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1margad
SPOILER ALERT: for Silence of the Lambs only
Chelsea Cain's new novel, Heartsick, bears some strong similarities to the now-classic thriller The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. Both novels deal with the hunt for a serial killer who preys on young, innocent women. The protagonist of both novels is a woman still carrying the unhealed emotional scars from childhood wounds. And in both novels, a central figure is a jailed serial killer of monstrous, almost mythic proportions. The differences in these two novels, though, are profound.
Harris attaches his novel to a rather sketchy redemption theme: by facing down her fear of Hannibal Lecter in order to gain his help in solving a current case, Claire gains new confidence in herself and finally silences her dream about the slaughtered lambs. However, Claire's psychological condition is of minimal importance to the novel, which concerns itself primarily with building a sense of fear, horror and strong suspense in the reader. "Hannibal the Cannibal" is an essentially cartoonish character who inspires as much affection as dread in the reader. Over the course of the book, his cannibalism comes to seem somehow excusable because of his wit and his culinary panache, and the reader roots for his success in escaping from prison and the ensuing manhunt.
In Heartsick, by contrast, Cain's central focus is always on presenting complex and psychologically realistic characters. Her jailed serial killer is monstrous but human and, though charming, never charms the reader, who is constantly aware of the suffering she has caused. The personal growth of Susan, her journalist protagonist, is so central to the story that it could not be edited out without destroying the novel. A platitude like "by facing our fears we overcome them" is too simplistic a theme for a writer with Cain's insight. Rather, she takes on the nature of Stockholm Syndrome, in which a victimized person begins to "love" his or her victimizer. How can such a thing happen? What kind of lasting damage does it cause? How can a person get over it?
Chelsea Cain's new novel, Heartsick, bears some strong similarities to the now-classic thriller The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. Both novels deal with the hunt for a serial killer who preys on young, innocent women. The protagonist of both novels is a woman still carrying the unhealed emotional scars from childhood wounds. And in both novels, a central figure is a jailed serial killer of monstrous, almost mythic proportions. The differences in these two novels, though, are profound.
Harris attaches his novel to a rather sketchy redemption theme: by facing down her fear of Hannibal Lecter in order to gain his help in solving a current case, Claire gains new confidence in herself and finally silences her dream about the slaughtered lambs. However, Claire's psychological condition is of minimal importance to the novel, which concerns itself primarily with building a sense of fear, horror and strong suspense in the reader. "Hannibal the Cannibal" is an essentially cartoonish character who inspires as much affection as dread in the reader. Over the course of the book, his cannibalism comes to seem somehow excusable because of his wit and his culinary panache, and the reader roots for his success in escaping from prison and the ensuing manhunt.
In Heartsick, by contrast, Cain's central focus is always on presenting complex and psychologically realistic characters. Her jailed serial killer is monstrous but human and, though charming, never charms the reader, who is constantly aware of the suffering she has caused. The personal growth of Susan, her journalist protagonist, is so central to the story that it could not be edited out without destroying the novel. A platitude like "by facing our fears we overcome them" is too simplistic a theme for a writer with Cain's insight. Rather, she takes on the nature of Stockholm Syndrome, in which a victimized person begins to "love" his or her victimizer. How can such a thing happen? What kind of lasting damage does it cause? How can a person get over it?
