 This Swedish bestseller deserves to be a blockbuster here too. |
| Review Date: August 25, 2008 |
| Reviewer: K. M., California |
A 24-year-old computer hacker sporting an assortment of tattoos and body piercings and afflicted with Asperger Syndrome or something of the like has been under state guardianship in her native Sweden since she was thirteen. She supports herself by doing deep background investigations for Dragan Armansky, who, in turn, worries the anorexic-looking Lisbeth Salander is "the perfect victim for anyone who wished her ill." Salander may look fourteen and stubbornly shun social norms, but she possesses the inner strength of a determined survivor. She sees more than her word processor page in black and white and despises the users and abusers of this world. She won't hesitate to exact her own unique brand of retribution against small-potatoes bullies, sick predators, and corrupt magnates alike.
Financial journalist Carl Mikael Blomkvist has just been convicted of libeling a financier and is facing a fine and three months in jail. Blomkvist, after a Salander-completed background check, is summoned to a meeting with semi-retired industrialist Henrik Vanger whose far-flung but shrinking corporate empire is wholly family owned. Vanger has brooded for 36 years about the fate of his great niece, Harriet. Blomkvist is expected to live for a year on the island where many Vanger family members still reside and where Harriet was last seen. Under the cover story that he is writing a family history, Blomkvist is to investigate which family member might have done away with the teenager.
So, the stage is set. The reader easily guesses early that somehow Blomkvist and Salander will pool their talents to probe the Vanger mystery. However,Swede Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is no humdrum, formulaic whodunit. It is fascinating and very difficult to put down. Nor is it without some really suspenseful and chillingly ugly scenes....
The issue most saturating The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is that of shocking sexual violence primarily against women but not excluding men. Salander and Blomkvist both confront prima facie evidence of such crimes. Larsson's other major constituent elements are corporate malfeasance that threatens complete collapse of stock markets and anarchistic distrust of officialdom to the point of endorsing (at least, almost) vigilantism. He also deals with racism as he spins a complex web from strands of real and imagined history concerning mid-twentieth century Vanger affiliations with Sweden's fascist groups.
But Larsson's carefully calibrated tale is more than a grisly, cynical world view of his country and the modern world at large. At its core, it is an fascinating character study of a young woman who easily masters computer code but for whom human interaction is almost always more trouble than it is worth, of an investigative reporter who chooses a path of less resistance than Salander but whose humanity reaches out to many including her, and of peripheral characters -- such as Armansky -- who need more of their story told.
Fortunately, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in English translation will be followed by two more in the Millennium series: The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Air Castle that Blew Up. I can't wait. Larsson also made a 200-page start on a fourth book, but sadly he succumbed to a heart attack in 2004 and his father decided the unfinished work will remain unpublished.
I recommend this international bestseller to all who eagerly sift new books for challenging intellectual crime thrillers, who luxuriate in immersing themselves in the ambience of a compellingly created world and memorable characters, who soak up financial and investigative minutiae as well as computer hacking tidbits, and who want to share Larsson's crusade against violence and racism. |
Best Book of the Year
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| Review Date: September 13, 2008 |
| Reviewer: R. Crane, Washington, DC United States |
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a masterwork of fine craftsmanhip. When I reached the final page I was disappointed that there was no more to read. I did not want the story to end. The characters are too intriguing for this to be the end. Apparently this was the first novel in a trilogy by the brillant writer, Stieg Larsson, who unfortunately died in 2004: the book contains a tribute to him and his career. I cannot wait to read the sequels scheduled for release in the USA in 2009.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an international best seller and is set in Sweden. It takes a little effort to get accustomed to all the Swedish names and places but then the story moves with lightening speed. There are two key plots happening simultaneously. In one, a Swedish financial investigative journalist publishes a libelous attack about a powerful industrialist and is sentenced to jail, fined a ruinous sum, and has his career torn to shreds. Another industrialist, Vanger, hires the journalist to investigate the 36 year old disappearnace of his then 14 year old grand niece. There has been no trace of her in all these years and she is assumed dead. Yet, every year on his birthday, he receives a mysterious gift of a pressed flower, mimicking a gift his missing grandniece used to give him when she lived there. Vanger, an old man, is tormented by the flower gifts, and wants one more chance to find out what happened to her and who killed her. What the journalist uncovers about the Vanger family's hitherto unknown secrets and connections to the Nazis, will have you hanging on the edge of your seat.
The book is titled after yet another character, Lisabeth Salander, a societal outcast and social ward of the State, uncivilized without any desire to obey societal norms, and replete with piercings, tattoos, and a goth/biker appearance. In short, at first glance a totally undesirable and unsympathetic person. She is a researcher with a corporate security firm and ends up working with the journalist. In truth, she is a survivor of abuse in all forms with low self esteem, and an inablity to trust. She is a genius with Asberger's Syndrome, a form of autism, who sees patterns in things ordinary mortals miss and uses incredible computer hacking skills to accomplish her goals. She is fascinating: ruthless and tough to a fault, yet internally vulnerable, struggling to comprehend her own feelings. She has an appeal that draws you to her, rooting for her, and wanting to understand her. Lisabeth is unforgettable, unlike most characters that populate mystery thrillers. There is such depth here.
The book is a thriller on many levels: The story about the Vanger family itself, the journalist's crusade to redeem his reputation, Lisabeth's vendettas and development, and of course, the truth about what actually happened to the missing Vanger heiresss. This is a superb novel and impossible to put down. Utterly stunning. Probably the year's best book. SUMMER 2009: SEE MY REVIEW OF THE SEQUEL, "THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE", ANOTHER OUTSTANDING BOOK.
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Couldn't put it down to the last page...
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| Review Date: August 28, 2008 |
| Reviewer: KNSudha, Saratoga, CA USA |
The novel is really rich in detail and quick paced -- And incredibly moving in depicting the struggles faced by its female protagonist. This novel somehow brings off having two really well drawn protagonists, one male, one female that one can empathize with. A middle aged journalist, and a troubled but incredibly talented young woman who works as a PI intersect to solve a labyrinthine plot. Lisbet's story would have made an incredible novel on its own. She has Aspergers and is trapped in an awful school /social system with no advocates and non-existent mental health services. It is really dark in its themes somewhat like the Kite Runner. The complex mystery, thriller aspects are really good, and then the whole other aspects of the novel which is also a social comment on society in Sweden, journalistic ethics, misogyny, and gut-wrenching sexual violence. So prepare to be disturbed by the darkness it depicts.
The only thing that bothered me a little, though the incredible characterizations and plotting made up for it totally was the out of time technology -- It seemed like the novel was set in the 90s, but all of the technology action seemed to be happening in the late 2000s. So the technology used in the plot time lines seemed a decade out of whack sometimes. I will go back and read it and see if its something I misunderstood.
All in all, its one of the best mystery /thrillers I've read from the last decade. In fact comparing it to the Da Vinci Code, the characters are not simplistic one dimensional cut outs at all. The rich characterizations and explorations of dark behaviour remind me of Elizabeth George. I'm waiting for the two final books of this trilogy. It is so sad that the author has passed away and we won't be meeting the characters for more than just 3 books. |
Don't let the hype scare you off, this is no Twilight
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| Review Date: January 19, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Amy E. Henry, Nipomo, CA United States |
I was completely unprepared for this novel. I had seen it on bestseller lists and read magazines where the reviewers were completely wild over it. I thought the book couldn't possibly live up to the hype. I even thought, with dread, that it may just be some sort of Twilight hysteria thing. As usual, I was completely wrong.
This novel is set in Sweden and you jump in to an immediately fast paced plot, with lots of twists and surprises. It's a mainstream novel now, but is surprisingly deep. It touches on journalism and ethics, business and economic theories, and then builds in an in-depth family mystery with a huge cast of characters. You can trust no one, and you can't even pretend to know what happens next.
Great plot aside, the novel introduces two very intriguing characters. Most people seem to love Lisbeth, and she is unique, sassy, resourceful and tough. But I actually found the journalist Mikael even more interesting and deep. He's not your typical "lead" male detective: while he is an obvious ladies man, he is also a good friend. He can keep a secret, and he isn't pushy or demanding. He sets up situations in order to see how a character responds, and is still shocked and distressed by the horrors that occur. In some ways he is almost child-like in his innocence, and yet by way of his business history he is not naïve. He appears to have money and status but needs neither to exist: he's simple and direct without having any affectations.
Part of the genius (yes, I said genius!) is that the novel works from both of their viewpoints, and lets each of their personalities exist, rather than one character simply assessing the other and defining them to the reader.
That being said, I was surprised at some of the turns the novel took in that some main characters that are referred to heavily are never fleshed out, and some of the situations that took place (mostly involving illegal wiretapping and computer hacking) were so easily done without incident, too easily and quickly to be believable. Some of the precursors to extraordinary events unfolded with crisp writing and suspense, but the denouement seemed choppy.
My suggestion to any reader of it would be to turn the pages slowly and savor it, because you'll be so sorry to see it end. You'll also want to be sure to install heavy duty encryption on your computer as soon as possible, and you'll never read another article in The Economist in the same way again. I also have to mention that the author wrote at a high caliber of skill, there was no dumbing down of the literary aspect as some bestsellers often seem to do. |
A captivating read!
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| Review Date: August 28, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Diane Kistner, Georgia |
I wasn't able to put this book down. I am not normally a fan of the mystery genre, preferring to read "literary" literature, but the writing is very good and I was hooked. Plus, the political and financial intrigue really hit the spot. I am a political junkie, as a rule, and always wonder what's "really" going on behind the scenes in the secretive upper echelons of power. I get off on complexity, which this book has in spades.
I felt especially drawn to Lisbeth. I suspected, even before it was mentioned toward the end of the book, that she might have Asperger's syndrome, with which I am acquainted. It was very easy for me to imagine her disarming "social charms" as a result--those eyes burning into you--and I found her character to be very vivid and interesting.
One thing I really liked about this book is how so much of the life I experience was pulled into it almost incidentally: the state-of-the-art computer equipment, the news about Bush and Iraq, the tools of the hacker's trade (how scary was THAT?!), the funky clothes.
I have disliked mysteries in the past because they often seem so contrived and dishonest. You know the drill: Trick the reader into thinking it's one thing, then hit them over the head with the splintered 2 x 4 of "what really happened." "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was not at all like that. It kept me thinking and wondering all the way through, and even after its secrets were revealed it kept on giving. The author was able to thrill and surprise me without insulting my intelligence or setting me up to feel stupid post-denouement.
The best part was that, after the major revelations, I still couldn't put the book down until the very end, which did not come for a while. The loose ends were woven back into the braid and I did not feel at all like the writer abandoned me or any of the characters. I closed the book thinking about how they all would go on living, engaged with each other in their eccentric, quirky way.
In short, I didn't want it to be over, and in the end it wasn't...and it was. I can now hardly wait for the next books. I am so sorry to know that Stieg Larsson is gone, but I'm grateful to know that this book was not the last.
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