Here is a review I posted on Goodreads:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg LarssonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Primary impression, or expression, is that this crime thriller is a surprisingly good book than I had expected. I had negotiated my expectations based on how very popular books tend to be disappointing on several levels. But, I shouldn't have. This is a nice book. Larsson has done a commendable job.
It does start a bit slow when it lays the story and the beautiful geographical setting. The chess pieces are placed slowly. Then Mr. Larsson goes quasi-ballistic. Things start happening and then it's quite an enjoyable ride. I liked the way the characters are penned. Even the ones that don't have much impact to the story. Those few lines describing the characters makes a lot of difference to the writing (and reading!).
The story is good too. An unlikely combination of a journalist and a really-smart-maybe-Gothic girl. I don't want to use the phrase "immovable object and unstoppable force", but this couple does meander around those words. The way this duo deals with a family that has a huge dirty closet, criminally-inclined businessmen honchos, and the rest does make for an interesting read. Blomkvist is an unlikely but believable protagonist.
And what about Lisbeth Salander? I would have liked to read more about her (greedy!), but yeah there are two more books that would satisfy this, isn't it? She is at times a vulnerable girl, at times someone who might just shake your smooth thought-boat. Larsson wants you to really like the mysterious Salander. He succeeds at times. At times she just seems too intimidating.
Anyhow, I believe that Einstürzende Neubauten's song Sabrina would describe Lisbeth really well with these verses:
"It is as black as malevitch's square
The cold furnace in which we stare
A high pitch on a future scale
It is a starless winternight's tale
It suits you well
It is that black"
Do read this book. Till then I will complete my huge pile of to-read books to tackle books 2 and 3 in the Millenium Trilogy.
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2 comments:
You penned my thoughts exactly on the start of the book but I got into it as I went on. I haven't seen the movie have you? I heard it was dark. If you like these types of noir stories you should check out Bonnie Kozek's books. But you should start with Threshold and the latest is here http://www.bonniekozek.com/. The Dragon series reminded me of Kozek's stories though Kozek is more thrilling.
Thanks for dropping by, Tiffany. Yes, I saw the movies immediately after the book. The Swedish movie is a lot darker but tough to comprehend if you haven't read the book. The David Fincher version is much better IMO. The English version is faithful to the book and the background score is good.
Thanks for the book-tip. I will do a dekko.
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