Vol. 3, No. 2 February 2007
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Book Review
Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
For over 25 years, Lecter has been haunting the pages of Harris’ writings, emerging as one of the most frightening creatures in literature. But after so many killings, even the most elegantly executed acts of cannibalism worthy of any epicurean seem a little mundane.
Seeing Lecter more human than ever before was awkward. His intellect and cultural refinement remained, but many murders lacked the intensity with which Lecter has entertained in the past. Tracing his past through and out of Hitler’s war-torn Europe has made Lecter’s prodigal qualities seem less fantastic and his remorseless revenge more of a typical result of traumatic violence.
Young Lecter is rescued from an orphanage after bearing witness to the slaughter of his family and the cannibalization of his sister by starving war criminals. He is brought to an orphanage where he holds himself in solitude as a mute, not surprising for someone in his traumatic situation. He is then brought to live with his wealthy uncle in France and his aunt, a Japanese immigrant with whom Lecter finds a peculiar bond.
Harris’ past writings are presented in a graceful, pleasantly directive style. The reader is restricted from entering Hannibal’s life until invited to enter, maintaining an aura of wonder and enabling a climax to the moment at which we are allowed to experience his world. Hannibal Rising’s immediate trespass into the fugitive’s darkest childhood memories seems unwelcome and abrupt.
Harris’ original three books of horror should have been enough for the Good Doctor. After Hannibal, it seemed as if everything that could be told about him had been told. The ultra-crisp detail of Lecter’s profiling provided by Hannibal Rising has eliminated the mystery, and with it, his glamour.
