Warning: Spoilers included in this review. I have read all of Thomas Harris's books except for Silence of the Lambs and liked them all except this one. By the way, Black Sunday is his first and a good read; and I liked the farensics and horror in Red Dragon. This one was stupid. I expected alot more out of it. I found myself skimming it about half way through because I wasn't being engaged in the reading. Who's-who is very confusing because the characters all have strange Russian names and last names, or French names, or German names... names.... Anyway, it was confusing most of the time on trying to figure out who the story was talking about and why they were important. All the reader knew that by the middle of the book is that Hannibal wanted to kill some men from the beginning. Whatever. Also, there is alot of unneccessary text filling in the book. There is alot of foriegn reference to locations and people and the like. It is a little confusing and it seems as if it has almost nothing to do with the real story. All the French words, locations, and descriptions create an obstical and detachment from the main plot. No one cares about La Chataue Buttcrust and all the other French mumbo jumbo. If it was just put in simple language, it would have been a lot more interesting and easy to read. Also, it wasn't creepy enough. Decapitation gets old after a while. Hannibal did some really weird and sick stuff in the other books which made those stories a scary thrill ride. This was kinda dull. I was expecting to read about how he becomes this great villan, but it just wasn't... I dunno... thrilling? And the reader never really learns why Hannibal becomes a cannibal in the end. It would have been cool if - when Hannibal blacked out when he was a child and couldn't remember what had happened -if he later remembered that he had somehow killed the men and eaten them all. THAT would have been creepy. Then again... why did the Russians bomb the forest lodge? Did they just go around bombing houses when they liberated the area? Wouldn't that have been killing innocent people? And how did the men in the house get away in the snow? Or better yet, how did they get away with all of the art work?.... Or why didn't the asain stepmom get deported after the uncle died? I guess I must have been daydreaming through those explainations... And, how is it that a 13 year old kid can kick a full grown mans ass? I mean if the butcher character was really a notorious, brawling, bar fighting, butcher guy - could a 13 year old kid could hurt him? Let's get real. Also, if he was bleeding when he got shot in the end... Where did the blood come from if the sword stopped the bullet? Or why didn't any type of revenge happen to the detective? WE WERE ALL WAITING FOR IT. Also, why in the heck were there crowds of people screaming/demanding the release of Hannibal again? What in the heck was that all about? Plus, we all know Hannibal as a psychotic serial killer, yet in this book he is portrayed as an anti-hero who beats up bullies, avenges the rights of women in the name of chivalry, and lusts after his step mommy. OK?... I am selling this book used on ebay so I should probably give it a good review but I just can't. Go ahead and read it if you like, but don't expect much.Read full review
You have to be a serious Hannibal Lector fan to purchase this book, and if you are, you will be disappointed in this story. Yes, there are a few -zingers- regarding Hannibal's youth, (and his ability to LOVE), but the story revolves around him searching for, and killing (as only Hannibal can) the Nazi war criminals who brutalized him and killed his family. I read the book in just a few hours. I may read it again after I see the movie. This story doesn't even come close to the previous novels.. Hannibal, Red Dragon, or Silence of the Lambs. Those contained creative stories, deliciously horrid descriptions, black humor, and a slow steady build-up to real terror. This is my first ever review. My great disappointment in this book has compelled me to write this, and to open myself up to criticism. I bought this new from Amazon for $16.77. and I am unhappy with the quality of the book. The paper is thick, cheap looking, and the pages aren't trimmed. It looks like a book club book. Although I pre-ordered to have a first edition, it is not labeled as such. My advice is: buy it for a good price on ebay, or read it at the library.Read full review
This is my review of the novel presented. I was let down after reading this book. I've read all the other Thomas Harris books and I was very much intrieged with train of though of Lector Hannibal as presented by Thomas Harris which is not overed in the movies. But this book did not explore young Hannibal's thoughts very well. Maybe the editors instructed Mr Harris to tone it down a bit, or maybe this was a rush job and had a deadline due to movie outcome. I was very much disappointed to read that Lector Hannibal became Lector Hannibal because he lots his wealth and family during the war. Yes it may have taken a more then average traggic road, but I'm sure there were many other incidenses that take the same road but they do not all lead to Lector Hannibals. I was hoping to read about a unique avenue of Lector Hannibal that caused Lector to become Lector. Overall I think this was far below the standards of Thomas Harris. Maybe he should work at the Waco preceint again to refresh his serial killer interactions . . ha ha. If planning to read a good Thomas Harris book, I would recommend Black Sunday. I thought it was errie that Mr. Harris, a sane person to the best of my knowledge, could write about the cold cool calculating abilities of an insane mind. Which brings up another point that I'll not write about because this is only a reveiw, but thing about the topic of someone writing about a subject and writing well of the subject not having had experience the subject. . ha ha. I hope that was helpful or at least entertaining. May the good Lord guide your thoughts and actions, just little ole me.Read full review
WARNINIG: POSSIBLE SPOILER:..... I suppose this was a good book. Perhaps I am being unfair. As you all probably know, the books are always better than the movies that are made after them. Well, I guess this one breaks the rule. The book and movie are EXACTLY the same, down to almost the smallest detail. I was completely surprised...I mean, that never happens right? I saw the movie and then purchased and read the book. I was expecting the book to contain more detail and the such...not so. If you have seen the movie, you have essentially read the book (the movie actually uses character lines that are exact quotes from the book.) I guess what I am trying to say is that I was expecting a more detailed and in-depth story in the book than in the movie; but they are the same. This was a disappointment because I already knew EVERYTHING that was going to happen in the book because it followed the movie so closely (yes, I know the book came first, I'm just trying to let you know what to expect.) Hope this helps...perhaps if you haven't seen the movie in a while, this book will be exciting...but I started reading this book only a day or two after buying/seeing the movie.Read full review
It is well written, with short chapters. It brings to light insights into Hannibal's mind and the growth of his madness. I very much like the writing style, and the author's use of imagery. I purchased this book to finish the Thomas Harris series of Hannibal Lechter's life, and also to read it prior to seeing the movie.
the book was good. no it wasn't the psychological thriller the other hannibal books presented, but it wasnt about that. that was not the point of the story. the point was to show how hannibal became the monster that he is and to show how he avenged his sister. if the book was meant to be like red dragon and silence then i would have been disappointed. yeah, the french and russian words are hard to understand but who cares the book was overall a great revenge story. i do wish we had a little more understanding of the minor characters but hannibal's depiction was excellent.
I did love this book. I have read the complete Hannibal collection and even though this was not the best of the series, I enjoyed Red Dragon the most, this was still an excellent novel. To find out how Hannibal came about was very interesting. This book was a little hard to follow at the very beginning but stay with it because it does make sense to the book.
I have read other reviews on this book and don't understand the negative ones.I thought this book was very good at explaining and showing how Hannibal became the monster he turned out to be.I found it hard to put down and enjoyed it very much.If you are looking for him to be as he was in silence of the lambs or others after it you may be disappointed.As the title implies,this is about how he became that way,he was not born that way.
I bought this book because I am a big fan of Thomas Harris' character Hannibal Lecter;however, this book was disappointing at best. It didn't compare to Harris' other books and I had to struggle to finish it. I probably would't have read it in it's entirety at all if not for my need to finish all things that I start. It's an average story compared to other books but doesn't stand in the league of the previous Hannibal tales.
Having read all of the previous books, this one left me somewhat disappointed. This book takes a giant leap away from the tone and style that made Harris a best selling author. Gone is the extremely crafted writing. The book is very choppy and leaves the readers with a lot of gaps. Took me awhile to get involved with the book. While you learn about Lectors background, you never really feel like you figured out how he thinks. You never get inside the killer the way you did in the earlier Harris books.
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