h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Have yout met Hannibal Lecter yet. in any of his incarnations? Anthony Hopkins played him in film as a leering, creepy psychopath with an irritating American accent. 'Chee-ehnti'. Mads Mikkelson plays him as a charming, enigmatic European with an impeccable dress sense and a flair for gourmet presentation. Author Thomas Harris gives us a breathtaking tour of the monster's mind palace. We feel an unbearable empathy, as intended.

The TV series starrted up again last night, after the Fannibals had threatened to eat the NBC executives who proposed cancellation. There was blood, gore, arch dialogue, and the usual knife-twirling in Hannibal's kitchen. Fully satisfying, although one live-blogger commented, 'I'm never eating again!'

In the meantime, of course, poor Will Graham is locked up in the cell meant for Hannibal, accused of all his heinous crimes. Will, an oversensitive FBI profiler, has had just about enough of the good doctor, and he's going to figure out how to prove his own innocence and Hannibal's guilt. Step One, of course, is outwitting the nitwit Dr Chilton, the keeper of the psychiatric prison, who's bugging him, literally and figuratively. Chilton has dinner with Hannibal, unaware that Hannibal is the guy who stole - and, no doubt, consumed - his missing kidney.

Bizarre? Yes. But amazing art. My suggestion is: if you can get the series, watch it - though not during dinner. But more importantly, read the novels. Harris is one of the best writers around. He isn't talking about serial killers so much as about mind, heart, and memory. Like Will Graham, Harris is both blessed and cursed with an amazing sense of empathy. His work is worth the time.

What TV auteur Bryan Fuller intends to do with the richness of Harris' narrative isn't clear yet.The story so far is filling in lacunae from the books: the backstory of Will and Hannibal.From the series, we don't yet know where Hannibal's from, though in the novels, he's Lithuanian. We have no idea how he got that way - it can't be the book version, for this Hannibal wasn't born when the Nazis invaded Lithuania. Whatever they do with it, it will be interesting.

And if you're not into psychological insight, you can laugh at the jokes.

Fans post 'crackvids' on Youtube. These crackwids are - well, see for yourselves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lwr4X4_DCY

Thomas Harris pulled off a near-miracle: he invented an archetypal character in the late 20th Century. The TV series is another kind of near-miracle: a show that can be appreciated on many different levels.

After all, it appeals to different tastes...okay, I'll stop...

Mads Mikkelsen's slightly older brother Lars recently starred in the tv series "Sherlock" where he played a super villain - the one Sherlock hates the most. And now Mads is eating people. Their mother must be so proud

Yep. I believe their dad's a baker. We keep wondering where Mads got his expertise in the kitchen...

We suspect a healthy sense of humour in that family.

Well I think that Mads is doing ok financially. He probably can afford to wear suits that are as expensive as those on the series if he has a mind to. I just wonder if his wife lets him do the cooking at home.

Why not? Proteins are proteins

She may have converted to vegetarianism, though, if she has seen the series

That series is definitely good advertising for a vegan diet.

In case anybody's interested, I just stumbled across a great piece of writing by Thomas Harris, in which he explains how he first wrote about Hannibal Lecter:

http://sites.google.com/site/lektalekton/Home/forward-to-a-fatal-interview

Writers, take note - UsefulStuff here.