The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by
Stieg Larsson
A Scandinavian Mystery Masterpiece
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2008: Once you start The Girl with
the Dragon Tattoo, theres no turning back. This debut thriller--the first in a
trilogy from the late Stieg Larsson--is a serious page-turner rivaling the
best of Charlie Huston and Michael Connelly. Mikael Blomkvist, a once-
respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble
around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling)
offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish
industry. The catch--and theres always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first
spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained
unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and
enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius
with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larssons novel, but
there is at least one constant: you really dont want to mess with the girl
with the dragon tattoo. --Dave Callanan
Personal Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg
Larsson
The sad death in 2004 after the author's delivery of his three book
manuscripts (of which this is the first printed) and its subsequent global
success are well known and the key facts of this novel's story are well
covered elsewhere in other reviews. But how to explain this global success
after having finished what I found to be a fascinating novel when I am not
at heart a great lover of "whodunnit" fiction?
Well firstly the book has a great plot - a murder that may or may not have
been committed 40 years ago - that is literally peeled away over its 500
plus pages in bridging the long intervening history and addressing that
question.
Secondly, by being based in modern Swedish society whose politics,
social morals, religion, family attitudes and business culture pervade the
novel, removes it stylistically from an environment that many other
European and American readers would more readily relate to.
Thirdly (and probably most critical when mixed with the second) the
author's own experience as a journalist Swedish style (as reflected in the
key character Blomkvist in the book) plus his expert knowledge of right
wing movements make this a very unique angled story, especially its
coverage of financial investigative reporting.
Finally, add in a counter heroine (Salander) who in almost adult comic
book style from an unhappy childhood with an autistic mind and punk rock
type attitudes applies her innate skills at IT (in many sections the book
comes across as a homage to Apple laptops!) and computer hacking, and
so ends up acting as a dysfunctional "Robin" to the hero's moralistic
Batman.
Sweden the land of free thinking, freedom of information and enlightened
sexual mores in conflict with its religious history and business economy
built on several dominant successful family dynasties is what overall gives
this well told story its real edge and could probably only be told best in
such a Scandinavian setting.
While the last 100 pages of this volume have a feel of trying to tie up every
loose end created earlier in the story and suffer in part from moving some
of the action outside Sweden, this book will I feel stand alone well
whatever the quality of the next two books.
It will however be interesting to see if the two lead characters teamed
initially in this first story (Blomkvist and Salander) can sustain the
chemistry and impetus of their relationship for the next two volumes in the
trilogy produced by the author before his death.
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