My thoughts on the Hannibal book series
I read them over the summer, and I have a lot of thoughts
Introduction: I want to start this by saying I haven’t seen the films or the TV series. I initially wanted to start with Silence of the Lambs because it was on Kindle Unlimited, and I thought I could just start with that book. I ended up just getting all of the books, and I started with the first, Red Dragon. I did cross post these on Goodreads and part of the series on Instagram, and I have linked the Goodreads reviews.
Part 1: The Red Dragon review.
Published in 1981.
4 Stars
Fun fact: my sophomore year of high school, my school's marching band used music from the red dragon, and I actually haven't seen the movie. The music is honestly amazing though and I understand now why the show used it.
Decided to read this after listening to analyzing evil on YouTube's video about Hannibal from the silence of the lambs. I initially went to read that but didn't realize there was a prequel when I got the KU copy of silence of the lambs. So here we are I guess
This book starts out slow. I didn't really find it interesting until around the 66% mark--yes, in the last 3rd of the book. I've never read any of Harris's work beyond this and I am planning on reading silence of the lambs as well. But after that 66% mark it does pick up and it's worth the wait, I think. I'm not gonna spoil things but if you like crime thrillers that aren't gory, I'd say it's a good place to start.
On to silence of the lambs I go.
Part 2: Silence of the Lambs
Published in 1988
5 Stars.
"well, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming?"
"But the face on the pillow, rosy in the firelight, is certainly that of Clarice Starling, and she sleeps deeply, sweetly, in the silence of the lambs."
I cannot believe I've waited this long to read this series honestly. I devoured this within a few days. I've never seen the movie either, though I know it's considered a classic. I went into this with minimal information--I knew who the main characters were and a bit about Hannibal's role in finding Buffalo Bill, but that was about it. I really enjoyed reading this and had a difficult time putting it down. The only reason I didn't finish it last night is because I was too tired to read the last like 13 pages. Guess it's time for book 3, which is apparently super divisive??
Anyways yeah, I recommend this book, I don't have a lot of commentary or anything like that. It's a classic and I'm looking forward to reading more.
Part 3: Hannibal
4.5 Stars
Published in 1999.
June 14, 2024
Ok so I knew the ending was controversial, I read reviews and whatnot and knew what happened. That didn't stop me from feeling creeped out by it though lmao
I have devoured this series in the last couple weeks and I have started rising already. Eventually I'm gonna watch the movies ofc.
Every chapter with Mason was especially creepy because the descriptions were intense, but also the fact that despite wanting to get justice for what Lecter did to him, he was a horrible person himself. It's not really mentioned why until you're already like 2/3 through the book but once I found out why it was extremely uncomfortable.
Pretty much all the characters suck as people, for obvious reasons. But even "good" characters can be bad people and truly I think that's a sign of good writing when done right. Flawed main characters are my bread and butter. I had a lot of fun with this book and I'm sad I'm almost done with the series.
The final part: Hannibal Rising
I apparently did not post my thoughts on this book, so ignore the fact that this is posted months after I read it.
4 Stars
Published in 2006.
This is a prequel to the series, and it delves into the upbringing of everyone's favorite cannibal. I enjoyed this book, but I really don't know if it was necessary. It felt like Harris was pressured to come up with this book for a movie, maybe? It was creepy and delves into details that we know already, in depth. I don't think it's necessary to read this book to enjoy the series, and personally would have been fine with the series being a trilogy, even though it ended so WEIRDLY.
anyway, I don’t have anything meaningful to say, sorry.
In conclusion: This series is most brutal in Book 1, though descriptions can be pretty heavy at times later on; for example, descriptions of Mason scared me because the images were written so clearly. Harris might not have included a ton of gore, but he didn’t need to. He wrote these books during the peak slasher era of the 80’s, and he didn’t need to show a ton of murder to scare people. I eventually want to watch the tv series, as I have been told by friends I would like it. I don’t have access to Prime Video, though, so it might have to wait. You can find the trigger warnings for the book series online here.
I wanted to make a note about the trigger warnings including transphobia, because this is a topic that should be addressed. Silence of the Lambs’ villain is described with dated terms, and while it is reiterated multiple times that Buffalo Bill isn’t trans, his descriptions are offensive to many people, and I feel like I should talk about this. I personally knew going in Bill isn’t trans, and my fiancé warned me about the descriptions. I haven’t seen the movie, and as such I don’t think I can make any comments about that. I encourage people to do their own research about this and draw their own conclusions. I have been informed the tv series doesn’t even have an arc for Silence of the Lambs, and as such it does not include the transphobia. The film rights belong to MGM, and that could have something to do with it.
If you’ve read this far, thank you. Have you seen the movies, watched the show or read the books? If so, what do you think about them?