Hannibal Lecter Books

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Who here has read Thomas Harris' books on Hannibal Lecter? Even though the prequel was made last, I read it first.

They're on my list. 'Manhunter' and 'The Silence of the Lambs' have easily been in my top 50 movies for years and I'm currently obsessed with NBC's 'Hannibal'. I'm actually quite surprised I haven't read them yet.

I still need to read the prequel, but I did see the movie (which I didn't much care for). Did read all the other books in order before seeing the movies. I've watched both Manhunter and Red Dragon, and it was kind of strange to see someone other than Anthony Hopkins play the role of Doctor Lecter (though his role in Red Dragon was played up in the movie, even if the ending is a neat tie-in).
SOTL is probably my favourite of them all. I can appreciate the book sequel, but the movie ending is just way off. (I wonder if Jodie Foster read this script ending before declining to reprise her role, I read somewhere that she felt the book cheapened the character in a way)
I tried watching the Hannibal series, but haven't finished the first season. I can get passed the way Dr. Bloom and Freddy Lounds were suddenly written as women (like Dr. Watson in Elementary), but the story arcs don't grab me and I feel that it could've been a series on its own without leaning on Red Dragon as the inspiration.

I'm the sort of person who can be picky about something not following a pre-established continuity, but I think 'Hannibal' pulls it off when it veers entirely into its own direction. The stories and characters have already been adapted into other mediums; if the show followed the books/movies too closely, there would be no surprise because we'd already know what was coming. Instead they take these characters and flesh out their universe more than a two-hour movie could do while also taking it to new places. One could call it a "reimagining", but I think of it more as an expansion of the source material.

Plus, as a show itself, it's so masterfully done. Such a visually compelling show.

It's been a while since I've read Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal, but they're still pretty fresh in my mind due to how much I enjoyed them. Red Dragon deserves to be listed among the all-time masterpieces of crime and detective fiction. The Silence of the Lambs was my least favorite; it may be a better novel than Hannibal, but at least Hannibal was original, whereas Silence was just a rehash of Red Dragon and not nearly as good. I never read Hannibal Rising and never had any great desire to, since I knew that Thomas Harris had no interest in writing it and only did because one of the movie producers was threatening to get someone else if he didn't give them a novel on which to base the story.

As for the movies, Manhunter is easily the best, though I think Hannibal is quite underrated. The Silence of the Lambs is too cartoonishly gothic for me to take it seriously (Did Lecter's cell need to be a dank dungeon? His white cell in Manhunter is far scarier) but it's a fine enough film. Red Dragon is a soulless cash-in of a movie and hardly worth mentioning. I never saw Hannibal Rising. I saw the first episode of the recent TV show and was impressed, but I never pursued it... looks like I'll have a show to look forward to in the future.

Interesting; I like 'Manhunter' better, but I thought 'Red Dragon' was a solid remake. It did some things I liked more and it did some things I liked less. I did like it more than 'Hannibal', and I definitely liked it more than 'Hannibal Rising', which was truly abysmal.

I've had this problem less with the series Bones, where the main character from the book basically only keeps her name and profession on screen. At least Hannibal, does have some recognizable characters. I can also see Hugh Dancy as Will Graham (I still have doubt about the casting of Jack Crawford).
I don't deny there's a great attention to detail, there's even a blog dedicated to dishes of the show. I liked the later episodes more, but the Abigail Hobbs arc didn't really interest me. I'll probably give this series a try again, with a more open mind.