The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is, by and large, a captivating read. I'm not going to find much fault with a novel that, on the one hand, vilifies crimes against women while, on the other hand, avoids depicting that terrible stereotype: woman-as-victim. Kudos for that, in my opinion. But it's also a suspenseful, involved tale that works several threads at the same time. Are all equally captivating? Um, nope. But each is captivating enough. (And that's my main criticism, ultimately. It felt like the novel was tackling a bit too much all at once, at times, but it wasn't enough of a distraction to warrant much grumbling on my part. )
The novel (if you haven't already read it) revolves around Mikael Blomkvist, professionally embarrassed journalist, and Lisbeth Salander, investigator extraordinaire. They come together haphazardly when both find themselves working for Henrik Vanger, a wealthy, retired businessman who has become obsessed with the disappearance of Harriet Vanger. Vanger wants Blomkvist to find out what happened to Harriet, what caused her disappearance in the 60s. Seems straightforward enough. But it isn't. This is a morally complex story that has me pondering days later.
Choice is certainly an important factor behind all the action that takes place in this narrative. What the characters choose to do and why. Choice is everything. But it can't keep the unforeseen from overtaking the them. And I like that Larsson points out the responsibilities of journalists, highlights the ethics needed, takes a stab or two at some of the more dangerous (yet widely accepted) aspects of contemporary society. All in all, this book grabbed me. I'm hoping the other two in the series are just as good.
Last night, in fact, I was suffering from Larsson withdrawal (having finished the novel the evening before) and was slightly mollified by unexpectedly catching Wallander on PBS (though, after realizing I'd caught the end of Series II and had missed the first two of this series, the mollification was slight indeed). I haven't read any of the novels the series is based upon . . . I'm kind of curious about them now. More Swedish detective fiction lies in my future, I believe.
4 scribble(s) in the margin:
What a good review - it is a hard book to deal with. I loved the characters, as you do, but thought for a book that seemed to be trying, as you say, to create strong women, its sexual violence was over described. Detailed descriptions make things more accessible and is making sexual violence accessible really in line with what otherwise seems quite a feminist agenda? I wasn't upset of offended by it, I just didn't undersand what it was doing there.
I also thought the financial sub-plot at the beginning and end was too long. All-in-all I thought it needed a good editor and some manic redrafting - which he obviously didn't get time to do. I will finish the series though, definitely, as I thought the pluses out-weighed the minuses.
Thanks! It is a hard book to deal with.
And that's an interesting point you've made about the violence. It hadn't struck me that way, but now I'm wondering and want to go back and take another look.
That financial sub-plot was in danger of being off-putting for me, too . . . I almost reached the 'why am I reading this?' point before the Vanger story kicked in. By the time I got to the end, I saw it more as a kind of backdrop that furthered my understanding of Blomkvist.
This has me thinking more about the novel . . . I might need to do a follow-up post. :)
I am reading "Girl who Played with Fire" right now. The gentleman is reading the first. We also finished watching the Wallander series. We got it streaming on PBS Masterpiece Theater online. Maybe try that. Also, have you watched the new BBC Sherlock Holmes. Also on PBS? Curious to know what you think.
I'm waiting (impatiently) to read the rest of the books until Mr. Inkslinger reads the first and we can go onwards together (the impatience might win out though :).
Good idea about the streaming, but it looks like it's unavailable in Canada (or perhaps I have to subscribe to something online?). Alas. Luckily, there is always the dvd option. And I'll have to pay more attention to PBS listings (I seem to be forever missing things by a day or two. Ugh!). I did catch the new BBC Sherlock Holmes, though, and I liked it quite a bit, especially the first episode which I thought was the snappiest, savviest of them. The second was less dazzling, I found. The third, while not as convincing as the first, was pretty good. I'm now curious about what you thought of the series . . . :)
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