The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Ratings1,079
Average rating4.1
I first heard of this book from my Swedish step-father-in-law. I had asked him who his current favorite author was last August. Stieg Larsson's three books are very popular in Sweden. His second book is due to be published in U.S. this summer. Shortly after handing in the three manuscripts for his mysteries, he died.
This was a very cool mystery about a disgraced journalist hired to investigate the disappearance of a young girl in the late sixties. The characters are all fully-realized, interesting individuals and story takes several interesting twists and turns. Curiously, the book's title in Sweden was Man Som Hatar Kvinnor which translates as The Man Who Hates Women. I like the English title better. Recommended for mystery-lovers.
(There are a few Swedish words that are left in the text, but you'd guess their meaning from the context. Fröken is one example. It means Miss. And it may help to know that the suffix gatan means street.)
I've been meaning to read this book for a very long time, and since my friend Cynthia was reading it and said it was very good I moved it up the To Be Read list and made it happen. I really enjoyed the intrigue and characters. Different that my usual reading material and it really held my interest and I was always wondering what is next. Not too deep of a book but I do think that the “Lisbeth” character was a deeper character than most and I look forward to meeting her more in the next books. My only probably is that I need to get some work done and diving in to the next book right now probably isn't the best idea. I was up to 11:30 last night and I finished the book while on the elliptical at the gym this morning. I NEVER read while working out but I NEEDED to finish the book!
Veramente ottimo questo thriller che arriva dalla Svezia. Personaggi costruiti ottimamente e anche la storia è complessa quanto basta per tenere incollato il lettore dalla prima all'ultima pagina. Siamo di fronte ad un delitto che rientra tranquillamente nella definizione di “delitti della camera chiusa” ma esteso ad un isoletta svedese. Si vede che l'autore è stato un giornalista “d'assalto” che faceva reportage scomodi nella società attuale, infatti il libro è pregno di riferimenti economici e sociali che a volte rallentano un poco la lettura con riferimenti prettamente legati alla società della Svezia. Tutto sommato il libro, scorre, scorre veloce grazie all'abile costruzione dei personaggi che girano all'interno della trama e a quella giusta ambiguità che ti porta verso una strada e alla fine ti fa tornare indietro per svelarti il finale inaspettato. Questo è il primo di una trilogia con protagonisti gli stessi personaggi in tutte le storie; sicuramente comprerò i prossimi, perchè questo primo mi è piaciuto davvero tanto.
Now, I must admit that I am not the target audience for Steig Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but with all of the widespread praise the mystery had been receiving, I thought it may be worth my time. Or at least it would be a fun waste of time. It was, instead, a frustrating waste of time.
It's bad hen you come in with pretty low expectations and are still let down. I tend to be annoyed with genre conventions, but that wasn't even the problem here. In fact, it probably would have been a better book if it had tried to adhere to a standard format. Instead, we get what amounts to hundreds of pages of meandering, useless back story, no plot development, and not actual progression. I say all of this without criticizing the line-level quality of the writing (it is dry and dull).
I'd like to summarize the plot, the central storyline, here, but it so convoluted that is not worth the paragraph it would take to write it. There is a mystery that involves two dozen or so family members, and a secondary mystery that sort of bookends the first mystery. Then there are another twenty characters, each with Swedish names that make them hard to distinguish from other characters (Don't miss Nora Ephron's New Yorker piece if you too struggle with this book).
Around two-hundred pages in, after being sufficiently frustrated and confused, the action begins. It is for this action that we're meant to enjoy these sorts of books, right? On a personal level, I enjoyed the concept of Mikael Blomkvist holed up in a spartan guest house in northern Sweden, tasked with chronicling a family history and attempting to solve a murder along the way. I also enjoyed the character of Lisbeth Salander, for all of her supposedly shocking characteristics, but I do think Larsson misunderstands her at times, giving her thoughts and actions (some critical) that are wholly inconsistent.
When the action gets good, when things are building to a climax, though, Larson lets some events happen so matter-of-factly that they fall flat. A couple of key moments in the novel happen without any sort of build up. Its as if the author needed something to happen, and instead of leading us to it, it just happens. When I wanted more of what the genre should have served up, the book let me down.
The action only lasts a few hundred pages, and then we return to the meandering, the other irrelevant characters, and the ancillary mystery (which, like the other, is a let down). The last hundred pages of the book were so frustrating to get through, so indulgent and self-serving. I could not help but wonder where the editor was for this book. This isn't a Stephen King book, where you pretty much let him write whatever he wants to write, slap a cover on it, and wait for the money to pour in. This is a debut novel. Sure, there had been international success before it ever appeared in the U.S., but couldn't we have pulled it into shape first?
Unless you're so inspired by the cover that you have to read this book (it was one key reason I was interested), don't. Wait for the David Fincher film. Or, better yet, see the Swedish film, which is getting good reviews. Though maybe you shouldn't believe the reviews.
Many years ago, I watched the American film adaptation of this novel (I can't believe 2011 can be described as “many years ago” wtf). Either a blessing or a curse, I have the absolute worst memory when it comes to remembering what happened in films that I've watched. So when I saw this book for sale for $1 at my local library's book stand, I immediately pounced on it and saw an opportunity to dive into this story completely fresh. It was the best $1 I've spent in a really long time.
The book ebbs and flows at the perfect cadence between intense can't-put-this-down suspense and valleys of mundanity, but even the “slow” parts weren't so bad as to be painful to get through. The characters are all unique and have vibrant, interesting personalities and steady story arcs. The story itself is akin to binary stars that orbit a common center of gravity: there are two major plot lines that seem unrelated, and slowly draw each other closer in throughout the book, until they smash together fantastically toward the end.
This was very close to a perfect crime novel, but misses the mark in a few key ways. I'll only discuss one, which frustrated me a lot more than I thought it would: the fact that the two protagonists, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, had a sexual relationship. If a reader hypothetically dove into this book without knowing anything about the author, then this is the part of the book that they would reach and immediately proclaim, “Ah. So this was written by a man.” The sexual relationship between Blomkvist and Salander is so wildly unrealistic because of how it started and how it persisted (all of which was at the behest of Salander), especially given the massive schism in their backgrounds and personalities. The relationship felt shoehorned into the story, I'm assuming to capture and keep the reader's continued interest, but it was unnecessary, given that the story itself was plenty fascinating. I absolutely hate that there was so much wholesome potential between these two characters and it got completely ruined by the author's overactive imagination. As such, I wanted to dock 1.5 stars off of my rating, but Goodreads doesn't do half-stars, so I'm feeling generous. I give the book 4/5, and it's definitely worth reading. I've already committed to reading the second book in the Millennium series, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and I will decide from there whether or not to continue on.
This is the first volume in the Millennium Trilogy. Mikael Blomkvist (a journalist) and Lisbeth Salander (computer hacker) join forces to investigate the forty year old disappearance of Harriet Vanger. This leads to a number of decade-old grotesque murders and an unravelling of the Vanger's family history.
A thrilling read. Although it was difficult to get into the book the story line was fascinating with a good build up and ending. It was definitely a good crime thriller and as a consequence made me go out and buy book number 2.
Fantastic read. Strong and clean prose with compelling characters. Kept me turning the pages. Can't wait to read the next book in this trilogy.
When starting this book, everyone (even down to the book store clerk) told me that it started slow and finished strong - that I would have to push through the first 100 to 150 pages. Well, I have to agree that the end of the book is better than the beginning, I never had trouble picking up this one.
I also have to say that I've never really read a “crime thriller” before. This one was intriguing enough, though, that I'd consider reading Larsson's other two books.
Anyway, I was engaged by Larsson's writing style - or at least the translation of it. There were a couple of oddities in the text that I attributed to the translation. I liked his story-telling, and felt that he didn't divulge too much too early. I was surprised that the killer was revealed with a couple of hundred pages left (in the mass market paperback, at least), but Larsson didn't let that ruin the ending. It was refreshing that that wasn't the ending.
This would be one I would recommend. I must admit, though, that I'm kind of struggling to write about it. Maybe more will come later...
An excellent thriller. A mind-blowing mystery unfolds in the twist of a simple story. The character development is great, and the world building of the story is fantastic. Overall the first book in the ‘Millennium' series is an unforgettable thriller.
Ada setahun lebih menunda baca buku ini, tebel banget soalnya... Tapi setelah dibaca krn aku mmg suka genre mystery/thriller jadi gk kerasa tebalnya.
Awalnya terasa bosan bgt, TMI, too much information, mengenai konflik Mikael bloomkvist dgn Wennerstorm, Millenium hingga akhirnya ke plot utama, keluarga Vanger. Dan kita dikenalkan oleh gadis dgn tato naga, Lisbeth Salander.
Sbnrnya aku suka sih kedinamisan hubungan antara Mikael & Lisbeth. Sayang endingnya jd agk nyesek di pihak Lisbeth. Kelanjutannya bln depan saja...
Being mistrustful of bestsellers and apprehensive of trying to keep track of all those similar sounding Scandinavian names, I put off reading this book for quite awhile. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and, after picking up the first one, read straight through all three books. Initially I thought my worst fears were confirmed when the author embarked on a lengthy expository interlude to provide background on a newly introduced character but as the characters become established in the reader's mind the pace picks up. It is the ability of the author to deftly create and handle believable characters, particularly Lisbeth Salander, that really propels the story forward. The only criticism I have, and it's a minor one, is the author's penchant for the flights of exposition, but in this case it doesn't bog down the story. One could do a whole lot worse than read these books.
A riveting pageturner for the first two-thirds, then an ending longer than Return of the King.
This is an odd book to have received such widespread public acclaim. For one thing, it is about 250 pages too long. The story I thought the book was about, that is the story from the synopsis on the back cover, does not begin until about 100 pages in and has a satisfying ending with 100 pages still to go. That story is a good and compelling one, if a little frustrating. Readers who think they're going to be given a chance to solve the mystery alongside the protagonists will be disappointed. The clues are unavailable to the reader as they mainly involve decades-old photo albums. That said, the mystery is interesting enough to keep me curious and wanting to read into the wee hours.
Another thing that surprised me about this book is how unabashedly violent it is (though on second thought, that could be something that attracts it to the American public, warmongers that we are). Murder, physical and sexual assault, and animal cruelty abound. I like a good crime novel as much as the next girl, but this was a bit more explicit than most of what I've read before. I think it was the animal cruelty that was the worst. Steer clear of this book, PETA.
Other complaints: -There are too many characters to keep track of with names too similar to each other. (Berger and Birger? Was that necessary, Larsson?) I'll attribute that to my limited knowledge of Swedish names, since before I read this book the only name Swedish name I knew was Astrid as in Lindgren.
-There's far too much in the way of business dealings for my taste. I just found myself not caring about this part of the book and it drags on for pages and pages.
All in all, I'm glad to have read this book. I'll probably read the next in the series at some point because I like to finish what I start and even though I have a lot of complaints about this book I did enjoy it. The translation from Swedish to English is smooth and did not pose any problems. The main story and parts of the business/journalism stuff were good.
Recommended for business majors (maybe they'll find the finance parts more interesting than I did) and lovers of crime novels.
Entretenido, sin embargo tiene sus defectos:
Primero; Las pistas cruciales para resolver el misterio de la trama principal se revuelven gracias a muy oportunas coincidencias. Segundo; el final de la segunda trama es muy largo y aburrido.
En general es una buena lectura para pasar el rato.
Listened as an audiobook.
This story was a wild ride. I was not expecting to find anything like that out about the Vanger family. Don't know if I will listen to the next one but I am interested to continue the series.
What a ride. It is like a good John Grisham with more exotic settings and more social and modern history themes. Truly enjoyable. I didn't like how some of the storylines ended, that's why it is a 4 and not a 5, IMHO.
This book exhausted me. The first 10 chapters killed me, and last two as well. But the rest was AMAZING I love a good murder mystery!
Fast-paced (although fairly long) and engaging - a fun summer read. I am excited to read the next installment. I was a little disappointed at the end, as it felt to me like the author had concocted an elaborate mystery but couldn't find a graceful way to wrap it up. But still very enjoyable.
