book review: the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by: Steig Larsson
So. I don’t usually read “crime fiction”, or whatever this is. Mystery? Maybe? I mean there was definitely a mystery or four involved. Anyway, whatever it was I decided to bite the bullet for once and see what all the fuss is about. And was pleasantly surprised. The book is 600 pages but reads much faster, like a mid three hundred maybe – and not because things are all fast moving like one might expect in a “thriller” (this might be a thriller, I still don’t have the labeling of the crime/thriller/mystery subgenres mentally sorted) – but rather because the characters and story are genuinely interesting.
Don’t ask why but one moment from an office meeting stands out, where employees are asked to bicker and fight to trick another employee and the speaker tells them not to overdo it and “just be yourselves, but don’t hold back on the bitchiness” or something like that. Very simple, but it rings solid and true.
Without giving anything away, I’ll say that I figured out pretty early who had to be the bad guy, based on structural conventions – but at the same time I was still surprised when the reveal came – there were some good herrings (without being obvious or purposeful). There are a couple things you have to accept for the story to work, but I was ok with that. Nothing too far-fetched (but also nothing I can say without giving away some major spoilers), and certainly nothing as far-fetched as most of the crap I see in “thrillers”.
They made a movie (in Swedish – the book was originally written in Swedish, although I’d bet money on an American version before too long) out of this, and I’ve seen scathing and positive reviews. Frankly, it’s another book that I don’t think would convert to film well because there is SO MUCH in here and it all feels pretty necessary. Sure, I can see how they might just grab a couple of the big scenes and.. UGH. Please don’t make this movie Hollywood.
FOUR STARS
Without being a genre aficionado I can’t say how this holds up or compares, all I can do is rate it based on my enjoyment level and how I feel it holds up character, plot and interest- wise to my usual readings.
Hit the wiki link from the author’s name above. He’s an interesting guy and it’s a shame he died so young.
I have mixed feelings on this book. I agree that the author was a fantastic writer (especially for crime fiction), and I know what you mean about the office scene. It’s like his scenes were simple and SOLID. Real. Also, the variety of characters was truly enjoyable. On the other hand…I had a hard time loving it because of the violence (I know, I know, what was I thinking a crime fiction WOULD be?). Perverse men just piss me off in general so…reading about them being perverse pissed me off. Which, I guess also reflects well on the author’s skill. Hmm… I’ve not read the other two yet. At the moment, I’m to busy reading “The Beasts of Tarzan.” ;-)
Yeah, I mean the (sexualized) violence was gross, but I think that was the point and I didn’t find it particularly gratuitous (of course I would rather not have the characters subject to sexual abuse… but that’s kind of the point I guess?) – especially given what we have in American cinema these days. Thinking back on it… there were really only 3 (?) scenes of violence against the characters, the rest were descriptions of murder scenes. That seems pretty restrained for what I might expect from the genre.
I saw several reviews complain about the mundane details (computer specs, temperature, etc.) but I found those details mostly endearing. The only one that annoyed me was the explanation of what an iPod was – I’m guessing maybe some of his target audience are senior citizens? :P
One of the things I think the movie did really well was not sexualize the violence. It was all from the victims’ point of view, so it looked terrifying and painful, not sexual. That is really, really, really rare in a movie, much less a book.
Glad to hear it. I may check it out someday, but I’m in no hurry.
I was going to ask which version you saw, but just saw your comment on the other thread and now I’m clear.
I think I was more concerned about a Hollywood adaption (not sure if this has happened yet or not?) than a Euro one.
That I can wholeheartedly agree on. I cannot imagine a Hollywood version of this story that has the heroine be as complex and functional as she is – my friend who raved about the movie was most excited about how Lisbet’s got a life, she’s not just damage and suffering – I really liked how Lisbet seemed to be coming on to Mikhail almost compulsively? I don’t quite know how to say it, but it was like she was testing him to see how awful he was, and she didn’t start actually liking him until *after* their relationship started and he didn’t crowd/push her. But folks who read the book said it seemed there like Mikhail was just an incredibly unresistable ladies’ man, which I just cannot imagne working well except in the imagination of the middle-aged writer author. You know?
Anyway, that “author interjected into the story” thing always throws me, I wonder if the later books are less like that? It’s often a first novel (or first script, like Rent) problem that writers get over pretty quick.
a) point of the whole trilogy becomes a diatribe opposing violence on women, and his attempt, (from what i understand a working title was ‘men who hate women’), was to be extreme to show this…successfully or not, depends on where you stand, i guess. Personally thought it was over the top, but see the intent…
b) ipod i think did need some explaining when these came out over there, but should have been cleaned up w/english translation…
c) loved first movie, but it gutted the peripheral characters (heart of the book for me) at the expense of the action. they got the casting spot on, though.
2nd movie i’ve heard less kind things about, but haven’t seen yet. came out friday very limited opening in US.
funniest to me is i came into it backwards as a ‘scandanavian thriller’, which i eat up, and i thought it was a great commercial example, and what i see happening that i love is that it’s shedding light on a whole noir genre that’s taken off in the last few years.
personal preference is more for gritty procedurals than sensationalistic novels, but there you go…
I haven’t got to the last two books yet, still working my way through the epic Battle Cry of Freedom, but hopefully I’ll get to them before the year’s out. I’m torn about the movies… I’m not a big movie fan in general, and I don’t generally enjoy this genre of films at all – in fact I’m surprised I enjoyed the book! I am intrigued by the “Scandinavian thriller” bit now though – I actually liked how the author namedropped all those novels over the course of the book, gives me something else to dig into. Someday.
I get the sociological aspect re: violence against women bit. I think that came through pretty clearly, without sucking the life out of the book.