I suppose we all have that list of great books in our head, our all time
favourites, the books that changed us or expanded
us, touched us most deeply or just entertained us best. I am under pressure, what with the English Literature degree and all, to make selections such as David Copperfield, Paradise Lost or perhaps Hamlet as my nominations for the best book ever written, but with all due respect to these great works I am afraid there is one author and one novel that stands tall above the rest without waver or apology. The author is Thomas Harris. The novel is Red Dragon: the greatest work of fiction I have ever read.
I don't make statements like that lightly. I genuinely believe that Red Dragon is a really special piece of fiction. It is possible that the phenomenon of Dr Hannibal "the cannibal" Lector has not reached some of you, so to briefly summarize the plot we follow Will Graham, lately of the FBI, as he is called back to the bureau to track down a
serial killer. The killer is breaking into the homes of otherwise disconnected victims, butchering their families and defiling them before leaving some singularly unpleasant calling cards. In order to stop this cycle of bloodshed Graham is forced to confront his past in the form of Dr Hannibal Lector, the last serial killer he caught, to seek his insight and a clash of intellects and psychologies like no other begins as the clock ticks towards the full moon and the next murder. This was the novel that launched Hannibal Lector, though it would be The Silence of the Lambs that would bring the good Doctor into his own.
As plots go, it's not your first thought for literary greatness, I do understand that. There are many perfectly respectable Psychological Thrillers but it is a genre that has on occasion sacrificed the craft of writing in favor of the most outlandish, shocking, grotesque or downright weird ideas. But it is hard to regard Red Dragon as just another Thriller. Would we regard Hamlet as a political drama? The truth is this is an incredibly well crafted novel. Harris' every word sings from the page. It is pacey, no-nonsense. In scenes reliant on dialogue there is no further explanation needed but the speech on the page and when description is the main aim Harris seems to distill the essence of the picture in his mind and perfectly relates that to the reader. I can pay no higher compliment to Red Dragon than to say you won't read the words, you'll see the pictures moving in your mind. It is those mental pictures, of course, that create the best tension. The short, precise chapters also assist this end.
The characters in the novel are perfectly believable and brought to life with class throughout the text. We quickly reach an understanding with protagonist Graham with regards to his scars and the character of Lector is skillfully relayed, often through letters which make him more intimate to the reader. The Red Dragon himself is also a collosus of a character, more than big enough to hold the role of arch-villain in a tale of this calibre.
I suppose the real paradox is that much of the popularity of these books is probably due to a certain Mr Hopkins' efforts in some exceptionally successful movie interpretations, which almost makes them famous for the wrong reasons. I have read all four of the Lector books and must say Red Dragon remains my favourite, possibly because it is free of the baggage of the other three, it is not really connected to them except for the character overlap. Admittedly Dr Lector features nowhere near as heavily in this novel as he would the rest, but it feels like the beginning of something, the calm before the storm.
The delivery, the plot, the characters, everything about this book is perfect. This is a novel that should be taught in schools, that should be mandatory reading, that should receive widespread public acclaim. There is not a word out of place. Fans of these books are often dismayed by the amount of time it takes Harris to publish a new novel, but quite frankly with writing like this it is easy to see what takes him so long. If you have not encountered these books at all, or - which could perhaps be considered worse - your only experience of Thomas Harris' genius is through the film industry, I would like to recommend you find a copy of Red Dragon and solve this problem at your earliest convenience. It really doesn't matter if it is the sort of book you usually read. Unless you are the sort of person that finds the darker side of life extremely frightening or unseemly you will enjoy this book.