I was in London recently, and had a fair bit of free time on my own on Sunday evening. So I decided I’d get myself an early Christmas present and pick up Hannibal Rising
I’ve been a fan of the books since getting back from seeing Silence of the Lambs, going out to the shops and buying the combined book, along with the prequel ‘Red Dragon’. I devoured (sorry, tough not to use such a description) the books in a single late-night reading session. Whilst I enjoyed the sequel ‘Hannibal’, the ending left me feeling a bit disappointed. I felt the books took the Clarice Starling character a bit too far. Unsurprising then that the film diverged in the way it did.
But ‘Hannibal Rising’ is an excellent novel, and enjoyable journey into the formation of a curious icon of cinematic history. Tracing the origins of the evil of Hannibal, it’s hard not to feel a little sympathetic to the character in a horrific situation. As with the earlier books, I found it hard not to put down, curious about the next twist and turn.
But it’s also curiously short book given its size. I was frustrated by the short chapters (I can’t be sure from recollection that the earlier books were formatted in this way or not), and it felt bulked by so many chapters finishing with just a short few lines at the top of the book. A few glaring typos that should really have been picked out in the editing process (repetition of statements occurred in a couple of locations), and interrupted my reading. Perhaps these will be fixed in later reprints.
Characterisation was curious of key characters - they felt a bit lighter than in other books - and the overall story felt a little at odds with the character of the later books. I felt curiously outside of the evolutionary process of Lecter’s evil, given that’s what this book was supposed to be about. A cultured, intelligent child/ young adult who moves into evil to avenge/apease nightmares, but there was little of the ‘insight’ that made the other books so enthralling.
There’s plenty of room left for the rumoured second book which I expect will pick up where this book left off, to describe the build up to his final arrest and incarceration, referred to of course in Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs. Thomas Harris isn’t the fastest of writers, so I’m sure it’ll be a few years before it appears.
In short though, this is classic stuff, and any fan of the books/films would do well to pick this up and enjoy it. I’m certain it’ll be made into a film although of course Hopkins won’t be able to feature (makeup’s not that good that he could play an 18 year old!), but that’s got to be a good thing: He’s a talented actor that’s gone a bit native in hollywood, to the detriment of him. But I digress. A great read that would be a great idea for a christmas present if you’re faced with some time off and want to ‘escape’ into the readable horror of Hannibal Lecter’s formation.
