Hello, Clarice

And man, these Hannibal Lecter books are FUN.  I highly doubt I need to summarize the plot, but in case you have not been alive for the past twenty-five years, Hannibal Lecter is a convicted serial killer and a former psychiatrist.  He is a sociopath, and adores tormenting his jailers and anyone who interacts with him.  Clarice Starling, an FBI cadet, is sent to interview Hannibal as part of a routine survey, but it turns into a murder investigation of serial killer named Buffalo Bill.

Hannibal Lecter is one of the scariest characters I have ever come across, but I like him.  The Silence of the Lambs is much more Hannibal-centric than the first novel  (Red Dragon) featuring our friendly sociopath.  The interactions between Hannibal and Clarice Starling are perfect, and the dialogue is chilling at times.  I rewatched the movie immediately after I finished the book, just because I could.  It was an almost perfect adaptation from book to movie, and it holds up incredibly well almost twenty-five years later.

Even though I remember the basic plot from the movie, I found the novel difficult to follow at times.  Sometimes I lost track of who was speaking, or what characters were doing at the moment.  I remember this happening during my reading of Red Dragon, so maybe Thomas Harris’s prose just doesn’t agree with me.  Or it could be that I was reading too quickly because I was terrified about what was going to happen next!

A fun part of the book was remembering what crime solving was like during the early days of the internet.  Sending a facsimile of a suspect’s fingerprint over the phone???  Amazing.  I was alive and aware during this period, so it was a fun flashback.  I had to look up some of the more timely references (like Add-a-Bead necklaces), but it was more of a blast from the past than distracting.

For anyone looking for a quick read and a fun romp with a serial killer, pick up The Silence of the Lambs!  I’m sure I will get to Hannibal soon, but I need a few months to decompress…