Prologue
The door to Dr. Hannibal Lecter's memory palace is in the darkness at the center of his mind and it has a latch that can be found by touch alone. This curious portal opens on immense and well-lit spaces, early baroque, and corridors and chambers rivaling in number those of the Topkapi Museum.
Everywhere there are exhibits, well-spaced and lighted, each keyed to memories that lead to other memories in geometric progression.
Spaces devoted to Hannibal Lecter's earliest years differ from the other archives in being incomplete. Some are static scenes, fragmentary, like painted Attic shards held together by blank plaster. Other rooms hold sound and motion, great snakes wrestling and heaving in the dark and lit in flashes. Pleas and screaming fill some places on the grounds where Hannibal himself cannot go. But the corridors do not echo screaming, and there is music if you like.
The palace is a construction begun early in Hannibal's student life. In his years of confinement he improved and enlarged his palace, and its riches sustained him for long periods while warders denied him his books.
Here in the hot darkness of his mind, let us feel together for the latch. Finding it, let us elect for music in the corridors and, looking neither left nor right, go to the Hall of the Beginning where the displays are most fragmentary.
We will add to them what we have learned elsewhere, in war records and police records, from interviews and forensics and the mute postures of the dead. Robert Lecter's letters, recently unearthed, may help us establish the vital statistics of Hannibal, who altered dates freely to confound the authorities and his chroniclers. By our efforts we may watch as the beast within turns from the teat and, working upwind, enters the world.
Chapter 6
Lothar heard it first as he drew water, the roar of an engine in low gear and cracking of branches. He left the bucket on the well and in his haste he came into the lodge without wiping his feet.
A Soviet tank, a T-34 in winter camouflage of snow and straw, crashed up the horse trail and into the clearing. Painted on the turret in Russian were AVENGE OUR SOVIET GIRLS and WIPE OUT THE FASCIST VERMIN. Two soldiers in white rode on the back over the radiators. The turret swiveled to point the tank's cannon at the house. A hatch opened and a gunner in hooded winter white stood behind a machine gun. The tank commander stood in the other hatch with a megaphone. He repeated his message in Russian and in German, barking over the diesel clatter of the tank engine.
"We want water, we will not harm you or take your food unless a shot comes from the house. If we are fired on, every one of you will die. Now come outside. Gunner, lock and load. If you do not see faces by the count of ten, fire." A loud clack as the machine gun's bolt went back.
Count Lecter stepped outside, standing straight in the sunshine, his hands visible. "Take the water. We are no harm to you."
The tank commander put his megaphone aside. "Everyone outside where I can see you."
The count and the tank commander looked at each other for a long moment. The tank commander showed his palms.
The count showed his palms. The count turned to the house. "Come."
When the commander saw the family he said, "The children can stay inside where it's warm."
And to his gunner and crew, "Cover them. Watch the upstairs windows. Start the pump. You can smoke."
The machine gunner pushed up his goggles and lit a cigarette. He was no more than a boy, the skin of his face paler around his eyes. He saw Mischa peeping around the door facing and smiled at her.
Among the fuel and water drums lashed to the tank was a small petrol-powered pump with a rope starter.
The tank driver snaked a hose with a screen filter down the well and after many pulls on the rope the pump clattered, squealed, and primed itself.
The noise covered the scream of the Stuka dive bomber until it was almost on them, the tank's gunner swiveling his muzzle around, cranking hard to elevate his gun, firing as the airplane's winking cannon stitched the ground. Rounds screamed off the tank, the gunner hit, still firing with his remaining arm.
The Stuka's windscreen starred with fractures, the pilot's goggles filled with blood and the dive bomber, still carrying one of its eggs, hit treetops, plowed into the garden and its fuel exploded, cannon under the wings still firing after the impact. Hannibal, on the floor of the lodge, Mischa partly under him, saw his mother lying in the yard, bloody and her dress on fire.
"Stay here!" to Mischa and he ran to his mother, ammunition in the airplane cooking off now, slow and then faster, casings flying backward striking the snow, flames licking around the remaining bomb beneath the wing. The pilot sat in the cockpit, dead, his face burned to a death's head in flaming scarf and helmet, his gunner dead behind him.
Lothar alone survived in the yard and he raised a bloody arm to the boy. Then Mischa ran to her mother, out into the yard and Lothar tried to reach her and pull her down as she passed, but a cannon round from the flaming plane slammed through him, blood spattering the baby and Mischa raised her arms and screamed into the sky. Hannibal heaped snow onto the fire in his mother's clothes, stood up and ran to Mischa amid the random shots and carried her into the lodge, into the cellar. The shots outside slowed and stopped as bullets melted in the breeches of the cannon. The sky darkened and snow came again, hissing on the hot metal.
Darkness, and snow again. Hannibal among the corpses, how much later he did not know, snow drifting down to dust his mother's eyelashes and her hair. She was the only corpse not blackened and crisped. Hannibal tugged at her, but her body was frozen to the ground. He pressed his face against her. Her bosom was frozen hard, her heart silent. He put a napkin over her face and piled snow on her. Dark shapes moved at the edge of the woods. His torch reflected on wolves' eyes. He shouted at them and waved a shovel. Mischa was determined to come out to her mother—he had to choose. He took Mischa back inside and left the dead to the dark.
Mr. Jakov's book was undamaged beside his blackened hand until a wolf ate the leather cover and amid the scattered pages of Huyghens' Treatise on Light licked Mr. Jakov's brains off the snow. Hannibal and Mischa heard snuffling and growling outside. Hannibal built up the fire. To cover the noise he tried to get Mischa to sing; he sang to her. She clutched his coat in her fists.
"Ein Mannlein . . ."
Snowflakes on the windows. In the corner of a pane, a dark circle appeared, made by the tip of a glove. In the dark circle a pale blue eye.
Excerpted from HANNIBAL RISING by Thomas Harris Copyright © 2006 byThomas Harris.
The Hannibal Lecter Books
Red Dragon |
The Silence of the Lambs |
Hannibal |
The Hannibal Lecter DVDs
Manhunter |
Red Dragon |
The Silence of the Lambs |
Hannibal |
Book Description
HE IS ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTING CHARACTERS
IN ALL OF LITERATURE.
AT LAST THE EVOLUTION OF HIS EVIL
IS REVEALED.
Hannibal Lecter 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.
Customer Reviews:
Funniest one yet! Nabakov could not have done better.......2007-10-02
One of the top ten funniest books I've ever read: rarefied European nobility, Japanese aesthetics, post-adolescent crush, brutal crude enemies, and sweet sweet hot-blooded revenge. This is a comic book.
There is a rule in writing novels: start as close to the ending as you possibly can and push the action. There is a rule in filming monster movies: don't show the monster until you absolutely have to. There are rules about heroes and anti-heroes too, but they have become so hopelessly muddled in our post-post-post-(ideological zeitgeist of the day) that even the term "hero" is suspect [deconstructionists, hold your glee, I am *not* on your side].
Harris was clearly in a bind. Folks want more Hannibal, and those cases of Petrus cooling in his Long Island cellar aren't getting any easier to come by in this gilded age. But what to do? How to show the monster? But the monster is more powerful *not* explained! If you explain the monster, you've brought everybody backstage and showed them how the fog machine works. Honestly, isn't Michael Myers the unexplained killing machine in the first Halloween movie so much more interesting than the lame back story they finally cobbled together about him?
Thomas Harris was in trouble. Showing the monster means damning the monster to withered force. Sunlight on the vampire.
Solution: make it subtly out-of-cannon like the alternate universe comic books so popular nowadays. Hey, why not even make it a comic book? But Harris clearly got bored with that process and then proceeded to disguise the comic book for his own amusement.
In the words of Anthony Hopkins, "Okey Dokey".......2007-09-30
For a piece of entertainment literature, "Hannibal Rising" wasn't a total waste time.
In my opinion, it was certainly better than "Hannibal", which was too far over the top.
This book does, however, lack the good vs. evil race against time sleuthfests that made "Red Dragon" and "The Silence Of The Lambs" such compelling reads (if you liked those two novels, you should check out The Alienist: A Novel by Caleb Carr).
What we have here is an at least somewhat plausible explaination of how Dr. Lecter acquired his appetites, for both the aesthetic and the horrific.
Of course, as others have noted, given what we know of the character, there was only so much Harris could do with this prequel.
Maybe the handful of people who start off with this book would give it higher marks.
Plus, there is the gap between "Hannibal Rising" and "Red Dragon" that Harris could flesh out, so there's hope, or at least another novel possible.
p.s. As far as actors are concerned, Brian Cox did an excellent job portraying Lecter in "Manhunter". The Lecter character wasn't the focus of this early film, but Cox's performance was memorable.
PayBack Time.......2007-09-23
The was a wonderful book. I didn't detect any false notes at all. I just might re-read the other few books which I read a very long time ago. There was just so much beauty described in a fanciful way. But it was not described adequately why a brilliant mind would become hatefilled forever after it extracted the venegence it required. Was it because Hannibal inadvertently ate the soup? Maybe that's it. The Lady and the Detective could see that he had become a Monster but I couldn't. So perhaps that's the flaw of this book. We were never shown Hannibal killing people just for the joy of killing them. It was Payback Time and we sure have seen that in the media over and over in a zillion guises. Hannibal had his little taste of human flesh and later became addicted, right? First the soup and then "A brochette, cheeks and morels." Yum.
A disappointment for me.......2007-09-03
I have to say being a fan of the Hannibal stories; I was disappointed with this book. It starts off well and with a lot of promise and becomes quit predictable. I would say it's still worth a read for anyone who enjoys the Hannibal books to see what started it all, but I don't think I would recommend this book as a first read for anyone interested in the series, as you may never pick up a Thomas Harris book again.
The story is about revenge and has quite a few graphic torture scenes in it, in pure Hannibal Lecter style.
Nothing to write home about........2007-08-29
Another reviewer stated that Lecter in this latest book is a vigilante avenging wrongs done to him and his family by deserters and scavengers. I honestly think that of all the people that Hannibal killed it was in some way right a wrong or a flaw in the persons charecter. The only thing good to ever come out of this is Sir Anthonys protrayal of the good doctor.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies
ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Average customer rating:
- A page turner and modern day thriller classic
- Still Rates an All-Nighter After All These Years
- Worth reading, even if you know how it's going to end
- Great Thriller
- The Real Villan?
|
The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lector)
Thomas Harris
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
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Hannibal [BARGAIN PRICE] [Hardcover] by Harris, Thomas
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ASIN: 0312924585 |
Amazon.com
The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris, is even better than the successful movie. Like his earlier Red Dragon, the book takes us inside the world of professional criminal investigation. All the elements of a well-executed thriller are working here--driving suspense, compelling characters, inside information, publicity-hungry bureaucrats thwarting the search, and the clock ticking relentlessly down toward the death of another young woman. What enriches this well-told tale is the opportunity to live inside the minds of both the crime fighters and the criminals as each struggles in a prison of pain and seeks, sometimes violently, relief.
Clarice Starling, a precociously self-disciplined FBI trainee, is dispatched by her boss, Section Chief Jack Crawford, the FBI's most successful tracker of serial killers, to see whether she can learn anything useful from Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Lecter's a gifted psychopath whose nickname is "The Cannibal" because he likes to eat parts of his victims. Isolated by his crimes from all physical contact with the human race, he plays an enigmatic game of "Clue" with Starling, providing her with snippets of data that, if she is smart enough, will lead her to the criminal. Undaunted, she goes where the data takes her. As the tension mounts and the bureaucracy thwarts Starling at every turn, Crawford tells her, "Keep the information and freeze the feelings." Insulted, betrayed, and humiliated, Starling struggles to focus. If she can understand Lecter's final, ambiguous scrawl, she can find the killer. But can she figure it out in time? --Barbara Schlieper
Book Description
Hannibal Lecter. The ultimate villain of modern fiction. Read the five-million-copy bestseller that scared the world silent....A young FBI trainee. An evil genius locked away for unspeakable crimes. A plunge into the darkest chambers of a psychopath's mind-- in the deadly search for a serial killer....
Customer Reviews:
A page turner and modern day thriller classic.......2007-08-30
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS by Thomas Harris
August 30, 2007
Amazon Rating: 4/5 stars
I had read RED DRAGON about five years ago and I enjoyed it a lot. I also saw the first two movies featuring Hannibal Lecter, and I decided I had to read all the books. So I finally got to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. I am going to admit that I probably cannot give a good unbiased review because I remember a lot of the movie starring Jodi Foster and Anthony Hopkins, but I don't remember enough of it to say whether the movie deviated at all from the book or not.
With that said, there are two story lines. The main theme is the search for a serial killer referred to by the press as BUFFALO BILL. But there is another theme which caught on with readers and viewers, that of the murderer Doctor Hannibal Lecter, a criminal so insane that his acts will make you nauseous. His cravings for sweet meats is what leads him to his heinous acts; for example, he attacks a nurse while in jail, breaking her jaw and then eating her tongue. But what is so fascinating about the good doctor is his intelligence and his uncanny instincts pertaining to other people, especially towards other murderers.
With Lecter's help, the FBI goes in search of the mysterious Buffalo Bill, who is murdering and flaying overweight women for unknown reasons. There is no obvious pattern, no clue as to who he is. Jack Crawford of the FBI's Behavioral Science section pulls out a student from class, Clarice Starling, to help track down this killer. The latest missing victim is the daughter of a high profile senator, and knowing what has been happening so far with Buffalo bill, Clarice and Jack know that their time is limited to save Catherine Baker Martin. Every step they take is crucial, and must be precise and calculated, in order to get Hannibal the Cannibal's cooperation. Unfortunately, not everyone is cooperating, and because of some errors made, they may lose Catherine to the serial killer, who has an obsession with moths, one of their first clues.
The journey in search of the killer is of course an important aspect of the novel, but what readers will enjoy the most is the relationship that develops between Clarice and Dr Lecter. It's difficult to describe, but it is one of the more fascinating components of the story. While Dr Lecter has an evil streak, something changes when he is in the vicinity of Clarice. And Clarice knows that she has an edge with Dr Lecter for whatever reason, trusting Dr Lecter to a point that they behave as equals. The two play cat and mouse while she gets as much information out of him, while at the same time she gives him information about herself. The game is a race with time, as she has to figure out who Buffalo Bill is before this serial killer decides it's time to skin his latest victim.
While I'm not a regular reader of suspense and thrillers, I seem to enjoy them a lot when I do read them. So far I am enjoying the series of books by Thomas Harris, and while Dr Lecter was not the main focus in RED DRAGON, I found it interesting how Harris decided to turn the doctor into a full-blown main character in the rest of the series. My overall assessment of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS was that it was one of those books that I thoroughly enjoyed and savored every page, just as Lecter savored his fava beans and Amarone! Fans of horror and thrillers should enjoy this modern day classic.
Still Rates an All-Nighter After All These Years.......2007-08-19
Thomas Harris's "The Silence of the Lambs," a bone-chilling thriller, was an immediate hit upon its 1988 publication. Now, nearly twenty years later, most of us inevitably approach, or reapproach, it knowing something about it; with the famous movie based on it firmly in mind. Yet, I, at least, had to fight off the temptation to stay up all night to finish it, although I surely knew where it was going.
Harris, to be sure, writes a great, tense story of suspense. He'd already published "Black Sunday," and "The Red Dragon--" where we were first introduced to Dr. Hannibal Lector. "Lamb's" plot concerns the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigations to catch a serial killer nicknamed Buffalo Bill. The agency sends trainee Clarice Starling to interview Dr. Hannibal Lector, former psychiatrist, imprisoned in a Baltimore insane asuylum, after having been found guilty of nine sadistic, cannibalistic murders. Lector has unusual tastes, and intense curiosity about the darker side of the mind. The formerly eminent medical man's understanding of himself, Starling, and the killer forms the core of the book.
"Lambs" benefits from a complex, multi-layered plot. As it proceeds, we realize that Lector knew all along where it had to lead. The author's timing is impeccable: he hits his high notes, then gives us a moment to unwind. We hardly dare breathe during the Lector/Starling Tennessee scenes -- we're waiting with dread for what we know will come; when it does, it's overwhelming. The plot's also titillating, let's be honest about it, sex change operations and all. Furthermore, serial killers were new to us then; the genre is still remarkably popular, judging by the countless rip-offs of it since. Finally, a lot of the story deals with gruesome material, but the forensics are still fresh, and it's always leavened by the author's black humor.
Harris created two of the most memorable characters in modern fiction in Lector and Starling. The author has an acute ear for dialogue: who doesn't believe the Lector/Starling duets? At another point, Harris has Barney, sole knowledgeable orderly in the mental hospital where Lector has been held, say to Starling," Listen, when you get Buffalo Bill -- don't bring him to me just because I got a vacancy, all right?"
The writer's eye and ear serve him well. He describes a character's car as "a black Buick with a De Paul University sticker on the back window. His weight gave the Buick a slight list to the left." He describes Clarice's thoughts: "Sometimes Crawford's (her boss's) tone reminded Starling of the know-it-all caterpillar in Lewis Carroll." Early in the book, he has Starling driving back to FBI headquarters at Quantico, "back to Behavioral Sciences, with its homey brown-checked curtains and its gray files full of hell. She sat there into the evening, after the last secretary had left, cranking through the Lector microfilm. The contrary old viewer glowed like a jack-o'-lantern in the darkened room...." Sorry, but ya just gotta read the book to get this stuff.
Worth reading, even if you know how it's going to end .......2007-03-17
I read Silence of the Lambs despite the fact that I've seen the movie (many times). I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it because the film version is so faithful to the novel. But there are still some variations between the film and the novel and there is a strange fascination for diehard fans in discovering them. In any adaptation there are elements of the novel that simply can't fit into the film. For example, in the novel Starling runs up against an FBI bureaucracy and internal politics that threaten to stall or even jeopardize her budding career and Jack Crawford copes with his wife's terminal illness. These plot lines add depth to the novel that isn't in the film.
The most compelling reason I found to read this novel though is that despite my familiarity with the story, it was still suspenseful. Even though I knew what was going to happen I still found myself furiously flipping pages. It's just that good a novel.
The heart of the novel, as with the movie, is the relationship that develops between Lector and Starling. While Lector first appeared in Red Dragon, it is in Silence of the Lambs that Harris really breathes life into the character. Lector, as fascinating as he is, never evolves. It is Starling who must take emotional risks, playing mind games with a sociopath, standing firm against a corporate culture that marginalizes women, and persevering in a political system that seems intent on holding her down.
Silence of the Lambs is an excellent movie, but before that, it was a damn good novel. I highly recommend both. If there is anyone out there that hasn't seen the movie and is thinking about reading the novel - wow - are you in for a ride. If you have seen the movie and you are wondering if you can still enjoy the novel, I think you can. You may know how it's going to end, but the ride is still worth it.
Great Thriller.......2007-02-23
Thomas Harris really pulls you in to the story from the very beginning. This book is so much better than the movie. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book.
The Real Villan? .......2007-02-16
Hannibal Lector and Buffalo Bill make this book worth reading...they keep it moving...but they ae not the real villan we should worry about. The real villan is "Dr." Chilton...few of us will meet a Hannibal or a Buffalo Bill in our lives (thank, god!!) but we meet folks like Chilton every day. They are everywhere among us.
And they would do to us, what he did to Clarice. The Chiltons of the world are the ones we should worry about. Enjoy Hannibal, but fear the Chilton's of the world.
The book doesn't say, but I hope Hannibal got Chilton in the end. It would be his just desserts, though Hannibal, who did have a sense of honor, would probably spit him (Chilton) out as being distasteful. Hannibal, like Darth Vadar, is a villan we love to hate...not so with Chilton.
Average customer rating:
- Check and see
- Suprise! Suprise!
- Prescient St Augustine?
- Something of a disappointment
- Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..
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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 2913621066 |
Product Description
`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.
Customer Reviews:
Check and see.......2007-06-21
I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.
Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22
Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.
Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05
We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:
a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;
b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;
c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.
Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:
It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.
- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.
- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.
Fomenko goes by the following axioms:
- Chronology is the basis of history;
- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;
- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;
- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;
- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;
- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.
Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?
The Russians:
Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.
The Westerners:
Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.
The Chinese:
Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.
The Arabs:
Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.
The Divinity:
Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.
According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.
St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."
Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09
After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.
However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:
- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.
I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.
The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.
It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?
Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.
Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30
If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?
Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.
Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..
Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.
Customer Reviews:
Rome's Greatest Prose Work.......2007-08-30
The Romans looked upon Vergil's Aeneid as their greatest work of literature, and it became a focal point of their entire culture, replacing Ennius' earlier epic of Rome's origins so thoroughly that Rome's older central epic has not survived the years. Livy's ten book set devoted to the war with Hannibal has a similar status in prose to the Aeneid's in verse. In fact, one of the three major tales being told simultaneously in the Aeneid is that of the war with Carthage. The point being that the Second Punic War was the defining moment in Roman history. It was the only time the Romans had really met their match. Their superior political, military and economic systems enabled them to outperform the older civilizations of the Mediterranean and gradually gobble them up, but Carthage was the one, and only one, true rival to Rome in the Mediterranean world during entire ancient period. And it has been stated many times that Rome eventually fell from within due to dissatisfaction with mismanaged despotism, rather than being overrun by outside forces. The Western Empire "fell" to Romano-Germanic military units working within and for the Empire. The period of the Second Punic War was always looked back at by Romans as their nation's most trying and revealing moment. All the republican institutions were put to the test under the absolutely most difficult circumstances. No doubt one major reason for the lingering attachment to the Punic War era in imperial times and beyond was how the history of the time preserved a solid working memory of the old republican ways. Livy's history was an instant success, with the first set of ten books too remaining very popular through the years. These two sets of his history were well known and honoured in the Middle Ages, and they played a huge role in the formation of modern republicanism and democracy. I find it kind of odd that I came to Livy's "Hannibalia" a long time after becoming interested in ancient history. This book really is the centre piece of Roman prose literature. Granted, Cicero's works held higher status for their practicality as writing and speaking models, but Livy has more than mere rhetoric in his work. There is rhetoric to be sure, and that makes it all the more fun to read, but he balances it with plenty of quite decent history, drama and political science to boot. A very respectable piece of work to tell your greatest national story. Lots to learn about politics, speaking, statecraft and war here.
Recounts the Unbounded Resiliancy of Two Great Peoples.......2007-08-17
This work should be championed for the fantastic narrative that it is. Livy surveys the full spectrum of human emotions and events brought on by the yolk of war (on both sides) and though biases abound these should not be feared in the same way we fear the word 'bias' in this uber-PC, Brave New world of ours. This was written long before philosophers decided history could be treated as a science and as such Livy had a great deal more discretion as to what he could include and how to construct his narrative than do contemporary historians. A social/economic history this most certainly is not.
It's a wonderful narrative of determination, faith and despair. Of how a man was reared from birth to bring about the destruction of Rome, of how he devoted his adult life (17 years fighting in Italy alone) to fulfilling this dream of his father, and of how he came within a nights march of realizing that dream and sacking what was latter to become possibly the greatest city man has ever known.
Mostly of course this is an tribute the Roman spirit and the great sacrafices made by the millions who were prepared to do literally anything to prevent themselves from coming under Hannibal's lash of slavery. It is a testament to how the sacred principles of civic responsibility, duty and virtue enabled a people to come together and fend off one the most ruthless and skilled army's the Ancient World had ever known and bring the great city of Carthage to her knees.
I think this same spirit and refusal to accept defeat is shown in the Carthaginians as well as they continued fighting to the death even when the Romans were in Africa and everything must have seemed completely hopeless. Obviously much credit is given to Hannibal, Hasdrubal and the Carthaginians as being masters of arms, diplomacy and civilization. This after all serves in amplifying what a momentous accomplishment the defeat of such a powerful empire was for the Romans themselves.
You'll laugh at times (I laughed out loud at the story of a wolf running off with some guys sword), you probably won't cry but you'll share the sense of despair gripping each side. Livy is a master of conveying meaning and emotions more than he is at painting a visual image so while some of the battle scenes are a bit difficult to clearly envision you'll still hear the joints of the soldiers begin to creek after marching in the cold rain. You'll still have compassion for the darkness and humiliation that these people were gripped with after great loss in battle. You'll share their sense of ecstacy in realizing their greatest dreams. It's a history you feel really more than you envision which is not something commonly found in military histories.
Essential.
Classic account of Rome's epic struggle against Carthage.......2005-08-11
This book was orginally written by Livy (around the time of Christ) and translated into modern English by Aubrey de Selincourt. This is the classic account of the war as described by one of Rome's great patriotic (but occasionally factually-questionable) historians.
Livy describes the background to war as the continuance of an old feud carried on by Hannibal. Starting with the sack of Saguntum, Hannibal then crosses the Alps to descend into northern Italy, taking the war to Roman territory. His bold and energetic tactics unhinge the Roman commanders and the armies that come to stop him.
Hannibal is literally unstoppable as he wins an impressive string of victories at the Ticinus, the Trebia, Lake Trasimene, and finally Cannae. He doesn't just defeat whole consular Roman armies - he annihilates them and their leaders. No Roman force dares meet Hannibal's army in open battle, so Rome once again resorts Consul Fabius' old strategy of shadowing Hannibal to limit his troops' freedom to forage and plunder. As the Roman-allied cities of southern Italy switch their allegiance to Hannibal, the future never looks darker for the Rome.
However, Rome's robust republican spirit and organization rise to the challenge as the Roman people and their loyal allies refuse to concede defeat. Instead, they rebuild their shattered armies, time and time again, and discover many great new leaders, such as Fabius, Marcellus, Livius, Nero, Metullus, Gracchus, Cornelius Scipio, Gnaeius Scipio, Laelius, and Scipio Africanus. Scipio Africanus finally defeats the great Hannibal himself at the Battle of Zama almost 20 years after the war began. Rome victoriously emerges from the conflict strengthened in every way - militarily, economically, morally, diplomatically - and with a host of successful young leaders. At this point in its history, Rome's historical greatness becomes almost inevitable.
This is a good campaign history of the war. The book focuses on policy, leadership, and the movement of the Roman and Carthaginian armies. The descriptions of actual battle are relatively short. It is organized chronologically by year (from 219 BC to 201 BC) and then by theatre (Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, Africa, Greece). Livy gives a brief annual account of each theatre's significant actions. He also describes the annual election of Roman officials and names each of them, as well as tiring lists of superstitious portents. Although the campaign history uses a rather plain style, Livy writes up dramatic and fiery speeches for his key protagonists, imagining what rhetoric they might have used to motivate their troops before battle.
Makes for good reading.......2005-06-04
Livy really does make for good reading. He has a great subject matter, so that's a great place to start. But what's enjoyable about this is that Livy really has an ear for a good story. This is much more readible than Polybius. It may not be as reliable, but from beginning to end it has a novelist's flow. Livy didn't necessarily walk the battlefields and he certainly didn't interview participants - like Polybius did, but he knew how to write an engaging tale. You have to remember that Livy was a Roman writing for Romans, probably even glorifying the ancestors of certain powerful people in the process. This is doesn't make for a particularly fair view of Hannibal. And yet the Carthaginian still comes across as an amazing character, as does Publius Scipio. I think that David Anthony Durham based much of his great novel, Pride of Carthage, on this book. I suggest reading both of them. Also, try John Prevas' Hannibal crosses the Alps. Together, they're three fine books that'll give you a lot of history and enjoyment and action.
One of the Greatest Stories in World History.......2004-04-03
The great Roman historian Livy tells a story as interesting as that of the American Civil War. The Second Punic War was a great crisis in Roman history. This book starts with the uneasy peace after the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Rome won that war. Carthage swore revenge, and Hannibal devoted his life to conquering his bitter enemy. He invaded Italy via Spain and the Alps with his elephants. No Roman army could stay in the field against his Carthaginians. A Roman consul named Fabius persuaded the Romans not to give battle, and for twenty years Hannibal roamed wherever he liked in Italy. But he wasn't strong enough to capture Rome, and there were Roman generals such as Marcellus who were able to defeat him partially. Meanwhile in Spain a young Roman general whose father and uncle had been killed by Hannibal devoted his life to defeating Hannibal. But not by fighting Hannibal in Italy. Rather, by first conquering Spain, then invading Africa, so Hannibal had to depart Italy, as it turned out forever, to defend his homeland. In Africa, at Zama, Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal. Scipio became the first of the great Romans who broke the mould of the Republican conventions. His family was instrumental in bringing Greek culture to Italy. Was this good for Rome? It was inevitable. The historian Livy wrote in the times of Augustus, about the time of Christ. Livy is not considered the best of historians, he's more interested in gripping narrative than in careful checking of sources. He writes in the annalistic format, that is, one year at a time. Livy wrote two hundred years after the events; it'd be like a modern historian describing the American Revolution. But he is Roman, and the flavor he imparts to events is very different from that of a modern day historian. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in thrilling history or in Rome.
Average customer rating:
- A sad book
- What a pity.
- A Haunting Masterpeice
- Loses its edge on the way down, but in the end it's worth a gander...
- Why surprised by the ending? It was perfect.
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Hannibal: A Novel
Thomas Harris
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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Similar Items:
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The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lector)
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Red Dragon
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Hannibal Rising
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Black Sunday
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Red Dragon (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
ASIN: 038529929X
Release Date: 1999-06-08 |
Amazon.com
Horror lit's head chef Harris serves up another course in his Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter trilogy, and it's a pièce de résistance for those with strong stomachs. In the first book, Red Dragon (filmed as Manhunter), Hannibal diabolically helps the FBI track a fascinating serial killer. (Takes one to know one.) In The Silence of the Lambs, he advises fledgling FBI manhunter Clarice Starling, then makes a bloody, brilliant escape.
Years later, posing as scholarly Dr. Fell, curator of a grand family's palazzo, Hannibal lives the good life in Florence, playing lovely tunes by serial killer/composer Henry VIII and killing hardly anyone himself. Clarice is unluckier: in the novel's action-film-like opening scene, she survives an FBI shootout gone wrong, and her nemesis, Paul Krendler, makes her the fall guy. Clarice is suspended, so, unfortunately, the first cop who stumbles on Hannibal is an Italian named Pazzi, who takes after his ancestors, greedy betrayers depicted in Dante's Inferno.
Pazzi is on the take from a character as scary as Hannibal: Mason Verger. When Verger was a young man busted for raping children, his vast wealth saved him from jail. All he needed was psychotherapy--with Dr. Lecter. Thanks to the treatment, Verger is now on a respirator, paralyzed except for one crablike hand, watching his enormous, brutal moray eel swim figure eights and devour fish. His obsession is to feed Lecter to some other brutal pets.
What happens when the Italian cop gets alone with Hannibal? How does Clarice's reunion with Lecter go from macabre to worse? Suffice it to say that the plot is Harris's weirdest, but it still has his signature mastery of realistic detail. There are flaws: Hannibal's madness gets a motive, which is creepy but lessens his mystery. If you want an exact duplicate of The Silence of the Lambs's Clarice/Hannibal duel, you'll miss what's cool about this book--that Hannibal is actually upstaged at points by other monsters. And if you think it's all unprecedentedly horrible, you're right. But note that the horrors are described with exquisite taste. Harris's secret recipe for success is restraint. --Tim Appelo
Book Description
Invite Hannibal Lecter into the palace of your mind and be invited into his mind palace in turn. Note the similarities in yours and his, the high vaulted chambers of your dreams, the shadowed halls, the locked storerooms where you dare not go, the scrap of half-forgotten music, the muffled cries from behind a wall.
In one of the most eagerly anticipated literary events of the decade, Thomas Harris takes us once again into the mind of a killer, crafting a chilling portrait of insidiously evolving evil—a tour de force of psychological suspense.
Seven years have passed since Dr. Hannibal Lecter escaped from custody, seven years since FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling interviewed him in a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane. The doctor is still at large, pursuing his own ineffable interests, savoring the scents, the essences of an unguarded world. But Starling has never forgotten her encounters with Dr. Lecter, and the metallic rasp of his seldom-used voice still sounds in her dreams.
Mason Verger remembers Dr. Lecter, too, and is obsessed with revenge. He was Dr. Lecter's sixth victim, and he has survived to rule his own butcher's empire. From his respirator, Verger monitors every twitch in his worldwide web. Soon he sees that to draw the doctor, he must have the most exquisite and innocent-appearing bait; he must have what Dr. Lecter likes best.
Powerful, hypnotic, utterly original,
Hannibal is a dazzling feast for the imagination. Prepare to travel to hell and beyond as a master storyteller permanently alters the world you thought you knew.
Customer Reviews:
A sad book.......2007-08-10
This book was not really about serial killers and horror, it was about two severly damaged individuals, Starling and Lecter, who seek comfort, soul searching and some mental healing through each other. It's really a psycho-analytical book where the reader along with the main characters discover and open the doors of supressed painful childhood memories that have formed their adult minds. This book was lauded and praised as "extremely scary", but I just felt horribly sad for Lecter. Not one page scared me. The god-awful thing that happened to his little sister just made me cry. For those who've read the literature on how serial killers are "made' this kind of childhood trauma is not surprising, yet so horribly sad, and often starts the mental process of control, revenge and "cold bloodedness" that is the hallmark of these killers. Of note is that Lecter kills only in revenge or those that he thinks should die. Mason tortured small children so he was killed. Lecter is trying to revenge the real monsters that killed and ate his little sister. It's well written, but nothing amazing.
What a pity........2007-07-19
The book starts off wonderfully with Harris's visualization; you can see everything you read. There are complex characters introduced and of course a wicked weave between them. He shows the master insanity of Hannibal with his elaborate set-ups for escape from not only Starling but from a vile creature named Verger who sets out to seek revenge on the good doctor. And you are eating this up the whole time, because it seems that Harris is once again quite the masterful story teller. But then you get to the last few chapters.
The best way I can describe it is it seems like he took his time and thought out every little detail like it was the master term paper. But then all of a sudden he realizes he doesn't have the time needed to finish it so he rushes it and throws an ending together. It was almost like to different authors. And of the ending! And what he does with Clarice! I was put off by the whole book in a matter of a few thousand words.
James A. Forrest - Eye of the Storm
A Haunting Masterpeice.......2007-06-14
While Silence of the Lambs is the best film in the Hannibal series. Hannibal by far is the best of the book series. Actually it's a masterpiece, if you can handle it. The way Harris develops plot and character is amazing. It is by far the weirdest and strangest. With characters who are disturbed, crooked, or cannibals this book is not for the faint of heart. The story his Harris's best and the themes are the most thought-provoking.
The story begins with the downfall of Clarice Starling (one of the best developed character in books today); a drug bust goes wrong, Crawford can't defend her anymore from injustice, and Hannibal Lector once in a while sends her letter. Her world is falling apart and you feel for her. Meanwhile Mason Verger, a child molester who Lector deformed has revenge on his mind and will pay anything or anyone to hunt down Lector alive so he can, well you'll see. Then there is Pazzi an Italian detective who hasn't had a big break for a couple of years and decides to hunt down Lector to get Verger's fee, little does he know how cunning Lector really is. And finally the controversial ending that everyone talks about. Its shocking and unexpected, if you haven't read about it yet, I'm still not sure if I like it, but you will think about for days.
The world is a dark place even for those who are good, is there light or redemption, or is there just death and mayhem. These are questions the book raises. Almost all the characters are the definition of grey; both good and evil are inside them. Its makes you look at yourself and what you have become. And what about all the biblical undertones? Powerful, masterful, and amazing, Hannibal will shock and haunt you for weeks. It might even make you think.
Loses its edge on the way down, but in the end it's worth a gander..........2007-06-13
Watching `Hannibal' self destruct before it's closing pages is a sad turn of events. Heralded as one of today's best horror writers, Thomas Harris created a character so evil, so dark and so unforgiving in Hannibal `the cannibal' that watching this same character, the villain we all love to hate, become something we could stand to give a passing glance is a very hard thing to stomach, harder even than the gut wrenching scenes of violence that spill over these 480 pages. That's not to say that `Hannibal' is a complete waste of the readers time, for that is not entirely true, but that is to say that `Hannibal' will leave the reader wanting, especially if you're attached in any way shape or form to the cannibal we were introduced to in `Red Dragon' and again in `Silence of the Lambs'.
`Hannibal' starts off brilliantly. The opening scene of bloodshed looks to shed a light on where this novel may be headed, but in the end it fails to monopolize on what was right in front of it. With Clarice suspended due to a horrendously botched assignment we are introduced to Pazzi, a detective located in Florence. It just so happens that upon Dr. Lecter's escape he made his way to Florence to live life low-key. This saddens me, since low-key is not the way we like Lecter. Pazzi is working for Mason Verger, a one time child molester who suffered a less than desirable fate at the hands of Lecter back in the years when he was working as a psychotherapist. Now reduced to life on a respirator among other horrendous disabilities he is seeking to end the life of this monster.
Luckily for Lecter he himself has been sending letters to Clarice, maybe to console, maybe to destroy...who knows. Truth be told it was when reading these letters that I found my blood the most chilled. With the letters in hand Clarice is able to find Lecter, and it's in that discovery that she may have the chance to help that man that's helped her in one way or another.
One thing that Harris has going for him is his writing style. He has the ability to crawl under your skin with mere words. Sadly, he's not as effective in his third entry as he was in his first and then supremely in his second. Still, he does pretty darn good with extending shivers to the reader. Here Thomas has decided to make Hannibal more relatable, human maybe and its here that he loses me because we don't want to relate to this man...we enjoy the mystery in his eyes. The monsters here lie in Mason and to a degree even Pazzi. The problem is that Hannibal Lecter loses his edge, his fear inspiring stare and causes the reader to all but lose interest. Thomas shouldn't have strayed from a winning formula. Like I said, it's not to say it's a complete waste of time. It's not. I enjoyed the read through and I'm sure you will too, but if you loved the monster that Thomas created be prepared for a letdown when that monster becomes man.
Why surprised by the ending? It was perfect........2007-05-31
I read this book years ago, when it was first published - after I had read Silence of the Lambs. Thomas Harris is one of the few authors of 'popular fiction' who can convincingly write about a brilliant, subtle, erudite mind...the only other who comes to mind is William Peter Blatty (The Exorcist) It takes very high intelligence to successfully write of genius...whereas most authors must content themselves with TELLING us someone is brilliant, which is not convincing and takes a novel down many notches (Dean Koontz is a good example of an author who cannot write convincingly of diabolical or erudite genius) a very few authors can SHOW true brilliance in a character because they have a touch of it themselves. And that rare, precious brilliance, especially in an evil character, is endlessly captivating and seductive.
As for the 'horrible' ending many complain of, Clarice was obviously fascinated by Hannibal from the outset of the series- and there was a definite sexual dance of an undertone between them, although Clarice herself wasn't consciously aware of it. Lecter was drawn to Clarice for many reasons - her strict moral standards echoed his; albeit seemingly from opposite directions. Her wounded lamb vulnerability underneath a courageous exterior reminded him of his beloved sister, and her pleasure at their mental fencing intensified each time they faced off. In a way, this is a bizarre retelling of the My Fair Lady story - Hannibal's cultured, educated, challenging yet accomodating maturity (Professor Higgins) gradually brings out Clarice's subtleties and psyche simultaneously with her 'romantic/sexual' adulthood. Clarice finally grows up, truly blossoms - and it's due to Hannibal. This is not an anti-feminist ending, it's the ULTIMATE feminist ending.
This book doesn't flow quite as well as Silence or Red Dragon, in some ways, but its in-depth treatment of Lecter's mind, peculiarites and tastes, and basic elegance of prose and plotting makes it quite memorable and worth reading. Particularly noteworthy is Hannibal's absolutely brilliant method of helping Clarice to move past wounds about her father, which are keeping her partially frozen in damaged childhood - he literally digs up Dad's coffin, complete with moldering old Dad inside, for Clarice to talk to, rage against, wail over. This is one of the most unsettling but ingenious twists on a classic psychiatric transactional analysis method (wherein one pretends to interact with those who have caused one pain in an effort to spur a catharsis, healing or closure...here she isn't pretending-her Dad is RIGHT THERE) that I've ever read - and it is chillingly, fabulously believable...
both as a legitimate (if Lecterian) device and as a catalyst for real emotional and mental progress for Clarice.
In showing us the 'human' sides of Hannibal, and giving us alternate antagonists possibly more repellant and truly evil than Lecter himself, Harris not only successfully evokes sympathy for Hannibal
in the reader (which I felt already) but prompts the reader to examine their comfortable assumptions about many things - the nature of evil and the shades of gray that we all live with every day whether we admit it or not - which leads one to look at our endearing but wholly unrealistic picture of ourselves and humanity that makes us expect, and demand, a happy, neat, 'good guy defeats bad guy' Hollywood ending to all our modern fairy tales. (The Brothers Grimm were much more realistic about human nature and evil than we are today - remember how 'brutal and unfair', and terribly non-pc, their tales were?)
People uncomfortable with shades of gray rather than black and white - or those who cannot accept that all of us have dark and light facets to ourselves, or that good people can turn inside out and be a seeming 'opposite' of their former selves will likely be completely thrown and incensed by Clarice's apparent turnabout/defection...yet if one reads SotL closely, with an eye to detail and an appreciation of subtlety (which many reared on MTV and infotainment seem to lack) the eventual romance is not only expected but weirdly, deliciously satisfying as well. Through both her own personality and experiences and Lecter's ingenious tutelage, Clarice gradually becomes Hannibal's Lady M and his Mischa...the great loves he has lost. After all, who but Hannibal can understand, and therefore fully appreciate Clarice? And who but Clarice could unflinchingly see and appreciate the 'whole' Hannibal?
The are, in short, perfect for each other.
Book Description
On 2 August 216BC, Hannibal won his greatest victory in the plain north of the small, hilltop town of Cannae in southern Italy. By the end of the day his outnumbered mercenaries had enveloped and massacred the greater part of the largest army Rome had ever fielded, turning this into one of the bloodiest battles ever fought, rivalling even the industrialised slaughter of the twentieth century AD. For the Romans Cannae became the yardstick by which other defeats were measured, never surpassed and only once or twice equalled in the next six centuries. Cannae remains one of the most famous battles ever fought, frequently alluded to in modern military writing, and Hannibal's tactics are still taught in the military academies where today's officers are trained. This volume is a brand new look at the battle, and explains clearly and concisely exactly how it was that Hannibal achieved his historic victory.
Customer Reviews:
Good study of a legendary battle.......2005-04-29
As Adrian Goldsworthy states 
