A couple of weeks ago I read The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris. Yesterday I finished Red Dragon. If you haven’t seen the films or read the books and don’t want to know what happens then I suggest you stop reading now.

I loved both the films so I decided to read the books. I was slightly nervous, because I have an extremely vivid imagination and although I can enjoy scary films, I wondered if the books would be a bit much. When I was a teenager I used to read a lot of horror stories and I had the most awful nightmares, so I stopped. I won’t read or watch horror now.

But this isn’t horror. It’s psychological crime drama/thriller. The film of Silence of the Lambs was intriguing, not scary. Red Dragon made me jump from behind my cushion, but I loved it all the same. So onto the books. I enjoyed the Silence of the Lambs. I loved Red Dragon. But…

The writing isn’t the best I’ve come across. I didn’t particularly like the killer Jame Gumb in Silence. The killer in Red Dragon was amazingly well thought out. I was hooked by this one. (He was played by Ralph Fiennes in the film, mmmmm - how can I find a mass murderer attractive?) The thing that really struck me with both the books is how I could actually end up feeling sorry for vicious murderers. Hannibal Lecter. How his words, “hello Clarice” sent chills down my spine in the film. Yet, in the book, I found myself feeling pity for him. When Clarice Starling tricked him in order to get information, I got a little bit angry with her.

And in Red Dragon, I continually felt empathy for Francis Dolarhyde. He suffered such abuse as a child. I desperately wanted him to realise that he was ill and find help, so that he wouldn’t kill anyone else. I had to keep putting the book down and coming back to it after an interval because I felt so emotional. This is something that the ‘hero’, Will Graham struggles with too. He was the one who caught Hannibal Lecter. He dropped out of the police force after that. He went lived in Florida, mending boats, or something along those lines. When he was dragged out of retirement to help catch the Dragon, he had to put himself through it all again. It was his ability to get inside other people’s minds that made him so valuable to the investigation, and yet it was the same ability that took him to the very edges of himself.

I think I may understand some of that. Imagination and empathy put together can be extremely disturbing and upsetting. To be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes so completely is a wonderful and scary thing. I have had a similar ability most of my life. I seem to be able to see into people’s hearts. Sometimes I love this gift. I get excited by people and want to know them better. But at the same time, this gift hurts. It scares.

Anyway, that’s not really about the books! Conclusion: I enjoyed them. I am now starting Hannibal. I saw this film too, and hated it. It was gruesome. Horrible. I had to watch a few rubbish Disney cartoons before I could sleep after watching that film! But I have it on good authority that the book is much better than the film. So I’m going in, with fear and trepidation.