I have always been a huge fan of the Hannibal Lecter series of movies ever since I was probably around 10 or 11 years old and my mom let me watch Silence of the Lambs. Don't worry, she made me cover my eyes during the bad parts. But there is just something about the character Hannibal Lecter that mesmerizes me. There are so many other things going on in that movie but I think we can all agree that the relationship between Clarice and Dr. Lecter is the most important and interesting part of the movie. You can't really tell if he is interested in her romantically or just psychologically. At least in the movie you can't. I am about to start the book so maybe it will shed some light on the situation.
I just finished reading Hannibal Rising and Red Dragon. I read Hannibal Rising first since it was the story of Hannibal from a young child. I realize it was written last but I wanted to read the books in the order of his life to see if it would make the other books make more sense. Not that they don't make sense, just maybe knowing how he came to be would help the rest of the story play out a little easier. Hannibal Rising was an awesome book. I was afraid I wouldn't like it since I have seen the other movies so many times but I have to say that these books are almost word for word copies of the movies. Or should I say the movies are word for word copies of the books? The same goes for Red Dragon, word for word. Some of the lines from the book are what Edward Norton and Anthony Hopkins actually said in the movie. I was very pleasantly surprised by the book. I usually prefer to read the book before the movie but I was too young to read Silence of the Lambs when it came out. Same with Red Dragon. But reading these books does make me want to watch the movies all over again. Although I haven't seen Hannibal Rising yet so I will have to rent it. I saw clips on youtube and it seems very accurate to the book.
Knowing how Hannibal ends in the movie version I wonder if there will be other books in this series. Apparently the author is a very slow writer so it could be another decade before we find out. I just hope he finishes it in his lifetime. Although you would think that Dr. Lecter would ultimately have to die at the end of the final book and I don't know if I'm ready for this character to die just yet. Even though he's not real, within the pages of the book he is very real. And seeing him dead in ink is just something I am not ready to read. I would love it if his story just went on and on but in the grand scheme of things that is just not possible.
But the point of this post is mainly me saying if you enjoyed the movies you should definitely read these books. And if you haven't seen the movies, read the books first and then rent them. My only issue with the movies is that Jodi Foster was Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs and in Hannibal Clarice is played by Julianne Moore. They both did a good job but I think it would have been much better if Jodi Foster had played the part. She was a much more convincing actress in that roll. Plus I just hate it when you get used to one person playing a part and then for whatever reason they change that person. Like The Mummy with Rachel whatever her name is played Evelyn. Then that other chick took her place in the last one. I just can't make myself watch it the new one without all the original people in it. Sometimes you should just stop with two. LOL
Enough of my rambling, I hope you read these books and watch the films. Any self respecting Anthony Hopkins fan owes it to themselves to watch them anyway. :)
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