Hannibal Rising depicts the early life of Hannibal Lector and allowed readers a sneak peek into the childhood factors contributing to Hannibal’s transcendental journey into a monster.
The book started out chaotic. Flashes here and there that reveals small parts of Hannibal as a boy. The early chapters leaves the readers to use the imagination to map out a story that flows naturally in our minds and forces us to interact and be involved with the story rather than passively allowing it to be revealed to us; This set up the frame of mind for me when reading the book to the point where everytime I open the book, I immediately form a connection with the book and attached part of myself to it. And the later chapters would chill me to the bones.
The book’s use of rhythm was subtle. Phrasing sentences in ways that elicit particular emotions made the story of this cold-blooded killer even more intriguing and lures readers into the very same mindset as Hannibal during his development age.
The focus of this novel wasn’t so much as the gruesome parts, but rather the formation and thought process of this extremely deep, multi-layered character. A character who shows love even in cold blood.
All in all, reading this novel was akin to owning a small box, opening it only to find a larger box inside. And despite digging deeper and opening the numerous boxes, all you could find was a bigger box inside still. And in the end, you realized that the answers to the questions you search were scrawled under the lids. The book itself is a journey. A journey through a fascinating mind.
