Red Dragon By Thomas Harris published in 1981 by Putnam
Saralee Says
Are you looking for a book to keep you awake? Do you enjoy reading about depraved and disturbed people? Do you wonder if people are truly possessed by evil? If you answered yes, then you need to read Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.
The first Harris book I read was Black Sunday. There was a kitten scene so graphic in that book, that I had nightmares for weeks. Of course, I read every word of Black Sunday but it was years before I read another Harris book. After seeing the movie, Silence of the Lambs, Larry told me that to really appreciate Hannibal Lecter, I needed to read Red Dragon.
Will Graham is a former FBI agent who tracked down Hannibal Lecter and put him in prison. For those of you who have never heard of Hannibal the Cannibal, you are in for a real treat. Lecter likes to eat portions of his victims, hence the nickname. As the story opens, Graham is retired in Florida with his family. He has been recovering from a nervous breakdown, and severe physical injuries, the result of dealing with Hannibal the Cannibal.
As the story begins, the FBI needs help to find a truly twisted character so they recruit Graham. This demented killer has been slashing entire families to bits. Graham says yes to the FBI and ignores the wishes of his wife and returns to sleuthing. If he had said no, there would be no story nor would we have the conflict between Graham and his wife when he puts the thrill of the hunt before the safety of his family.
Red Dragon is one of the scariest books ever written. Thomas Harris writes stories that are so suspenseful that I cannot put them down. What do you think? Are authors like Harris are worthy of book club discussion? I think they are and I believe that Thomas Harris and Stephen King will be discussed 50 years from now just as Faulkner and Fitzgerald are today. I think this is an important discussion because I believe Thomas Harris reflects the most extreme violence and horror of our times.
Do the ends justify the means? What about the profanity used in this book? Did it bother you? It did bother me, but the story was so well written that I continued to read, even as I was offended. Could you find any redeeming qualities of the killer, Francis Dolarhyde? Was he responsible for his actions, or like the movie Psycho, was he warped from childhood by the women in his life? I think when we become adults, we are responsible for our behavior, no matter what our situation was growing up. Do you agree or not?
Will you read another book by Harris? I did. In fact, I read Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal all within two weeks. Are his books better than his movies? Always.
Larry’s Language
Thomas Harris, author of Red Dragon, and other horrific and delectable novels never grew up. He still remembers clearly and writes about those realistic childhood nightmares that we all had and most of us thankfully put out of our conscious minds. Not the ridiculous dreams about going to school naked or there being a test you never heard about but the scary dreams about something under your bed, or in your closet, and the all too close to reality dreams that something terrible was going to hurt your family.
In this book which was one of the very first serial killer novels - written more than 20 years ago - fear comes to life as the deformed schizoid bad guy carefully selects his victims using everyday family stuff that all of us have in our home. I guarantee you will think about the killer’s selection of victims and home invasions every time you walk into a drugstore after you read this story. Francis Dolarhyde, the psychopathic killer, is an equal opportunity destroyer. He gets them all – men, women, children, the family dog, the innocent, even the guilty (a reporter for a National Enquirer-type magazine).
I love being scared to death and Thomas Harris, along with Stephen King’s early books, are the absolute best at keeping me up all night. For those who like their beauty sleep though, Red Dragon is also about families and protecting your loved ones with extremely high doses of adrenaline packed action.
Why is this Harris’s best book and the best in the serial killer genre? Because Will Graham, the detective who chases Dolarhyde is in turn pursued by Dolarhyde and because of the memorable characters created by the author such as Hannibal Lecter who makes his first appearance. This book also raises interesting ideas for discussion about whether the human soul is fully formed at birth or is shaped by family nurturing. Are some people just born bad, or did they learn their evil ways from their family and friends? Here a terrible kind of grandmotherly love shows just how truly evil a person can become.
Another great discussion point is William Blake’s painting, “ The Red Dragon,” which is used to illustrate the nature of madness and divinity in the killer’s thinking as well as an unforgettable museum scene about how to absorb great art.
This book is pure entertainment at its scariest, the kind of novel you will read without stopping. Love it or hate it, you will remember it. If you like this book, Harris has written three others just like it and you would probably enjoy staying up all night with suspense authors Jonathan Kellerman, Jeffrey Deaver, Patricia Cornwell, John Connelly and Andrew Vachss.
To Kill A Mockingbird by that great writer Harper Lee is our next selection for the City Paper book club.
