The Silence of the Lambs
by Thomas Harris

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Book Summary Information

• St. Martin's press
• paperback

Book Reviews of The Silence of the Lambs

Book Review: Sometimes, there really are monsters...
Summary: 5 Stars

But to me, horror is much more than flesh and blood. Like H.P. Lovecraft who argued that horror came from within, I believe that it is actually a sense, an emotion so deep within us that when exposed to genuine terror (as opposed to slick, Hollywood produced images) we feel our hearts quicken and our muscles tighten in anticipation of response. Fight or flight. The terror compounds when we are faced with human monsters, rather than the supernatural, the ones that lurk in our neighborhoods, in our homes, or in our hearts.

Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs is an excellent example of true horror. Originally published in 1988, adapted to film in 1991, and reissued in a lovely trade paperback edition for the tenth anniversary last fall, the novel is actually a sequel of sorts to an earlier Harris novel, Red Dragon, which was also adapted into film ("Manhunter," 1986) yet not as successful as its sequel. Perhaps this was due in part to the relatively unknown cast, although still an excellent gathering of fine actors. Lambs had Glen Campbell, Jodi Foster, and Anthony Hopkins, the latter two also won international acclaim for their portrayals. The film generated an enormous response, and even influenced this reviewer to create a character modeled heavily on Foster's portrayal of FBI Academy trainee, Clarice Starling.

In Lambs, Clarice Starling is a cadet enlisted by Jack Crawford (played by Campbell, heavily based on real-life profiled, John Douglas) to interview Lector in connection with an open case file on a serial killer nicknamed "Buffalo Bill." Bill, it seems, has been kidnapping women, holding them for some time, then killing and skinning them for some unknown purpose. His methods and locale vary, but there is one similar characteristic among the victims: they are all large-framed and young. The FBI cannot determine a pattern in his behavior, however, so they hope a questionnaire applied to known and detained serial killers will help in developing a profile on Bill.

And so, Clarice is sent to interview Hannibal Lector, a former psychiatrist who devoured parts of his victims, occasionally serving them in gourmet meals -- without telling, of course -- to party guests. An intelligent, perceptive, and attractive trainee with a severed past, meager finances, and a very strong desire to advance in the Bureau, Clarice is anxious to participate. Ambition is her flaw, her weakness, and it is a veil which covers her eyes sometimes.

Clarice valiantly attempts to question Lector, but he quickly sees through the plan. He knows that Crawford is desperate to include him in the survey, but Lector feels he is well above -- and he is -- such amaturish questions. Lector dismisses her efforts; he is much more interested in worming his way into her mind, her heart, and yes, her soul. He becomes Clarice's own personal Mephistopheles, the demon who demands a high price to satisfy his own twisted sense of pleasure. "Quid pro quo" means information about Bill in exchange for information about Clarice -- her feelings, her past, herself. The relationship between Clarice and Lector is complex, taking on multiple levels and roles as the plot unfolds. Criminal-investigator. Mentor-student. Father-daughter. Experience lover-virgin. Their interactions are no less dynamic or stimulating. Although the stakes radically increase when Bill kidnaps a senator's only daughter, it is the seduction, the unholy bond between Clarice and Lector which drive this story.

The horror of this text is two-fold. First, there is Bill, the slayer and tanner of human hides. Based partially on several real life serial killers, including William Gacy who skinned his victims, Bill is an emotionally-imbalanced and psychologically-twisted individual who appears relatively normal on the outside. No one really knows who he is -- background, childhood, or motivation. He could be the man down the street or your next door neighbor. Bill is the embodiment of serial killers, a chameleon who drifts in and out of stores, classrooms, hospitals, and churches without capturing attention and yet the horror of his actions causes us to grimace and fear the unknown.

The second horror of Lambs is Lector himself. As a man whose intelligence cannot be measured by any means humanly possible, nor his actions understood, Lector is one to be genuinely feared. When I found even more terrifying than the man himself was how willing Clarice became, how quickly she fell under his "spell," in order to advance in the Bureau and solve the case. Clarice is one of the finest female characters I've ever read -- strong, intelligent, and capable. Determined, too, yet I wondered at what point Clarice might stop herself in time before Lector's hypnotic stare and languishing voice overwhelmed even her internal strength.

Harris' writing style can be frustrating at times, a mixture of past and present tense and conflicting perspectives, but these distractions are minor when the psychology of the text is considered. I can forgive Harris for these errors because he's supposed to be writing a sequel -- no word on when it will ever appear, although Hollywood is pressing forward with its version next year -- and because he genuinely scared me. I know there are monsters out there -- murderers, rapists, and child molesters -- and I know how easy it is for them to hide, so it was a relief when I finally finished the book and put it away. Something like Lambs can only be read every few years; when it's done, it's done, and everything is good again.

But what really scares me is that I cannot close the cover on the monsters out there.

Summary of The Silence of the Lambs

Clarice Starling, a precociously self-disciplined FBI trainee, is dispatched by her boss, Section Chief Jack Crawford, the FBI's most successful tracker of serial killers, to see whether she can learn anything useful from Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Lecter's a gifted psychopath whose nickname is "The Cannibal" because he likes to eat parts of his victims. Isolated by his crimes from all physical contact with the human race, he plays an enigmatic game of "Clue" with Starling, providing her with snippets of data that, if she is smart enough, will lead her to the criminal. Undaunted, she goes where the data takes her. As the tension mounts and the bureaucracy thwarts Starling at every turn, Crawford tells her, "Keep the information and freeze the feelings." Insulted, betrayed, and humiliated, Starling struggles to focus. If she can understand Lecter's final, ambiguous scrawl, she can find the killer. But can she figure it out in time? --Barbara Schlieper

Horror Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror
• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Women Sleuths
• Thrillers > Psychological Thrillers
• Suspense