Red Dragon is a novel by American author Thomas Harris, first published in 1981. The plot follows former FBI profiler Will Graham, who comes out of retirement to find and apprehend an enigmatic serial-killer nicknamed "The Tooth Fairy". The novel introduced the character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial-killer, whom Graham reluctantly turns to for advice and with whom he has a dark past. The title refers to the figure from William Blake's painting The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun.The novel was adapted as a film, Manhunter, in 1986, which featured Brian Cox as Lecter (spelled "Lecktor" within the film). Directed by Michael Mann, the film received mixed reviews and fared poorly at the box office. It has since developed a cult following.After Harris wrote a sequel to the novel, The Silence of the Lambs (1988), itself turned into a highly successful film …
Red Dragon is a novel by American author Thomas Harris, first published in 1981. The plot follows former FBI profiler Will Graham, who comes out of retirement to find and apprehend an enigmatic serial-killer nicknamed "The Tooth Fairy". The novel introduced the character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial-killer, whom Graham reluctantly turns to for advice and with whom he has a dark past. The title refers to the figure from William Blake's painting The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun.The novel was adapted as a film, Manhunter, in 1986, which featured Brian Cox as Lecter (spelled "Lecktor" within the film). Directed by Michael Mann, the film received mixed reviews and fared poorly at the box office. It has since developed a cult following.After Harris wrote a sequel to the novel, The Silence of the Lambs (1988), itself turned into a highly successful film in 1991, Red Dragon found a new readership. A second sequel, Hannibal, was published in 1999 and adapted into a film in 2001. Both film sequels featured Anthony Hopkins in the role of Hannibal Lecter, for which he won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1991. Due to the success of the second and third films, Red Dragon was remade as a film directed by Brett Ratner in 2002, this time bearing the title of the original novel and with Hopkins playing Lecter. Elements of the novel also influenced the NBC television series Hannibal, while the plot was adapted as the second half of the series' third season.
3.5 I must admit I read this expecting to be immersed in Hannibal's world. I'm a little disappointed -due to my own misguided assumptions- that Hannibal is only a background character whose presence is anyway felt throughout the whole book. Of course, Dolarhyde is compelling, his fight against the evil in him and the way he was damaged. And Will is a very troubled guy whom we inevitably like, and whose relationship with Hannibal we feel perversely attracted to. Good thriller, the last 50 pages you can't let go of the book.
