Hannibal Rising (Hannibal Lecter, Book Four): Thomas Harris

"HE IS ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTING CHARACTERS IN ALL OF LITERATURE.

"AT LAST THE EVOLUTION OF HIS EVIL IS REVEALED.

"Hannibal Lester emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck.

"He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him.

"Hannibal's uncle, a noted painter, 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.

"Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal. With her help he flourishes, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to medical school in France.

"But Hannibal's 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."

The last in the epic Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris, this was the first I chose to read--partially because this was the last film adaptation I watched, but also because I wanted to be able to watch Hannibal grow and develop as I read the rest of the series. This involves reading them out of order, but I think this may be the one exception I allow to my rule.

To begin, I knew this book would be good, but I had not the slightest inkling as to how it would suck me in. This could be attributed to any number of factors. The movie is still fresh in my mind, so I’m really enjoying comparing and contrasting (which I’ll get into later). The writing is simply beautiful and the craft, itself, is extremely interesting from a literary standpoint. Also--though a bit of a silly reason--I think I’m drawn to Hannibal because I, myself, am Lithuanian. My grandmother was about Hannibal’s age and even grew up in the same area as Lecter during the invasion of Lithuania. She has some eerily similar experiences to those of this fascinating character--though none quite so tragic as what sets Hannibal off. What’s truly awe-inspiring is, from firsthand accounts and historical evidence, Hannibal’s childhood isn’t all that implausible.

Getting off of that tangent, the writing in this novel was rather remarkable. Enthralling yet accessible, Harris really is masterful in his structure of the piece. I was amazed that I cared so much for a character like Hannibal while knowing full well what he would turn into. I’m always impressed when an author is able to create such a character and this book is probably the epitome of the admiration I have. Throughout my blogging history, I have noted other authors who have done similar things, but never to this degree.

Something that is really interesting about this piece is the complex literary structure. Written mostly in the past-tense, there are snippets of present-tense interjected in pivotal points of Hannibal’s evolution. This serves to draw the readers further into his slowly twisting world. The fact that Harris was able to pull off this tactic without seeming disjointed was thoroughly impressive as well. The glimpses into Hannibal’s inner-workings were particularly brilliant. The imagery it created--when coupled with Hannibal’s fragmented memories--were hauntingly beautiful.

At the time this portion of the review was written, I found the likenesses between the novel and the film adaptation to be striking. I’m amazed at how many lines were taken directly from the text. Rather than seeming poorly done with little effort, this made the text seem even more brilliant for the fact that it translated so well onto film. I felt a little thrill every time I recognized a bit of dialogue or a specific scene. The fact alone that I was able to recognize scenes from the book in the movie is impressive in and of itself. To delve further, some characters were left out in the film, but I don’t think this had a detrimental impact on the plot. Those characters that were included were vibrant and rich. They helped shape young Lecter into the man (or monster, depending on who is asked) we know he will become. To watch his evolution is truly fascinating. The dialogue as it was performed in the film was exactly how I pictured it in the novel. What was especially impressive was the way in which Lecter was portrayed. His mannerisms and speech patterns were just how I pictured a young Lecter when compared to the Hannibal from Silence of the Lambs. Gaspard Ulliel did an eerily good portrayal. I caught myself gasping a couple of times because he captured Anthony Hopkins’ mannerisms during certain key points. It was brilliant because, had the young Hannibal been a mirror image of the older one, then it would have been too unrealistic. The fact that there were little snippets and tastes made it all the better. Also, Ulliel’s accent made sense because he’s really a Frenchman playing a Lithuanian and his character was a Lithuanian trying to speak French. At least to me, the casting made sense and I appreciated it. (Not to mention Ulliel was a little bit of eye-candy! Even the scar on his cheek added to his character! You couldn’t help but like him. His eyes are wickedly expressive and I’m VERY tempted to find some of his other films, though they’re mostly French.)

At this moment, I’ve not finished reading the novel, but I can already tell you that I love it. The book is dark and haunting, but beautiful at the same time. The characters stay with you long after the credits roll or the cover is closed. Harris is a brilliant, talented author. I’m amazed with the depth and complexity of his writing. There are so many layers--not only with the plot and characters, but with the writing as well--that I can easily see myself reading his work over and over again in an effort to fully appreciate it. I hope his other books in this series are as enthralling! I definitely look forward to reading more.

...

Keeping up with my RAIR reading method (Reviewing As I Read), I’ve finished the book and can now complete my review! The conclusion of the novel was just as awesome as I remember the film being; though the portrayal of Hannibal’s final step into his ultimate mindset was less described in the film, the book gave it that extra push to make it that much more dramatic.

I will say that it seemed to take a while for Hannibal to get on the trail of the men who traumatized him, and, when he finally did, everything moved so fast. I’m not sure if this was the author’s intent, but it seemed to go a lot quicker than the movie adaptation did. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I almost (ALMOST) wanted a little bit more from the book. That, however, could just be me hoping for more of this amazing series.

I’ll try to get my hands on a copy of Red Dragon as soon as possible (though it’s out of Harris’ reading order, but I’ve already explained my method) because I’ve really fallen in love with this series. It might make me sound a little bit sick, but I’ll take it if that means I can read more about the complex, fascinating character that is Hannibal Lecter.