by Thomas Harris
p. 1981
Red
Dragon is the first book in the series by Thomas Harris that features
notorious cannibal Hannibal Lecter, a character whose history I am slowly
becoming familiar with. My first encounter with Lecter was, like most people,
from the 1991 horror film, “Silence of the Lambs,” where he was famously
portrayed by extra-creepy Anthony Hopkins. However, my preferred version of
Lecter is from Bryan Fuller’s darkly indulgent NBC show, “Hannibal,” probably
because it heavily emphasizes the relationship between Lecter and the profiler
who originally caught him, Will Graham. Seeing as Red Dragon was the only book to feature Graham as a protagonist, I
knew I’d have to read it eventually, and now was the best time for it seeing as
a) the long hiatus between seasons has me in some serious withdrawal and b)
though things play out differently on the show, judging by the timeline, the
events of Red Dragon should start to
crop up in the upcoming season, most notably in the form of its chief
antagonist Francis Dolarhyde.
It was fun and revelatory reading Red Dragon after absorbing two seasons
of “Hannibal.” I can easily see how Fuller was inspired from Harris’ text to
translate the psyche of Will Graham to the small screen. I think the show’s
portrayal of and casting for Graham is just spot on, although I think the show
makes Graham more sympathetic (or perhaps just pathetic) and certainly more
complicated. I can see why this was done; if the show is to depict Graham on a
long term basis, he’s going to have to throw himself into more complicated
plots. The novel version of Graham, as I understand it, plays his part here and
quietly lives out a depressing retirement. The TV version of Graham may have
mistakenly given me a greater impression of his importance to the Hannibal
Lecter mythology, but I have to admit it’s been nice seeing such intense
emphasis on Graham’s history, as it is only briefly touched upon in Red Dragon.
I could go on forever about the
show, but I don’t want to downplay how much I enjoyed this book. I was
enthralled with Thomas Harris’ writing style, and found myself pushing on
chapter after chapter even if I had things besides reading that I should have
been doing. With the emphasis on Graham’s profiling skills—enhanced as they are
by his intelligence, his eidetic memory, and his ability to wholly empathasize
with everyone, be they victim or killer—the whole thing sort of read like a
really long, really intense episode of “Criminal Minds.” By the halfway point
of the novel, we know who the killer is and, through his point of view, we
begin to understand his psychosis, but there is still tension in wondering how
and when the two will inevitably collide. Dolarhyde, Lecter, Graham, Jack
Crawford, Freddy Lounds—these are all powerful personalities whose interactions
are like a powder keg waiting to go off. We learn just enough about each
character to leave me thoroughly invested in their part of the plot. Freddy
Lounds is a bastard you just love to hate. Crawford and his team are efficient
and whip smart. And Dolarhyde is downright sympathetic at times. I was
surprised to find myself feeling so sorry for him and his relationship with
Reba McClane left me feeling really complicated. She brought out the twisted
killer’s humanity yet I felt so so afraid for her throughout the whole ordeal.
The only thing I didn’t care for
was the abrupt ending and the tacked on twist, especially when I looked back
and realized that Will Graham actually did very little to stop Francis
Dolarhyde. Granted, only one more body turned up after Graham got involved in
the case (and arguably, Lounds’ demise was his own fault), and it can be argued
that without the profiler’s involvement, another family might have been slain,
but in actuality, the FBI does very little to take out Dolarhyde. He fakes his
own death the first time around to get away; Graham and Crawford don’t show up until
after and mistakenly assume that everything is over. Their mistake leads
Dolarhyde to come back a second time where he almost kills Graham before
ultimately being taken out by Molly. The thorough profile on Dolarhyde which
Graham spent weeks putting together didn’t quite end up mattering, as they only
secured the killer’s identity when he had started to slip.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book—its
characters and dialogue especially. I look forward to seeing how “Hannibal”
will treat this plot in the upcoming season. It’s got to be better than the
1986 version, “Manhunter,” which I thought was doing a pretty good job until
about the halfway point when it seems like they rushed to finish it up, cutting
and pasting scenes with haphazard care. I could have overlooked the
over-the-top cheesy 80s vibe, but I couldn’t forgive the misinterpretation of
Dolarhyde. The ending totally misconstrued the profile, which, to me, was kind
of the whole point of the book.
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