Enrique Bird (ebird@gmgroup.com)
Mon, 21 Jun 1999 13:05:16 -0400
Peter,
I also just finished reading it.
A few disjointed thoughts:
1. It will be very hard to make a movie which will remain
fairly faithful to this book; if it is, it will definitel be
panned and, sad to say, probably rightly so!
2. It is not Silence of the Lambs II or, for that matter, Red
Dragon III.
3. The whole book read to me like a writer contemptuous of us
readers and in love with his 2 "heroes" who has the luxury
because of his legendary status and the scarcity of his
writings can afforf to write what he damn pleases when he
damn pleases.
4. I thought the ending, particularly as to Clarice, out of
touch with her portrayal. It seems to me that, if she was the
same Clarice as before, she might let the doctor leave or
escape but not go with him and become his lover/consort. If
she had been brainwashed or re-programmed, on the other hand,
it seems to me that she would have lost a big part, if not
all, of her attraction to Dr. Lecter.
The sad thing is that the "sexual" and "sympathy" undertone
between them is evident in Silence, both the book and the
movie, and the conflict it causes in her is part of the
fascination of the saga. By breaking it down and surrendering
to the lust the author seems to have about his characters'
relation, Harris cheapened it. He got away with 3 completely
but did not satisfy here.
5. The book itself is, frankly, most repulsive at times.
Silence showed class and followed logic in its "distateful"
segments; Hannibal shows, again, the capriciousness of the
author and, in many places, no artistic restraint or control
on his part.
It seemed to me at times that the book was written by 2
different persons: the Harris we have read before and admire
and a hacker filling in for a writer not so interested in
producing one of the most expected books of the last 15
years.
In conclusion, I loved seeing all the old characters, liked
some episodes, was happy to see both Clarice and Dr. Lecter
survive and "prosper" but was appalled by many cruel episodes
and by a conclusion which does not fit satisfactorily.
Enrique Bird
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Walker [SMTP:pw@pw.cablenet.co.uk]
> Sent: Monday, June 21, 1999 12:55 PM
> To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Hannibal
>
> I've just finished reading Hannibal and thought it
was fantastic.
> Incredible even. Amazing that a *popular* book is
also so *good*.
> And as for the way it ended - amazing. Any
thoughts?
> Peter
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