The sound of silence (The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris)

Member Name: machar

Product:	The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris
Date:	11/02/01 (240 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: obviously a good plot

Disadvantages: not enough pyschology for me!

No one could forget the nerve wracking film adaptation of this book but how does the book measure up? Well I think the film was more tense but the book is deeper.

In brief the plot is as follows -
Someone nicknamed Buffalo Bill is abducting young women, holding them captive for a few days and then dumping their partly skinned bodies. The FBI is at their wits end and need some help. A young female recruit called Clarice Starling is given the unenviable task of going to see Hannibal the cannibal i.e. Doctor Hannibal Lecter. Why was this important task given to a young recruit? Starling is top of her class and has a double major in psychology and criminology. As the other specialists are busy on the Buffalo Bill case, Starling has to interview Lecter and to try and get him to answer a questionnaire called the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. Over the course of the book Starling visits Lecter several times to try and gain more information about Buffalo Bill.

This book deals more with Lecter than the previous novel "Red Dragon". The security precautions that have to be taken, the way Lecter acts, the way he speaks are all described in more detail than the previous novel. The fact that Starling is a woman adds to the story. She can relate more to the victims that the male agents, she interacts better with Lecter than the male agents and she can probably get away with more than her male counterparts.
In this respect the book was better than the film. It went more into Starlings private life and her college life.

We all know that the one great clue that gave the killer away was the cocoon of the Death's-head moth that he placed in the throat of his victims. The bumbling entomologists were a good touch even if it was a little bit stereotyped!

The book comes to a climax with the kidnapping of a Senators daughter - not a good thing to do. The FBI is put on full alert and desperate methods are sought
. So desperate in fact that the Senator agrees a deal with Lecter. She will ensure that he is moved to a "nice" prison where he can have a cell with a window and a view if he reveals who the killer is. When he is moved Lecter escapes without naming the killer, never to be seen again or will he? This book deals rather more with Lecter than the previous book "Red Dragon". Unfortunately the book still didn't go deep enough into the psychology for me. I would like to no more about the minds of the killers and why they do it. I might have to try a non-fiction book for that.

The book was enjoyable but predictable as the story is so well known. There are no hidden surprises in the novel I'm afraid. "Silence of the Lambs" is an enjoyable read with a fast moving story but I preferred "Red Dragon" I'm afraid!

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