich and very influential, and his reach extends into the echelons of power around the world. His need to find Hannibal is insatiable. In Clarice Starling, he has the perfect bait
Seven years have passed since Dr Hannibal Lecter escaped from custody, seven years since ... more
FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling interviewed him in a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane. The doctor is still at large, but Starling has never forgotten her encounters with Dr Lecter.
Living with his uncle and his uncle's beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki, Hannibal ... more
Lecter flourishes with Lady Murasaki's help. But his old demons visit him and torment him. When he is old enough, he visits them in turn. He discovers he has gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death's prodigy.
Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, ... more
with a chain around his neck. He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him. His uncle finds him in a Soviet orphanage and brings him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle's beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki.
Advantages: good plot, Hannibal Lector takes centre stage Disadvantages: too much background info, bad ending
...Right, time to explain this. Hannibal is the third of Thomas Harris’ “Hannibal Lecter” novels, so it’s the third in a trilogy. But having said that, the second novel, The Silence Of The Lambs, wasn’t actually an official sequel to the first story, Red Dragon. Therefore, Hannibal is really not the third in a trilogy, but the sequel to The Silence Of The Lambs. Also, I think I should point out that although I’ve read Silence Of The Lambs, I’ve not ... ...
THE STORY:
Hannibal picks up the tale of Hannibal Lecter a few years after the events of The Silence Of The Lambs. Dr.Lecter has been at large for a number of years, and the FBI are nowhere near finding him. As it turns out, he’s hiding out in Florence, where he has been made the curator of some museum or other (not being deliberately vague here, you’ll find out why later!!). Meanwhile, Clarice Starling is having a tough time of it ... more
This is a bit weird. After all, it’s my first ever book review op, and it’s on a book that’s the third in a trilogy. Well, it is and it isn’t.
I’m confused!
Right, time to explain this. Hannibal is the third of Thomas Harris’ “Hannibal Lecter” novels, so it’s the third in a trilogy. But having said that, the second novel, The Silence Of The Lambs, wasn’t actually an official sequel to the first story, Red Dragon. Therefore, Hannibal is really not the third in a trilogy, but the sequel to The Silence Of The Lambs. Also, I think I should point out that although I’ve read Silence Of The Lambs, I’ve not read Red Dragon. But I’ve seen the film.
I’m still confused!
Anyway......
THE STORY: Hannibal picks up the tale of Hannibal Lecter a few years after the events of The Silence Of The Lambs. Dr.Lecter has been at large for a number of years, and the FBI are nowhere near finding him. As it turns out, he’s hiding out in Florence, where he has been made the curator of some museum or other (not being deliberately vague here, you’ll find out why later!!). Meanwhile, Clarice Starling is having a tough time of it in the FBI. After a drugs bust goes disastrously wrong, Starling is wrongly blamed for the mess, and finds herself back on the Lecter case. Also meanwhile, back at the ranch (always wanted to write that!!), Lecter’s only surviving victim, Mason Verger, is using his considerable wealth and network of contacts and informants to try and find Lecter himself, in order to exact his rather nasty revenge, which involves some hungry pigs and Doctor Lecter becoming pig swill!! It’s all a rather nasty concoction really, and the threads of the story all come together in the end. In a manner that leaves a bit to be desired.
WRITING: The first of my problems with this book is with Thomas Harris’ writing style. While the story itself is very good, and at times this is a compelling page-turner, all too often it gets bogged down in excessive descriptions by the author. In particular, the portion of the book spent in Florence. This had the potential to be incredibly exciting, as an Italian police inspector thinks he’s found Lecter hiding in Florence, and tries to unmask his identity in order to claim Verger’s reward. While undeniably tense in places, the time spent in Florence is long, slow and dull. Yes, it’s a fascinating city with lots to see and do, but Harris spends far too long revelling in his in-depth research. He obviously spent a long time in Florence researching the settings for the story, and at times spends pages and pages describing the artwork and architecture of the city, when all you want to know about is the story! You are often bombarded with information about the various palaces, museums and galleries in Florence, to the point where they all merge into one! It’s always nice to have the backdrop to the tale described for you – but you can DEFINITELY have too much of a good thing!
CHARACTERS: One of the best things in the book is the development of the characters. Starling has moved on from the events of a few years previously, and is now toiling against the “glass ceiling” in the FBI, while Hannibal himself has been enjoying his seven years or so of liberty, and is indulging in his high-class tastes for the good life. This is probably the best thing in the book – the descriptions of Hannibal himself, and how he goes about his daily life. Harris also gives us an insight into the mind of this monster, and challenges the reader into thinking that perhaps he isn’t such a monster after all. You find out the turning point in Lecter’s past that made him what he is today. Other characters such as Barney the nurse, Starling’s nemesis Paul Krendler, and Mason Verger are all given a bit of room for development, but are totally secondary in the bigger scheme of things. The book is called “Hannibal” after all – he is undoubtedly the star of the show!!!
GOOD STUFF: Well, this is not a bad book. It moves along at a decent pace (except when the author takes some poetic licence with his research and decides to tell us ALL about it), and draws the subplots together satisfactorily at the right moments. There are some moments of real drama and tension, along with the occasional piece of dark humour.
BAD STUFF: The ending is AWFUL. Absolutely positively AWFUL. If you’ve seen the film, then the ending of the book is the total opposite. While the film is nowhere near as good as the book, the ending of the film is far better. Without giving too much away, Starling does something at the end of the story that, really, she would never do based on her actions in the rest of this novel and in the preceding one.
Or so you would think.
In actual fact, when I went back to this book and read it again, I found that I’d misunderstood what had happened at the end. While I still think the ending is all wrong, it does make more sense on the second reading. And it does contain a quite graphic description of Paul Krendler meeting his come-uppance in a very gruesome manner! In fact, while not a terrifying book, it is very unsettling in places, and shouldn’t be read by anyone who has a habit of letting psychological thrillers rattle around in their head for any length of time!!
OVERALL: It’s a good book, no question, but it’s far from perfect. Hannibal Lecter is a brilliant character, and the book is at its best when describing him and his “adventures”. But the rest of the book suffers from this, as it made to feel less important in the whole scheme of things. Harris gets too caught up in his own cleverness at times for me, and parts of the book drag on seemingly without end! And the ending, while not as bad as I first thought, still just doesn’t sit right with me. Overall, a decent effort, but nothing phenomenal!
--- Hannibal is available at amazon.co.uk for £5.59 ISBN: 0099297701 And it’s 576 pages long!!!
Advantages: See opinion Disadvantages: A totally ludicrous and unbelievable ending.
...best known (fictional) cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
The first two books, “Red Dragon” and “Silence of the Lambs”, were totally superb, and hard to fault in any way. In fact both were so enthralling and riveting they were devoured (excuse the pun) at a single sitting, and it was with this expectation of a “cracker” of a read that I bought Thomas’s latest offering “Hannibal”.
~ ~ I did suspect ... ...from the sidelines. (I thought Hannibal was the sick one?)
Verger has offered a huge financial reward for any information leading to the ultimate capture of the good Doctor.
Enter a mercenary Italian detective, who happens to stumble on Lecter’s true identity, and instead of reporting this to his superiors, decides instead to take on Hannibal single handed, thus collecting not only the reward, but the praise and plaudits that will rescue ...
the_mad_cabbie 17.03.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hannibal - Thomas Harris
Advantages: Hannibal Lecter returns Disadvantages: Bad ending, if you're easily scared
...the Lambs fans felt that Hannibal was not great, but as a bit of an amateur at all these scary things, I didn’t think it was so bad.
The book was on offer, £3.50, so I thought, "what the heck" and bought it. The main part of the book is the same as the movie, but the endings are critically different - I will not explain in-case there are those reading who have not seen the movie or who want to read the book - all I am going to say is that ... ...what’s the book about?
Hannibal Lecter, is a psychologist, an intelligent man, and a cannibal. At the end of Silence of the Lambs Lecter had escaped from prison. "Hannibal" now picks up the story ?? years later. Clarice Starling finds herself in the middle of something at the FBI, someone is out to discredit her, but why? Lecter always had a "soft spot" for Clarice, she interviewed him while he was in prison - she amused him greatly. Starling ...
Belfastgirl 14.05.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hannibal - Thomas Harris
Advantages: Read the book! Disadvantages: You must be joking
...the all time classics.
Hannibal as we all know at the end of ‘Silence of the lambs’ escapes, and promises never to disturb Starling if she does not pursue him. However all changes when Starling becomes involved in a bungled raid on a drug’s dealer and people are killed. To cut a long story short she is blamed in an attempt by Krendler (one of her colleges who has the hots for her but she rejected and he took it not as well as hoped), ... ...the request of Hannibal).
Hannibal feels for Starling and gets in contact to wish her good luck, along with killing a few people in Florence, who are attempting to kidnap him to sell to Mason Verger, who wishes him a long and painful death. Anyway Hannibal is eventually caught by Verger’s men and taken to his farm, where especially breed pigs have been produced to eat him alive. (Bit of a grim thought but sounds really good in the book).
...
WILMA 20.03.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hannibal - Thomas Harris
Advantages: Everyone has heard of Hannibal Disadvantages: The book will disappoint 'SOTL' fans
The book needs no introduction, really. The story started in ‘Red Dragon’ when Harris introduced Lecter for the first time. He returned in ‘Silence Of The Lambs’, only to escape and be free again. In the latter novel, Harris also introduced FBI agent Clarice Starling, a rookie, but a woman to whom Lecter took a fancy.
Seven years have now passed. Lecter is still at large, enjoying himself in a world where he can melt away. ... ...ever cross the doctor’s path again, or if Lecter remain free.
There is someone else that remembers Lecter though, and that is Mason Verger. He was one of Lecter’s victims, one of only two who survived the doctor’s onslaught. He is on a respirator but he is still powerful enough to want revenge on Lecter.
He knows that there is one person that will draw Lecter out – Clarice Starling….
Having read both ‘Red Dragon’ ...
LukeCroll 01.04.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hannibal - Thomas Harris
Advantages: Easy Reading Disadvantages: One you start to read you just cant stop.
...a big fan off the Hannibal Lectar series of books, I was told not to bother with this one as it is nothing compared to the others but I disagree I think this book is very good, you get to see more of Hannibal's life in this story and how he started his new one away from the FBI after having plastic surgery and a change of identity but one man is determined to find him and have his revenge.
Hannibal is the third book in the series coming after silence ... ...had a run in with Hannibal years before and ended up with his face and more eaten away. Now he is bed ridden and surrounded my machines and a computer system helping him to survive, he needs constant care.
Now Mason is a very wealthy and revenge hungry man and will go to any length to get back at Hannibal no matter what the cost may be. He formulates a plan and hires people to train wild pigs(hogs) to eat a humans flesh, the idea is to find Hannibal ...
catherinewigg666 30.10.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hannibal - Thomas Harris
Would you read it again?
Story
Characters
Readability
How does it compare to ...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Hannibal - Thomas Harris"
Advantages: It is short Disadvantages: It is rubbish
about at all. For a long time he cannot remember the events from his childhood as he is so traumatised but one day they come back to haunt him.
I read the book in one day in spite of not usually being a very fast reader. Unfortunately this was more to do with wanting to escape the torture that it was rather than anything else.
The book seems to be something that has been written in a haste, not because ThomasHarris wanted to explain Hannibal but because the wanted the money normally associated with him. It was always a dangerous idea to try to explain Hannibal and I don't feel that this attempt in any way manages to explain anything. It is fairly slow and sometimes can be a bit difficult to follow. Hannibal seems to change from a sensitive and protective child into an angry violent and cruel youngster with nothing really in between ...
Advantages: A short book, but interesting Disadvantages: Couldnt find any really
Having never read ThomasHarris before, I was very impressed. I have watched the films of Hannibal, and found them to be enjoyable, but never read the books. I found this book to be thought provocaing. I loved the way the book flows from one page to the next, although the flash-backs can be a bit confusing if the book is put down in the middle. It kept me reading and turning the pages, though it wasn't one of those books that you can't put down. It does have some violent material, as you would expect, but is not overly gory. It explains how Hannibal became so emotionless, and how he began his life, from a rich, loving family boy, to the man we later, love to hate. ...
Advantages: Insightful, thought provoking, absorbing Disadvantages: Occasionally disjointed, lacking in psychological explanations
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I had to do a double take when walking past Waterstones shortly before Christmas. A new Hannibal Lecter novel? I'd had no idea! Normally I object to paying out for hardback novels however Waterstones were offering the book at half price (normally 17.99) and I had adored all the books in the Hannibal Lecter trilogy (films too). The book is A5 size with a sleek black cover and embossed gold lettering. The small picture in the centre of the front cover of a moon and a heron is in fact a reference to a poem contained within the book although obviously this isn't something I knew when I first picked it up. To start with I thought I had quite a read ahead of me but on opening it up to begin I realised that the font was quite large and the margins rather generous.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ThomasHarris was born in 1940 ...
Product Information for "Hannibal - Thomas Harris" »
Product details
Author
Thomas Harris
Title
Hannibal
Genre
Thriller
Type
Fiction
ISBN
0099297701; 0099416832; 0434009407
Manufacturer's product description
'It is an axiom of behavioural science that vampires are territorial, while cannibals range widely.' Hannibal killed nine people before he was caught. And five on his escape. Two of his victims survived - one of them is in an asylum; but the other craves revenge. Mason Verger, a paraplegic confined to a respirator since his encounter with Dr Lecter, can move only the fingers of his crippled right hand across the soft blanket that covers his lifeless body. But Verger is very rich and very influential, and his reach extends into the echelons of power around the world. His need to find Lecter is insatiable. In Clarice Starling, he has the perfect bait. As gripping and terrifying as any reader or listener of "Silence of the Lambs" would expect. It if simply unforgettable
Compare Hannibal - Thomas Harris to other similar Thriller Books »
