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A review by apireading
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
5.0
In general I can't say that I'm a big fan of the thriller genre because I'm actually very picky about it. Red Dragon has everything you can expect for a good thriller book and it is the psychological part. I'm very fascinated by how Thomas Harris depicted his character and their deepest thoughts and fears like a gigantic painting with dark colors and metaphor. You will certainly not read this book if you want an investigation and a panel of awkward and strange suspects because it's not the purpose of it.
I think if you want to read Red Dragon in the first place it is because you are curious about the Hannibal Lecter's mythology. I would say that the Red Dragon is the introduction to the dark and sinuous road that leads to Lecter's character and especially his mind. The interactions between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter are rare but intense and captivating. In this first book, Hannibal Lecter always seems to be behind Will Graham (and so the reader) like a intriguing and mysterious shadow that follows you everywhere you go. You can feel his presence but you can barely see him.
Francis Dolarhyde is a fascinating character : if this book feels like a drug he is probably the reason why. There is a certain awkwardness and voyeurism to want to learn more about such an awful and strange character. Harris offers a clever and fantastic psychopath on who he was a total control. The background story, the physic, even the way he breaths is so well-thinking that you are convinced that such a person could be real. You can not sympathize with him or understand his doings but you have a interesting view of his behavior as if you were an anthropologist observing a predator in his environment. In fact, Harris shows you - in my opinion - how to feel like Will Graham do when he is profiling killers.
Will Graham is indeed the hero but you don't feel like it at all during the all book. Yes he has a family, yes he has hobbies (fishing) but he seems so detached from life, feelings, joy, like a ghost. I think that he becomes aware of that at the end of the book when he realizes he has left his part of humanity in Shiloh when he killed Jacob Hobbes. I think he tries very hard to convince himself that he's rejoining the FBI for a great cause but I sincerely think that he's doing it to try to find something to feel again (by saving people or … arresting someone).
I'm not usually a big fan of that kind of writing (short, punch lines, nominative forms) but Harris is an amazing writer that knows exactly how he can challenge your mind and your emotions by his writing style. It is an excellent introduction to the Hannibal's world and I am already prepare mentally and physically to tackle the rest of it.
I think if you want to read Red Dragon in the first place it is because you are curious about the Hannibal Lecter's mythology. I would say that the Red Dragon is the introduction to the dark and sinuous road that leads to Lecter's character and especially his mind. The interactions between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter are rare but intense and captivating. In this first book, Hannibal Lecter always seems to be behind Will Graham (and so the reader) like a intriguing and mysterious shadow that follows you everywhere you go. You can feel his presence but you can barely see him.
Francis Dolarhyde is a fascinating character : if this book feels like a drug he is probably the reason why. There is a certain awkwardness and voyeurism to want to learn more about such an awful and strange character. Harris offers a clever and fantastic psychopath on who he was a total control. The background story, the physic, even the way he breaths is so well-thinking that you are convinced that such a person could be real. You can not sympathize with him or understand his doings but you have a interesting view of his behavior as if you were an anthropologist observing a predator in his environment. In fact, Harris shows you - in my opinion - how to feel like Will Graham do when he is profiling killers.
Will Graham is indeed the hero but you don't feel like it at all during the all book. Yes he has a family, yes he has hobbies (fishing) but he seems so detached from life, feelings, joy, like a ghost. I think that he becomes aware of that at the end of the book when he realizes he has left his part of humanity in Shiloh when he killed Jacob Hobbes. I think he tries very hard to convince himself that he's rejoining the FBI for a great cause but I sincerely think that he's doing it to try to find something to feel again (by saving people or … arresting someone).
I'm not usually a big fan of that kind of writing (short, punch lines, nominative forms) but Harris is an amazing writer that knows exactly how he can challenge your mind and your emotions by his writing style. It is an excellent introduction to the Hannibal's world and I am already prepare mentally and physically to tackle the rest of it.