Granted, I'm not totally buying John Sutherland's argument that HANNIBAL RISING owes a lot to the fanfic that came before the finished book, but it's an entertaining piece nonetheless:
As the row broke out about Ian McEwan 'borrowing' chunks of Lucilla Andrews's autobiography for his novel Atonement, a long-awaited bestseller was published. You're interested in plagiarism? Compare the opening of Thomas Harris's Hannibal Rising with the opening of another novel, by another hand, published three years earlier: 'The door to Dr Hannibal Lecter's memory palace is in the darkness at the center of his mind and it has a latch that can be found by touch alone. This curious portal opens on immense and well-lit spaces, early baroque, and corridors and chambers rivalling in number those of the Topkapi Museum. Everywhere there are exhibits, well-spaced and lighted, each keyed to memories that lead to other memories in geometric progression … Pleas and screaming fill some places on the grounds where Hannibal himself cannot go.'
The second story begins: 'He often sits, as he is now, on the bed with his head against the wall, eyes closed, head tilted back and his mind wandering. Yes, wandering – wandering down the halls of what he fervently calls his Mind Palace. It is a wonderful place secret to all but him … His Mind Palace is large, divided into many rooms, each containing his most vivid memories. Towards the center of the Palace is where his thoughts reside most of the time … In this stronghold, he can visit his favourite operas and wineries … In the outer circle of the Palace is where his most painful memories reside … lost cries come from behind the walls pleading for mercy while mournful voices beg for forgiveness and peace.'
Who wrote this second passage? We don't know. It's by 'Blythebee' on a fanfic site, along with a multitude of other Hannibalistic Homage. The similarities (too extensive to quote here) continue, paragraph after paragraph. Does Thomas Harris read 'his' fanfic? Who knows. It may be that Happy Bee just struck lucky and came up with an eerily similar overture. Strange, though.
Or more indicative that Harris's style has so completely devolved into self-parody that fanfic versions actually sound better.
Actually, what interested me more about this, right at the end of the article, was the intimation that Harris has been trying out his peculiar brand of writing in front of fanficcers. In which case he'd be homaging himself.
Which is just weird.
Posted by: Ray | January 12, 2007 at 04:56 AM
Oh come, come. Like none of us have done that?
Posted by: John Rickards | January 12, 2007 at 07:22 AM
Fan-fic, no. Slash-fic, yes.
Funnily enough, the reviews were mostly positive, though I still don't know what "gr8 lol" means.
Oh, wait...
Posted by: Ray | January 12, 2007 at 01:55 PM
Nice pages here. Great information. Will visit again and recommend.
Posted by: rogers market blog | January 14, 2007 at 05:52 PM
Do know what's amazing? I'm BlytheBee and I wrote that passage. I do see some similarities, but I think that any author worth respecting would keep their eyes out of the FanFic for inspiration purposes.
Posted by: BlytheBee | February 23, 2009 at 12:27 AM