Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris

(hb; 2006; fourth book in the Hannibal Lecter quadrilogy)

From the back cover

“Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck.

“He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him.

“Hannibal’s uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and bring him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle’s beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki.

“Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal. With her help, he flourishes, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to medical school in France.

“But Hannibal’s demons visit him and torment him. When he is old enough, he visits them in turn.

“He discovers his gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death’s prodigy.”

Review

This prequel to the first three Hannibal Lecter books is perhaps my favorite of the quadrilogy, because of it is a (mostly) straightforward revenge─there are parts that occasionally run a bit long about art, directly related to his family’s death and loss of fortune, that foreshadow his later obsession with high culture (art, culinary and its other facets). That is a minor nit, however, considering that my favorite genre is lean ‘n’ mean pulp tales, that allow for little or no word-fat.

This is an excellent, burn-through read, if you like World War II history, dark thrillers and interesting characters.

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The resulting film was released stateside on February 9, 2007. Peter Webber directed it, from a screenplay by the book’s author, Thomas Harris.

Gaspard Ulliel played Hannibal Lecter. Aaran Thomas played “Young Hannibal.” Li Gong, billed as Gong Li, played Lady Murasaki.

Dominic West played Inspector Popil. Rhys Ifan played Vladis Grutas. Richard Brake played Enrikas Dortlich. Kevin McKidd played Petras Kolnas. Joerg Stadler played Bernd.

Helena Lia-Tachovska played Mischa Lecter. Ingeborga Dapkunaite played “Mother Lecter.” Richard Leaf played “Father Lecter.”