Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Hannibal Rising
I just finished reading Hannibal Rising, primarily because I have an article due pretty soon on Thomas Harris. Despite reading it for work, however, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was an easy read, and didn't have, to me, the kinds of plot twists and turns that marked Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, but it did tell an interesting story and brought out a lot of stuff from Hannibal Lecter's childhood that show how he got to be who he is. I'm sort of torn about that, and as I work on the article I may post a few more thoughts on this subject.
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4 comments:
I have been dreading the release of this novel and the release of the film it will bring out.
I love Hannibal Lecter, but he is not a pop hero. I don't want to understand him anymore. I don't want to know the tiny details that made him tick. Don't tell me his bathroom habits. I don't want to know what's on his ipod.
Some people need to write and move on. Harris had a success with Lecter, and the sequel. I'm sorry he couldn't go further. I'm sorry. Now move on Harris. Move on. If you want to write about someone for a sequel, write about someone else in the book. Hell..do a book about Lecter's uncle without Lecter making an appearance.
Those are the same kinds of ambiguous feelings I'm having, Stewart, and what will be, in part, the focus of my article.
I bought "Hannibal" when it came out in hardcover having anticipated it for a long time. I've wondered if I would do the same with "Hannibal Rising," and I don't think I will nor will I use one of may audiobook download credits for it this month.
I realize "The Silence of the Lambs" is a suspense novel and "Hannibal" took things into the horror realm with its ending, which unsettled a lot of readers, but I can't get worked up about revisiting Dr. Lecter's youth, though I thought the portions in his memory in "Hannibal" were interesting.
I'm with Stewart I'd like to see Harris move on.
The book I have been waiting on hasn't been written at all--Will Graham catching Hannibal Lecter, which would essentially be a book about the FBI looking for a serial killer in the days before VICAP and other profiling. I want to read the scene where Graham figures it out moments before Lecter cuts him with the linoleum knife. Where the hell is THAT book?
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