[Review] Hannibal - Thomas Harris

Title of Book:  Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter #3)
Author:  Thomas Harris
Publisher:  PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama

You remember Hannibal Lecter: gentleman. genius. cannibal.
Seven years have passed since Dr. Lecter escaped from custody. And for seven years he's been at large, free to savor the scents, the essences, of an unguarded world. But intruders have entered Dr. Lecter's sanctuary, piercing his new identity, sensing the evil that surrounds him. For the multimillionaire Hannibal left maimed, for a corrupt Italian policeman. and for FBI agent Clarice Starling, who once stood before Lecter and who has never been the same, the hunt for Hannibal Lecter has begun. All of them, in their separate ways, want to find Dr. Lecter. And all three will get their wish. But only one will live long enough to savor the reward...


After the success of The Silence of The Lambs, we will find the continuation of Dr. Lecter’s life in Hannibal. Seven years after his successful escape attempt and seven years after his contact with FBI trainee Clarice Starling. Dr. Lecter became a free man, while Starling had to struggle with his career in FBI. Starling’s career was hampered by an ambush at the fish market that went wrong. In the middle of her crisis, Dr. Lecter sent her a letter which startled FBI after the bureau’s hard effort to catch him for seven years. Starling had her second chance to clear her name by catching Dr. Lecter. Meanwhile, Dr. Lecter’s last surviving victim, Mason Verger. In his disability after the horrible incident, he planned his revenge on Dr. Lecter. The only thing left to do was catching Dr. Lecter. He had to compete with FBI to catch Dr. Lecter. With his money and power, he manipulated and bribed people to help him get Dr. Lecter.   
This book is divided into six chapters. In this sequel Harris gives us a bit of Dr. Lecter’s gruesome past. The past between him and his little sister had been haunting him and turned him into a monster. I think that Dr. Lecter’s personality is complex and interesting to be discovered. He was a psychiatrist with a psychological problem of his own. In Hannibal, Harris takes us to explore the palace of Dr. Lecter’s mind which described in detail.
Harris’s writing is full of vivid description. He explains the setting of most of the novel took place, Florence, perfectly. He also explains his characters’ appearance clearly. This point is helpful for the readers to visualize the story. The disturbing part is he also describe Dr. Lecter’s victim, Mason, appearance clearly. Its creepy knowing that a human could live with just one eye, without eyelid, and no nose.
Other interesting part is Mason Verger. He had a disturbed personality. Mason was a sadistic pedophile who then suggested by the court to consult to Dr. Lecter. In one of the therapy session, Dr. Lecter manipulated him to feed his nose to his dogs. This incident left him horribly disfigured. Mason is somehow seems unrealistic to me. He was sadistic and had no intention to change into a better person. He raped his own sister and tried to kill Dr. Lecter by feeding him to wild boars. He even trained the wild boars so they could hunt and eat human. It feels like he was born bad. Unfortunately, this fact makes Mason sounds boring and unbelievably disgusting to me.
This book has also been made into movie starring Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Lecter and Julianne Moore, taking over for Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling. This book is a disappointment compared to its predecessor, The Silence of the Lambs.  But still, for those who is a fan of Dr. Hannibal Lecter this book is recommended. 


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