Skip to main content

Hmmmm

Sometimes the book is better than the movie, and Thomas Harris is always better on paper. He's one of the most talented writers in the biz, although like Stephen King his story choices make him a hard read for me. Like King he also takes great pleasure in things I do not find amusing or entertaining in the least, so keep that in mind as we move along.

I haven't read anything by this author since Hannibal, the ending of which deeply disappointed me. I knew there was another Lecter book that came out (Hannibal Rising?) after the one I disliked so much, but I was done with the author anyway, so no big deal. Until my guy and I were out with our nephew at a bargain outlet store, and I saw a remaindered copy of Cari Mora on display in the book section.

I've never seen Thomas Harris's work remaindered anywhere before that moment, and I haven't heard a peep about this particular title. Since the author is a hugely successful writer, and yet rarely publishes anything, that seemed weird to me, but okay. Since this gem was obviously not going the way of Silence of the Lambs, I decided to buy a copy and see why.

Cari Mora is a lot like Red Dragon (another Harris novel), if you turned the story inside out and sprinkled a little Silence of the Lambs in it. The title character is a former Colombian child soldier, and among many other jobs she housesits a mansion that once belonged to drug lord, cartel king and terrorist Pedro Escobar (yes, the same Pedro Escobar from the real word) where he supposedly buried half a ton of gold under the house. Cari is a world-wearier version of Clarice Starling.

Hans-Peter Schneider, the Hannibal Lecter of this story, wants the gold and comes after her for her knowledge of the house. He plans to chop her up and sell her body parts, or perhaps creatively mutilate her for the pleasure of richer men, and he spends a lot of time fantasizing about this, to my eternal disgust. Happily she manages to slip through his fingers (at first). Hans-Peter, Cari and a motley crew of other characters then get caught up in trying to get the gold and stay alive. Not all succeed.

There's not a wasted word in any Thomas Harris novel, and as a writer I appreciate that. That's about all the positive in this book for me. The story, the characters, and even the ending didn't move me. That's definitely due to the subject matter, but also because I've seen this story before from the author, in different incarnations. I didn't care for it the other times I read it. It's obvious now that unlike Stephen King Thomas Harris is very limited on what he can write, or he's not interesting in exploring new story territory. Anyway, I think if he publishes again he'll likely go on telling the same story with the same characters, plot and twists, just dressed up as different. Some readers enjoy that, but it's not my cup of tea.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love Triangle

The Inheritors (also known as The Heirs ) is an older k-drama that is more like an American soap opera, and yet has one of the best high-school love triangles I've ever seen. As the illegitimate son of a wealthy conglomerate chairman, Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) was exiled to study in California so that his older half-brother could be groomed to step into their father's shoes. Instead he mostly surfs and goofs off. He meets Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye), who comes to LA in order to escape her dismal life in Korea while bringing wedding money to her older sister, only to find out her sister has lied about her marriage, and is living in squalor. After the sister takes the money and runs off, leaving Eun-sang with no place to stay, Tan ends up alternately taking care of her and making her situation worse. He also falls for her, but she finally connects with a friend and returns to Korea. The money her sister took ends up forcing Eun-sang and her speech-impaired mom to mov...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pretties

While at the antique mall where my donated throws were being sold I saw this pretty portait of a frog made out of beads, brooches, necklaces and other bling, and had to take a photo of it. This artist is so clever with how they recycle vintage jewelry and findings into new art. That day this little guy came home with me. He was cheap, made from a very old crazy quilt, very shabby, and has a serene quality that primitives sometimes possess. He'll be hanging out with me in the sewing room. Was it necessary to buy this? Nope. Do I regret the purchase? Nope. I also bought this apothecary jar filled with buttons, threads and other wonders. If you want to sort through it with me, check out more pics here .
Post a Comment
Read more

Glorious. Kinda

Writing up my thoughts on the Chinese drama You are my Glory is going to be one of those head-scratchers; I liked it, it got annoying, I liked it anyway, it got more annoying. In the end I was left feeling like most of the last third of the series was smacking me on the nose for being a romantic and wishing, not for the first time, I was a screenwriter who could get hired to fix this script. Anyway, okay. The premise for this series is actually pretty good: poor but brilliant aerospace engineer Yu Tu (played by the fabulously handsome Yang Yang) crosses paths with fabulously wealth but not-too-bright actress Qiao Jingjing (portrayed by the genuinely pretty Dilraba Dilmurat) who was his high school classmate. He's looking for a new job that pays better; she's in hot water due to an inappropriate product endorsement snafu, and they end up spending a lot of time together. It's a cross between Notting Hill and Apollo Thirteen, sorta kinda. Yu Tu is in a life crisis ...
Post a Comment
Read more