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| Titel: | Harris, Thomas: The Silence of the Lambs | |
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She saves the live of poor Catherine Martin and is awarded
the title of Special Agent.
#
INTERPRETATION:
The book was first
released in 1988, and it is considered by many to be a masterpiece of
suspense.
Thomas Harris is a
very skillful writer with a real talent for suspense and a gift for creating
very unusual characters. The book takes us inside the world of professional
criminal investigation. All the elements of a typical thriller are working here
- driving suspense, compelling characters, inside information, publicity-hungry
bureaucrats thwarting the search, and the clock ticking relentlessly down toward
the death of another young woman. What enriches this book is the opportunity to
live inside the minds of both the crime fighters and the criminals. This because
the narrator’s point of view changes very often.
Clarice Starling is the central figure in the book. She
is clearly the hero of the story. The fact she is a beautiful woman, slender and
soft, makes her all the more a hero. She is given a past which infects her
present: In her conversations with Dr. Lecter, she tells about how hard it is to
be an orphaned and poor girl trying to be someone. With her attendance at the
FBI training school she wants to get out of her disappointing and poor past. Her
weaknesses makes her a character to empathize with.
The title of the book refers to a scene in the
new prison Dr. Lecter is brought to. During a talk Clarice has to
tell him about her experiences on a ranch where she was sent to
after her father’s death. I want to read this short extract out of
the book to you. (page 220f.)
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is merely a figurehead. He is
imprisoned and, presumably, his killing days are over. From a research point of
view he’s a goldmine. He provides an intriguing kind of genius madness, but he
is a sadist: Feeding from the pain of others, he for example compares his
experience of Senator Ruth Martin’s pain with "sweet nectar".
He is a
fascinating mixture of the urbane and the totally savage. As a brilliant
psychiatrist, he still publishes a scientific article from his cell, but his
warders have to take care not to get within biting distance. It is a fact that
Lecter is a cannibal: At one point, when annoyed with Starling, he says "A
census taker tried to quantify me once. I ate his liver with some fava beans and
a big Amarone."
# THE
FILM:
The bestseller by Thomas Harris was adapted to
film by Jonathan Demme in 1991. It follows the novel very closely.
Starring Jodie Foster as Clarice
Starling, Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and Scott Glenn as Jack Crawford,
the film received outstanding reviews and saved the movie company Orion from
impending bankruptcy.
"The Silence of
the Lambs" became only the third movie ever to win the top five
awards:
Best actor for Anthony Hopkins,
best actress for Jodie Foster, best screenplay, best
director for Jonathan Demme and best picture.
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Schwarzer Sonntag: Roman von Thomas Harris | |
| Siehe auch: | |
 | |
| Roter Drache: Roman | |
| Hannibal: Roman | |
| Hannibal Rising: Roman | |
| Das Schweigen der Lämmer: Roman | |
| Die Hannibal Lecter Romane: Roter Drache - Das... | |
| Angstspiel: Roman | |
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