I remember talking about Blake's Urizen in my PhD, but any related insanity was probably due more to the PhD than the poetry, despite the fact my own illustrated edition of it comes with Blake's weird, often creepy paintings. Francis Dolarhyde, off his rocker, has no such academic defense. One of Blake's paintings sets him off, though if Blake hadn't existed no doubt it would be something else. Dolarhyde's a strangely sympathetic villain - it's impossible to root for him, but it's clear he's a result of extreme child abuse and mental illness rather than pathological evil. There's not a lot of charisma there, not like Lecter, who also suffered as a child but who I have absolutely no sympathy for (entertained as I often am by his horrifying self). They're two very different antagonists, which makes for an interesting read.

Will Graham is less interesting. Don't get me wrong: I don't find him dull. There are certainly plenty of protagonists in similar books who could be tarred with that brush, but Graham's a little too sharp-edged. He's not always likeable - being consistently and angrily mopey - but he has a sort of vicious self-awareness that makes him interesting, even if his temperament is typically wet-blanket. Still, I suspect if I had his job I'd be equally miserable.

While I'd read most of the rest of this series (out of order) before I watched the Hannibal tv series, this is the first time I've read Red Dragon... it's been on my to-read list for ages, and I finally tackled it. While it's probably not terribly helpful to say that my main interest was seeing how it differed to that fantastic show, it's a really entertaining book in it's own right. Honestly, I think I prefer it to Silence of the Lambs.