on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Read for Literary Society of Berkeley
Rating: 3.5/5
Pages: 338
Started: 15 October 2023
Finished: 8 November 2023
Summary:
FBI trainee Clarisse Starling has an unusual assignment: to speak with serial cannibal and renowned psychologist Hannibal Lecter in an attempt to get information on a Kill Bill, a serial killer running rampant through Maryland.
Thoughts:
This was interesting as a psychological horror novel, but so wildly sexist and transphobic that I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. It was certainly a compelling book; I was never bored or distracted while reading, only interested to see what would happen next. The violence was abrupt and the gore effective, especially the tongue thing and the scene where Hannibal escapes by mauling his own face to look like the attacked guard. I also quite liked Clarisse's narration, despite it definitely not feeling like it was written by a woman. The chapters beginning with an incomplete sentence to set the scene was also very interesting.
But the transphobia. The killer isn't trans, just obsessed with his mother! And makes women-suits! And the sexism. Clarisse isn't like other girls! She doesn't want to put out the creepy prison warden to get her way! It was just a very gross book to read, not because of the horror, but because of the author's view on society.
I do not regret reading this book; it was immersive and fun to talk about. But I absolutely will not be recommending it to any one else ever.