Ron Does Stuff

i was supposed to finish reading this book a couple of weeks ago, but because of hectic work schedules, I had to move it and move it. But this week I finally had the time and now I’m finished reading this!

When we last left Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, she had managed to rescue Catherine Martin from Buffalo Bill and it seemed she was set to have a storied career in the FBI. At the very least, at the end of the book the lambs had stopped screaming.

However, it’s been seven years since her capture of Jame Gumb and her career in the FBI is far from storied. Because of friction between her and Krendler in The Silence of the Lambs and Clarice’s own ineptitude when it comes to office politics, she’s been stuck doing work that someone of her skill shouldn’t be doing anymore. When she manages to botch an operation, it gives Krendler even more ammunition to derail her career even more.

How poetic is it then that Hannibal sort of saves her from this drudgery? Because of his burning desire for revenge, Mason Verger, one of Hannibal’s victims sho survived the encounter, manages to track down Hannibal in Florence, Italy. He’s willing to pay anyone and do anything to exact his revenge, and there’s no better bait to dangle in front of Hannibal than Clarice Starling. But the question is will Clarice survive another encounter with Hannibal Lecter?

Published eight years after The Silence of the Lambs movie adaptation became a critical and commercial darling, it’s hard not to see the influence the movie has had on the book. Rather than an intriguing side character, Hannibal is now one of the main movers in the book, his thoughts now more exposed than ever to those who’ve been following his story from Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs.

Now was this a good decision or not? Your mileage may very! While the previous two books hinted at Lecter’s exceptional abilities, seeing them in full display had mixed results for me. It makes for exciting and tension-filled encounters in some parts of the book, but there are instances when he’s written as too superhuman that it comes off as cartoony. And even I feel that maybe I’m being unfair because it’s not like these abilities haven’t been hinted at in the previous books.

The main villain, Mason Verger, is just as cartoonish. A child molester who literally drinks martinis made from orphans’ tears? Come on now. Although I did like how he’s also a Christian because how many times have we seen criminals suddenly convert and become Christian zealots once they’ve been caught?

Thankfully, as the novel progresses, Thomas Harris manages to ground these characters, or at the very least tone done their more outlandish characteristics. Yes, it’s a little over the top that Mason Verger is a child molester that drinks the tears of orphans, but readers can definitely understand and easily revile that other side of him — the capitalist and the government lobbyist using his money to bend the government to his will. It’s especially resonant this year, 2024, when the nepo baby of a South African emerald mine owner has the ear of the president of the United States.

There is also the more down-to-earth and recognizable evil of Paul Krendler, a sleazy misogynist we first met in The Silence of the Lambs who releases his fully awfulness in this book. You’d think his characterization was a little over the top if it weren’t for the fact that women have encountered their own Paul Krendlers at multiple points in their lives and will probably continue encountering other Paul Krendlers. It’s depressing but it also balances out the more over-the-top antics of the other villains.

As to Hannibal himself, I don’t know what the reaction was to him when this book first came out but by the time I finished the book I found myself being affected by his plight. When he’s not murdering people in the book he’s grappling with his childhood and the memories of his younger sister Mischa and I felt like this book was as much about his own grief and him not dealing with it and how terrifying it is that even this monster still has humanity in him.

One thing I do know that drew mixed reactions from readers when this came out was the ending featuring Hannibal and Clarice together. For my part, I wasn’t really surprised with it since Thomas Harris pretty clearly telegraphs this ending early on in the book. Maybe the furor comes from the fact that people were expecting a thriller like the last two books but got a twisted love story instead. Now, whether it’s a convincing love story is up for debate.

After reading this, I couldn’t help but compare this to John Ajvide Lindqvist’s excellent Let The Right One In. In a world where Clarice is surrounded by different kinds of monsters — Mason Verger, Paul Krendler, Hannibal Lecter — she has to make a choice on which monster to let in.