Hannibal (Harris novel)

This article is about the novel. For other uses, see Hannibal (disambiguation).

Hannibal

First edition cover
Author	Thomas Harris
Cover artist	Craig DeCamps
Language	English
Series	Hannibal Lecter
Genre	Thriller, horror, gothic
Publisher	Delacorte Press
Publication date	8 June 1999
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	484 (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	0-385-33487-7 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC	41315462
Preceded by	The Silence of the Lambs
Followed by	Hannibal Rising

Hannibal is a novel by American author Thomas Harris, published in 1999. It is the third in his series featuring Dr. Hannibal Lecter and the second to feature FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. The novel takes place seven years after the events of The Silence of the Lambs and deals with the intended revenge of one of Lecter's victims. It was adapted as a film of the same name in 2001, directed by Ridley Scott. Elements of the novel were incorporated into the second season of the NBC television series Hannibal, while the show's third season adapted the plot of the novel.

Synopsis

Seven years after the Buffalo Bill case, FBI agent Clarice Starling witnesses her career crumble around her. During a botched drug raid, Starling kills a meth dealer, who was carrying a baby. Fugitive serial killer Hannibal Lecter, who has been living in Florence, Italy, under an assumed name, sends her a letter of condolence and requests more information about her personal life. Desperate to catch Lecter, the FBI tasks Starling with apprehending him. She meets with Barney Matthews, former orderly of Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. When Barney asks Starling if she ever feared Lecter visiting her, she replied that she did not, as "he said he wouldn't".

Meanwhile, Mason Verger, a wealthy, sadistic pedophile whom Lecter disfigured during a therapy session years before, plans to get revenge by feeding Lecter to wild boars, using Starling as bait. He is aided by corrupt Justice Department agent Paul Krendler, Starling's nemesis. Rinaldo Pazzi, a disgraced Italian detective, pursues Lecter in the interests of collecting Verger's bounty on him. However, Lecter disembowels and hangs Pazzi in reference to the lynchings of the Pazzi conspirators. After killing one of Verger's men, Lecter escapes to the United States, where he begins pursuing Starling.

The novel briefly touches upon Lecter's childhood, specifically the death of his younger sister, Mischa. The two were orphaned during World War II, and a group of deserters killed and ate Mischa, something that haunts Lecter.

Barney briefly works for Verger, meeting Verger's sister and bodyguard Margot, a lesbian bodybuilder whom Verger molested and raped as a child. Her father disinherited her after learning of her homosexuality. Margot, who is infertile, tells him that she works for her brother because she needs Mason's sperm to have a child with her partner, Judy, and inherit the Verger family fortune.

Verger's men capture Lecter, and Starling pursues them. When Starling catches up to Lecter, Verger's men shoot her with tranquilizers. Verger unleashes his wild boars, but they lose interest in Lecter when they smell no fear on him, and turn on Verger's men. In the confusion, Lecter carries the unconscious Starling to safety and escapes with her. At the same time, Margot obtains Mason's sperm by sodomizing him with a cattle prod and kills him by shoving his pet moray eel down his throat. Lecter, who had briefly treated Margot after her brother abused her, had urged her to blame the murder on him, so she leaves a strand of Lecter's hair at the scene.

Using a regimen of psychotropic drugs and behavioral therapy, Lecter attempts to brainwash Starling, hoping to make her believe she is Mischa, returned to life. She ultimately resists, however, and tells him that Mischa will have to live on within him. Lecter captures Krendler and lobotomizes him, and then he and Starling eat Krendler's prefrontal cortex before Lecter kills him. Starling undresses and offers her breasts to Lecter, which he accepts. The two then become lovers and disappear together.

Three years later, Barney and his girlfriend go to Buenos Aires to see a Johannes Vermeer painting. At the opera, Barney spots Lecter and Starling; fearing for his life, he flees with his girlfriend.

Reception

The ending was controversial and the reaction to the novel was mixed. Robert McCrum, writing in The Guardian, called it "the exquisite satisfaction of a truly great melodrama." Author Stephen King, a fan of the series, has said that he considers Hannibal to be one of the two most frightening popular novels of modern times, the other being The Exorcist.

Charles de Lint criticized Hannibal as a huge disappointment, citing "its disturbing subtexts, which... set [Lecter] up as a sympathetic character," and Harris' "twisting [Starling] so out of character simply to provide a 'shock' ending."

The first printing of Hannibal was 1.3 million copies. It was the second highest bestselling novel in 1999.

Adaptations

• A film adaptation was released in 2001 through MGM and Universal Studios. Most of the cast of The Silence of the Lambs, particularly Jodie Foster, outright rejected involvement with the project, in part because of their disagreement with the novel's alteration of Starling's character. The film was directed by Ridley Scott, and starred Anthony Hopkins (the only returning actor, other than Frankie Faison) as Lecter, Julianne Moore as Starling, Gary Oldman as Verger, and Giancarlo Giannini as Pazzi. David Mamet and Steven Zaillian wrote the screenplay for the film.
• Elements of the novel are featured in the NBC television series Hannibal, which features Mads Mikkelsen as Lecter, as well as Hugh Dancy as Red Dragon character Will Graham, who appears as the protagonist instead of Starling. The second half of the series' second season features Katharine Isabelle as Margot Verger and Michael Pitt as Mason Verger, and shows how Verger was disfigured by Lecter. The plot of the novel is adapted into the first half of the series' third season, with Isabelle returning as Margot, Joe Anderson as Verger, Fortunato Cerlino as Pazzi and Glenn Fleshler as Cordell Doemling.

Characters

• Hannibal Lecter
• Clarice Starling
• Mason Verger
• Margot Verger
• Jack Crawford
• Rinaldo Pazzi
• Paul Krendler
• Barney Matthews
• Cordell Doemling
• Oreste Pini
• Carlo Deogracias
• Romula Cjesku
• Gnocco
• Ardelia Mapp
• Evelda Drumgo
• John Brigham
• Marquez Burke
• John Hare
• Officer Bolton

References

Notes

Bibliography

• James, Tiffany. "Hannibal / 20th-Century American Bestseller". Retrieved 26 December 2010.