When I first heard that Thomas Harris wrote Hannibal Rising, a book about Hannibal Lecter's beginnings, I was giddy with excitement. I've always been a fan of his two other books Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, and I couldn't wait to get that impossible question out of my mind ... of how Hannibal Lecter became the coldblooded murderer and cannibal that he is.I just finished listening to this audiobook, and I have to say - that was a total waste of 7 hours of my time. 7 precious hours that I will never get back! This book was a joke.
Okay, so Hannibal watched his parents die in the war, his toddler sister eaten by a group of looters as they struggled to survive through the winter. He grows up into a brilliant young man who goes to medical school, falls in love with his dead uncle's wife Lady Murasaki. He exacts his revenge on those men who ate his sister, rescues Lady Murasaki from danger, blahdey-blahdey-blah.
He's more of a HERO here - yeah, usually heroes don't go cannibal - but a PROtagonist nonetheless. The question remains unanswered - when did he become eeeeviiill?!?!?! That's what I want to know! Thomas Harris' story is a cookie-cutter plot. You could have substituted any number of characters for the protagonist here. This book is not worthy of the Hannibal Lecter I came to fear (and love) in Silence of the Lambs.
Did I mention this was an audiobook? Thomas Harris should have left the reading to professionals. I would have preferred someone with a more neutral accent. His southern twang made me think I was listening to some bad George W. Bush impersonator all throughout the book. His European accents were passable, although sometimes hard to understand.
All in all, a disappointment. The movie is coming out, too. My guess is that it would be as unsatisfying as that movie "Hannibal."
