Rating: 
Summary: Harris's best book!!!
Review: This book is one of my favorite books. Harris does a great job with it. Clarice Starling does not take no for an answer in this gritty suspenseful novel!!! Hannibal Lector is one of America's most popular villans thanks to this book. That could not have been possible without Harris's portrayl of the character. The killer in this book is also entertaining. I loved the scene with the dog in the hole! Thumbs up for Harris's SOTL!!
Rating:
Summary: Book much better than movie
Review: I hope that people will read the book before seeing the movie. I read the book first and was disappointed in the movie. The book is much better.
Rating: 
Summary: A twist-around-the-corner suspense thriller!
Review: Thomas Harris is and will always be one of the best suspense writers that ever lived. That's because his novels grip you, scare you, excite, and entertain you at the same time. His descriptions may be a bit graphic but that's the formula he uses to keep us reading. I, myself, finished this book in three short days because it was amazing: the chemistry of the characters, the mystery that he wants us and the main character to solve, the drama that scares us and makes this book a page-turner. Overall, it's amazing. I actually read this book without reading Red Dragon, the book that took place earlier than this story. I admit there were some scenes in the book that I did not understand. But enough of that. The Silence of the Lambs is about a young trainee at the F.B.I. academy named Clarice Starling. She is suprised when she is summoned by Jack Crawford, Chief of the Department's Behavioral Science section, a buidlign that deals with murders and serial killers. Crawford tells the trainee that a serial killer named Buffalo Bill is on the loose and killing women and skinning them. Starling's assignment is to interview Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter, a captured serial killer held at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane ,known for his grisly ways. And as Hannibal starts handing out clues to Clarice, the case gets more personal. I won't tell you the ending but I'll tell you this: the ending does make room for a sequel. The characters are perfectly described, the suspense keeps your eyes glued to the page, and the climax is spectacular. No wonder that Stephen King, the master of supernatural horror wrote "This book simply comes at you and comes at you, finally leaving you shaken and sober and afraid on a deeper level than simple 'thrills' alone furnish." This is a must buy for all fans of suspense annd horror. This is the book that would go on to become a classic masterpiece and gain four Academy Awards including Best Actor Anthony Hopkins for his portrayal as Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster would win Best Actress for her role as Clarice Starling.
Rating: 
Summary: Here's My Take On "Silence Of The Lambs"
Review: I am going to break this review down into three parts.The "Silence of the Lambs" story itself was 5-stars. It was good and kept me pulled into it and reading. I had a hard time putting the book down and finished it in 5 days, which for me is fast. The subject matter of the story, however, was too gross and disgusting from my point of view. I won't get into it and ruin the story for someone that does not know what it entails. I will just leave it at this; had I known about what the serial killer was like and what he was doing as well as some of the other details, I would have passed on the book. The next thing I noticed about this book is that the writing was on your typical 1st grade level (most current thrillers and romance novels are now days). This book definately did not use the english language like Alexandre Dumas or Ayn Rand. I also did not care for the profanity that author seemed to feel he had to use. To me profanity in a book just means the author does not know how to use more than 200 words from the dictionary and as a result resorts to other means to put across a point. So talking story, subject matter, and the unstimulating use of the english language, I have to give the book an average review of 3-stars...
Rating:
Summary: Can you say the best crime novel ever written, I can.
Review: This is the one that everyone else looks up to as their big brother. Everyone knows the name Hanibal Lecter, Hannibal the Cannibal. It's the typical Gothic style story, but Harris has someone levels and paths and doorways to send you down and put you through that you just can't put it down. I read the first six chapters for class one day and read the rest of it the next day because it is just that good. It has intelligence and wit and sharp suspense and bone chilling thill rides on ever page. How is any one person supposed to able to have such a masterful grasp on the English language. I want a DNA transplant of this guy, start me over and give me his juice because I want to be this good. It's horrific and wonderful, beautiful and full of terrible images all at the same time. It's the complete package.
Rating:
Summary: You will hear the lambs scream as you read...
Review: I read- or, should I say, for purposes of being more apropos and hip, feasted- upon this scrumptious delight of a tome many years ago, and still, it is my belief that THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS by Thomas Harris deserves all sorts and kinds of heralding accolades. It is a wicked, gruesome book full of morally-slack characters cavorting amidst lustily evil situations, sickly slick and smooth as viscous chocolate syrup sliding richly down a voluptuous dinner pastry, the high-caloric content of which threatens to pop your literary centers with hyperglycemic glee- it is that much fun, and more. Forgive the rococo opening, never mind the baroque veneer, it somehow seemed not only fitting, but requisite. The truth of the matter is, it was such a joy to take the text in. This is one of the few books I keep right by my bedside, always at the ready so that I may open to any random section and peruse little bits of prose or gorge myself on macro clumps of paragraphs. The tale was told with such a proficient and savant-like manner that it kept the reader as satiated as an ion that has finally hooked up with a stray electron, thus allowing it to indulge in its octet-rule impulse; I say you will find yourself employing as stable and spontaneous an equilibrium of attention span in the face of Harris's plot motives. The arachnid muse at the center of the spooky writing weaves a silky, cocooning thread, mummifying and preserving as it goes, so that we may all survive to the bitter, venomous end, where we willingly allow all of our blood tissue to be sucked away so that the terror may finally cease. I'm telling you, it was just that kind of book. Seriously. LAMBS is the story of a bitter character triangle composed of three vertices: Clarice Starling, neophyte member of the Quantico FBI academy, Dr. Hannibal Lector, a brilliant psychiatrist whose quotient of intelligence is only exceeded by his aptitude for sadistic cannibalism, and Jame Gumb, the serial-killing creature behind the sarcastic nickname of Buffalo Bob. Starling is given the task of conducting a series of interviews with the maximally imprisoned Lector for informational purposes, but the goal eventually shifts into a schematic for snaring the elusive, moth-raising Gumb. The daughter of ritzy senator Ruth Martin is held in agonizing captivity at the murderer's abode (or, dungeon of horrors might be better phraseology), and Special Agent Jack Crawford, Starling's superior, allows his underling to probe Lector for help in finding her. Hannibal knows who Buffalo Bob is, but he isn't about to just hand him over to Clarice, now, is he? No. There is fun to be had. The good doctor knows the inner workings of the mind, he is aware of all the switches and buttons, he wants to flick and press them all. Through a series of taut, alluring exchanges, Lector gives as much as he gets, and what he gets is personal background on Starling. She tells him about the death of her father and her not-so-affluent upbringing and the shrill shriek of the slaughtered sheep she had the bad luck to hear, a hellish auditory tattoo on her challenged psyche. Lector wallows in all of it like a porcine mammal in mud, and he allows his analysis to run free and unfettered, even as it plays upon the sensitivities of poor Clarice. But besides entertainment value, it also serves as a way of escape- a quite gruesome one, in fact. One of the great things about LAMBS' design is that it deals with plot, concept, and characterization all at the same time, providing an efficient and streamlined course of events. When Starling and Lector engage in dialogue, we see the main hook of the novel in action. But, at the same time, we chip away at the granite slab of mystery as well, coming ever so closer to the sculpture of denouement hidden within. Further still, the dimensions of the main players involved begin to expand inward, outward, and upward, covering all the bases necessary to exert fully-formed theoretical people that we both care for and want to know more about. Harris achieves mesmerizing results with such a strategy. LAMBS also works as a complex police procedural, a multitude of technical allusions always present; this allows a vicarious feeling to form, placing the reader in the shoes of an agent on a hot trail. In this sense, Harris can be compared to Michael Crichton, an author at home with adding verisimilitude via detailed jargon. The star of the show is, of course, Hannibal "the cannibal" Lector. His character inspires and extracts an odd, contradictory awe. On the one hand, he is at home with a boundless sense of civil propriety; on the other hand, he is at home with gutting a person with a gourmet knife and then consuming the eviscerated edibles. There is never an actual intimation that Lector is any sort of hero, anti or otherwise, but his smooth sophistication, coupled with his incredibly intelligent pronouncements, cast a shadow over the protagonist inclinations of Clarice; she is the main character, she is the heroine, but it is Lector's shameless torturous debauchery that we covet. THE SILENECE OF THE LAMBS excels as a piece of prime pop literature. If there is to be any criticism, I would note that there is a small subplot- not even that, really, maybe sketch might be a better term- involving the aforementioned Crawford's dying wife (I am still searching for clues in regards to its involvement). But that quibble is minute; I think this is a great book, and hope you do as well.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the movie!
Review: Usually my policy is that it is better to watch the movie before you read the book - that way you avoid disappointment as the book is almost invariably better than the movie. However, with "The Silence of the Lambs" I feel I should have read the book before watching the movie. Somehow the excellent depth of the characters that was created in the movie made the book appear to be shallow. What's more, I felt like I was just reading a script of the movie, as the movie stuck to the plot of the book so well. I couldn't visualize the characters at all differently from the way they were in the movie. Maybe Anthony Hopkins' excellent acting is to blame for that. So maybe I shouldn't be blaming Thomas Harris. It isn't his fault I chose to see the movie first. However, I don't feel the movie was the books ONLY problem. Somehow I found the book to be unconvincing. The idea of a big-wig in the FBI inlisting the help of a lowly student seemed ... rather unlikely. I mean, an Army General wouldn't send a new recruit on a black-ops mission into occupied territory, now would he? Surely the FBI must have someone who is actually a QUALIFIED agent who has taken a few sociology and psychology courses into the bargain. I suppose the movie suffered from the same problem, but somehow it didn't bother me in the film context. For me, this aspect reduced the quality of the book substantially. I felt like I was a ten-year old child again, reading "The Hardy Boys" and marvelling at how inexperienced kids can beat veteran detectives at their own game. What is more, the nature of the relationship between Starling and her friend at the Academy reminded me of 14 year old school girls, and hence did nothing to convince me that Starling was a mature, socially aware and intelligent adult. Call me an outdated stickler, but I also prefer authors who use gramatically complete sentences. "Clarice Starling driving in a hurry through the perilous Memphis traffic, two tears of anger dried stiff on her cheeks" just isn't a complete sentence. Sorry. However, I can't deny that I read the book in pretty much one sitting. "The Silence of the Lambs" isn't a great work of literature, but if you are looking to pass the time on public transport, well maybe you should consider it.
Rating: 
Summary: Nope.
Review: This story has a nominally interesting detective adventure which could have done all right as a stand alone.
It also has an incredible bunch of dialogue and interaction with Hannibal.
But that's it the author should have realized this is not a story, but two stories crammed into one book like mixing oil and water. No-can-do!
There is almost no suspense because the action lies with Hannibal who really has nothing to do with the story.
The author obviously loves his character Hannibal too much, so he gave him a major portion for an insignificant roll.
Which makes for monstrous boredom.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the movie.
Review: Surprisingly, I enjoyed the movie much more than the book.
Thomas Harris did an ok job of writing this book, but he definitely isn't strong in the details department. If I hadn't seen the movie first I would never have been able to picture the things going on.
For example, when Clarice is photographing the body of the girl, in the book you really can't get a feel for what the woman really looked like, and what Buffalo Bill had done to her. Also, Anthony Hopkin did an amazing job portraying Dr. Lecter ,and without seeing the movie, you can't feel the terror that Clarice felt upon meeting him. Some things are much more interesting in the book, though, and it was helpful to get a feel for who Clarice really was, instead of being such a sweet person as she seems in the movie, she really had a temper. The Silence of the Lambs was definitely a made for movie book, and I am very glad that they did make a movie out of it. Overall, I'd give it three and a half stars, but alas! no such possibility exists.
Rating:
Summary: Seeing the movie only adds to the book
Review: Saw the movie well before reading this book. Usually when a movie follows very close to the book, I don't enjoy the read. This was different, and I can only make a few guesses as to why. One is that I could enjoy the style and intelligence of the author without having to be visually and audibly pummeled by scenes of depravity and torture. In contrast, the movie provided such strong characters--especially Hannibal Lector by Anthony Hopkins and Clarice Starling by Jodie Foster--that they were right there for me to favorably draw on while gaining the extra insight and better pacing that books usually provide. Whatever the reasons, the book is most enjoyable, and well worth read, after seeing the movie or (I suppose) prior to as well.
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