New Hannibal Lecter novel coming in December '06
01-25-07, 09:54 AM
#26
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I enjoyed the book. I know a lot of people won't but it was the same with Hannibal. I also enjoyed Hannibal, the movie. It was beautifully shot, and had a great score, particularly the parts in Florence.
Parkourking, I have to disagree about Manhunter being a better adaption of the Red Dragon novel, at least story-wise. It left out all the parts that were essential to understanding why Dolorhyde was what he was, and then totally destroyed the great ending of the book, in favour of a 'Hollywood' ending. I couldn't quite get into Edward Norton as Graham, but I didn't care much for William Petersen either. The use of Shriekback was pretty good in Manhunter. Overall, I liked both films, but prefer Red Dragon.
Parkourking, I have to disagree about Manhunter being a better adaption of the Red Dragon novel, at least story-wise. It left out all the parts that were essential to understanding why Dolorhyde was what he was, and then totally destroyed the great ending of the book, in favour of a 'Hollywood' ending. I couldn't quite get into Edward Norton as Graham, but I didn't care much for William Petersen either. The use of Shriekback was pretty good in Manhunter. Overall, I liked both films, but prefer Red Dragon.
01-25-07, 11:35 AM
#27
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I didn't care over much for either of the film adaptations of Red Dragon. They're both okay, but not in the same league as Silence of the Lambs. (Speaking of which, I need to watch that film again and see how it holds up.)
As for the new book... I didn't even bother to review it, since Harris hardly bothered to write it.
As for the new book... I didn't even bother to review it, since Harris hardly bothered to write it.
02-25-07, 12:21 AM
#29
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Another vote for "what a piece of cr@p." I wasn't expecting very much (I thought Hannibal was one of the worst books I ever spent money on), and I got even less. This book provided absolutely no suspense. It is hard to tell a story in which the mystery is not "Where does the path beyond point B take us?" Since we already know where Lecter ends up, the correct question is "How did we arrive at point B?" This book is little more than an itnerary for the local Moose Lodge Convention. No suspense or even shock value -- at least Hannibal provided that.
As was previously pointed out, the "origin" stories (Hannibal, Hannibal Rising) are not the same character from the original stories. I have never been a fan of the whole "anti-hero" concept (thus my disdain for most "horror" films). Heroes can be flawed - they work better when they are flawed - but the antagonist cannot be the protagonist. Hannibal became a pop culture icon (for lack of a better description) due to his villainy (and amazing portrayal by Sir Anthony Hopkins), not because we really, deep down, want to love him. These novels really amount to nothing more than the Twinkie Defense to be trotted out by the next Johnny-Cochran-wanna-be. This is the biggest travesty since we learned that Darth Vader was really just an impoverished, down on his luck, soap box racing boyscout, who really meant no harm.
The ONLY thing in this book that was entertaining were a few witty exchanges between characters (none of which happened to be Hannibal). Forgive my paraphrasing, but "Close the door, don't rape the maid on your way out."
As was previously pointed out, the "origin" stories (Hannibal, Hannibal Rising) are not the same character from the original stories. I have never been a fan of the whole "anti-hero" concept (thus my disdain for most "horror" films). Heroes can be flawed - they work better when they are flawed - but the antagonist cannot be the protagonist. Hannibal became a pop culture icon (for lack of a better description) due to his villainy (and amazing portrayal by Sir Anthony Hopkins), not because we really, deep down, want to love him. These novels really amount to nothing more than the Twinkie Defense to be trotted out by the next Johnny-Cochran-wanna-be. This is the biggest travesty since we learned that Darth Vader was really just an impoverished, down on his luck, soap box racing boyscout, who really meant no harm.
The ONLY thing in this book that was entertaining were a few witty exchanges between characters (none of which happened to be Hannibal). Forgive my paraphrasing, but "Close the door, don't rape the maid on your way out."
02-27-07, 02:11 PM
#30
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Originally Posted by Abob Teff
Another vote for "what a piece of cr@p." I wasn't expecting very much (I thought Hannibal was one of the worst books I ever spent money on), and I got even less. This book provided absolutely no suspense. It is hard to tell a story in which the mystery is not "Where does the path beyond point B take us?" Since we already know where Lecter ends up, the correct question is "How did we arrive at point B?" This book is little more than an itnerary for the local Moose Lodge Convention. No suspense or even shock value -- at least Hannibal provided that.
As was previously pointed out, the "origin" stories (Hannibal, Hannibal Rising) are not the same character from the original stories. I have never been a fan of the whole "anti-hero" concept (thus my disdain for most "horror" films). Heroes can be flawed - they work better when they are flawed - but the antagonist cannot be the protagonist. Hannibal became a pop culture icon (for lack of a better description) due to his villainy (and amazing portrayal by Sir Anthony Hopkins), not because we really, deep down, want to love him. These novels really amount to nothing more than the Twinkie Defense to be trotted out by the next Johnny-Cochran-wanna-be. This is the biggest travesty since we learned that Darth Vader was really just an impoverished, down on his luck, soap box racing boyscout, who really meant no harm.
The ONLY thing in this book that was entertaining were a few witty exchanges between characters (none of which happened to be Hannibal). Forgive my paraphrasing, but "Close the door, don't rape the maid on your way out."
As was previously pointed out, the "origin" stories (Hannibal, Hannibal Rising) are not the same character from the original stories. I have never been a fan of the whole "anti-hero" concept (thus my disdain for most "horror" films). Heroes can be flawed - they work better when they are flawed - but the antagonist cannot be the protagonist. Hannibal became a pop culture icon (for lack of a better description) due to his villainy (and amazing portrayal by Sir Anthony Hopkins), not because we really, deep down, want to love him. These novels really amount to nothing more than the Twinkie Defense to be trotted out by the next Johnny-Cochran-wanna-be. This is the biggest travesty since we learned that Darth Vader was really just an impoverished, down on his luck, soap box racing boyscout, who really meant no harm.
The ONLY thing in this book that was entertaining were a few witty exchanges between characters (none of which happened to be Hannibal). Forgive my paraphrasing, but "Close the door, don't rape the maid on your way out."
02-27-07, 02:18 PM
#31
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Although I thought Hannibal Rising was a pointless book, I did enjoy Hannibal. But many people I've talked to disliked the latter. Still, if you're even remotely interested, you should give it a try. You should be able to tell fairly quickly if you're going to enjoy it or not.
02-27-07, 07:37 PM
#33
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Originally Posted by djmont
Although I thought Hannibal Rising was a pointless book, I did enjoy Hannibal. But many people I've talked to disliked the latter. Still, if you're even remotely interested, you should give it a try. You should be able to tell fairly quickly if you're going to enjoy it or not.
I read Hannibal too and I loved it. However, everyone I knew who read it HATED the ending.
I thought the ending took some real balls.
02-27-07, 08:05 PM
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I didn't hate the ending of Hannibal, it just seemed like the author plucked it out of nowhere; It didn't seem in line with everything that happened in the book.
02-27-07, 08:29 PM
#35
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Originally Posted by PalmerJoss
I didn't hate the ending of Hannibal, it just seemed like the author plucked it out of nowhere; It didn't seem in line with everything that happened in the book.
Well wasn't there something about Harris just doing "Hannibal" to make good on some contract stuff he was trying to get out of? I could swear he said he intentionally wrote the most over the top crazy stuff he could think of for the book...
As far as the ending of "Hannibal"...
Spoiler:
02-27-07, 10:31 PM
#36
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The only way this book works is if you can totally divorce yourself of any notion or remembrance of the character that was initially created. Perhaps if you can do this, the book is passable.
