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Nataliya's Reviews > The Girl Who Played With Fire
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium #2)
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Nataliya's review
bookshelves: 2012-reads, awesome-kickass-heroines, i-also-saw-the-film
Dec 31, 2011
bookshelves: 2012-reads, awesome-kickass-heroines, i-also-saw-the-film
Stieg Larsson doesn't really do subtle. If he thinks an issue is important, he will shout it from the rooftops. With a megaphone. But since he is condemning misogyny and violence towards women, I'm ok with that.
But don't let the focus on Lisbeth fool you - essentially, this book should have been simply titled Men Who Hate Women, Part II (Men Who Hate Women was the original title of the first Swedish book, before it was changed to include a more marketable dragon tattoo) as its main theme remains the same as its predecessor's, repeated and restated countless times. And that's why I liked this otherwise far from perfect book.
Yet again, Larsson determinedly exposes the unlikable aspects of society - misogyny and adherence to judgmental standards and gender norms that are ever-present even in the European paradise of Sweden. The surface mystery is just that - a plot device, an excuse to get a new angle on Larsson's favorite topic. We see the various shades and sides of hatred towards women, especially if they try to get out of the bounds that society neatly places for them. This is reflected first and foremost in the awful treatment that Salander receives, but also in the treatment of Lisbeth's mother, Sonia Bodig, and the helpless and easily ignored by the society victims of sex trafficking.
However, I could not help but sigh and eyeroll at Larsson's less-than-perfect prose. His books could have really benefited from the generous use of editor's red pen. (But I do understand that these books were published posthumously and therefore probably not much was cut out out of respect to the dead author.) My gripes are similar to those of many other readers - the tediousness of every minute detail, the never-ending parade of brand names reading like an ad at times, and what feels like the entire Ikea catalog making a special appearance. This diary-like filler could have been easily cut out, leaving a much shorter and much sharper book. I also giggled at the author's self-insertion and clear wish-fulfillment in the memorable figure of incorruptible and irresistible journalist Blomkvist. And how can I forget a grating pet-peeve of not getting a medical condition right: (view spoiler).
The final grade is 3 stars - full marks for the awesome message of the story, but points taken off for far-from-perfect execution.
"Salander was the woman who hated men who hate women."This book, much more than its predecessor, focuses on the tiny-but-tough Lisbeth Salander. We learn quite a bit about the fascinating and horrific backstory that led to Salander developing her unique, defensive, prickly personality.
"Don’t ever fight with Lisbeth Salander. Her attitude towards the rest of the world is that if someone threatens her with a gun, she’ll get a bigger gun."
But don't let the focus on Lisbeth fool you - essentially, this book should have been simply titled Men Who Hate Women, Part II (Men Who Hate Women was the original title of the first Swedish book, before it was changed to include a more marketable dragon tattoo) as its main theme remains the same as its predecessor's, repeated and restated countless times. And that's why I liked this otherwise far from perfect book.
Yet again, Larsson determinedly exposes the unlikable aspects of society - misogyny and adherence to judgmental standards and gender norms that are ever-present even in the European paradise of Sweden. The surface mystery is just that - a plot device, an excuse to get a new angle on Larsson's favorite topic. We see the various shades and sides of hatred towards women, especially if they try to get out of the bounds that society neatly places for them. This is reflected first and foremost in the awful treatment that Salander receives, but also in the treatment of Lisbeth's mother, Sonia Bodig, and the helpless and easily ignored by the society victims of sex trafficking.
"When all the media assertions were put together, the police appeared to be hunting for a psychotic lesbian who had joined a cult of Satanists that propagandized for S&M sex and hated society in general and men in particular."I loved the no-compromise and no-subtlety message that this book delivers on the subjects that are indeed not subtle and should not be compromised on.
However, I could not help but sigh and eyeroll at Larsson's less-than-perfect prose. His books could have really benefited from the generous use of editor's red pen. (But I do understand that these books were published posthumously and therefore probably not much was cut out out of respect to the dead author.) My gripes are similar to those of many other readers - the tediousness of every minute detail, the never-ending parade of brand names reading like an ad at times, and what feels like the entire Ikea catalog making a special appearance. This diary-like filler could have been easily cut out, leaving a much shorter and much sharper book. I also giggled at the author's self-insertion and clear wish-fulfillment in the memorable figure of incorruptible and irresistible journalist Blomkvist. And how can I forget a grating pet-peeve of not getting a medical condition right: (view spoiler).
The final grade is 3 stars - full marks for the awesome message of the story, but points taken off for far-from-perfect execution.
"His attitude had always been that if a woman clearly indicated that she did not want anything more to do with him, he would go on his way. Not respecting such a message would in his eyes, show a lack of respect for her."
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Great review, Nataliya. I actually enjoyed the minute details of everyday life that were in the book. It is weird because I usually hate that sort of thing, but for some reason I enjoyed it.
Great review, Nataliya. I tried to keep track of how many sandwiches Bloomkvist ate and how much coffee he consumed in the series but quickly became disoriented and lost track.
Excellent review - you pinpointed some of the issues I had with this book. There are some much better examples of mysteries/thrillers that explore contemporary social problems with more finesse and greater impact. Last summer, I read the entire reissued Martin Beck series by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö -- also Swedish, fascinating look into a whole series of social issues in Sweden in the 1960s-1970s.
The style is clunky, the translation is bad (and was reportedly butchered by the publishers), the plot is silly (and just gets worse), but - LISBETH. I just adore her.
Kris wrote: "Last summer, I read the entire reissued Martin Beck series by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö -- also Swedish, fascinating look into a whole series of social issues in Sweden in the 1960s-1970s. "Oh, I've been meaning to read those! Neat....
Moira wrote: "Oh, I've been meaning to read those! Neat.... "I can't wait to hear what you think of them. Martin Beck is a great character - he's clearly a formative influence on other Scandinavian detectives in more recent series.
Great review, Nataliya. I actually did enjoy the minutiae, but I can see how a lot of people would be turned off by this. The most awesome thing about these books really is Lisbeth Salander. She really kicks ass. And I really enjoyed Larsson's defense of the rights of women not to be abused.
Ab wrote: "Nice review, Nataliya.As for the prose, these books were written actually in Swedish. It could be that the original prose got lost in less-than-impressive translation."
Oh, I bet that's partially the case. But my main gripe is with the sheer amount of detail - oh my, do I really need to know everything about every minute detail of the characters' lives? Do I care whether Blomkvist's phone is a Motorola or a Samsung? Or what was the exact price of Lisbeth's apartment? Or what are the exact contents of her fridge?
And some of you will agree with me:
Brandon wrote: "Great review, Nataliya. I tried to keep track of how many sandwiches Bloomkvist ate and how much coffee he consumed in the series but quickly became disoriented and lost track."
... And many more of you will not:
Jason wrote: "Great review, Nataliya. I actually enjoyed the minute details of everyday life that were in the book. It is weird because I usually hate that sort of thing, but for some reason I enjoyed it."
Tracy wrote: "Great review, Nataliya. I actually did enjoy the minutiae, but I can see how a lot of people would be turned off by this. The most awesome thing about these books really is Lisbeth Salander. She re..."
... but in the end, it's the awesomeness of Lisbeth that makes this book worth reading!
Moira wrote: "The style is clunky, the translation is bad (and was reportedly butchered by the publishers), the plot is silly (and just gets worse), but - LISBETH. I just adore her."
Jason wrote: "Ha! Great montage."Thanks. ~Bows deeply~
Nataliya wrote: "Ab wrote: "Nice review, Nataliya.As for the prose, these books were written actually in Swedish. It could be that the original prose got lost in less-than-impressive translation."
Oh, I bet that's partially the case. But my main gripe is with the sheer amount of detail - oh my, do I really need to know everything about every minute detail of the characters' lives?"
I don't think that is the case, except I can't read Swedish, so I can't really say the translation is good, but I read a lot of mysteries/thrillers in translation (at least half a dozen Scandinavians, and two Italians), and this works as well as any. I think the verbosity is really about Lisbeth. She's a high-functioning autistic. She is very detail oriented. All that detail is intended to get you into her mindset.
As for the posthumous editing, it's my understanding that the books were actually edited before Larsson died, and only published afterwards (Wikipedia isn't much help, it only says he "had made no attempt to get them published until shortly before his death", which implies they'd been sent to publishers, but not necessarily that any publisher had done anything with them).
Silly plot? I've read far worse.
I actually thought that the attention to detail, including constant mentioning of brand names and such, stemmed from Larsson's journalistic background. At times, it read almost like a magazine piece. As for the story - I've read plenty of books with worse storylines, but regardless this book's plot is still weak. But having amazingly cool Lisbeth as a central character made up for much of that.
Nataliya wrote: "... regardless this book's plot is still weak"I can live with weak, I just wouldn't go as far as silly!
I agree that there are books with worse plot, but my word is SILLY and even this is rather mild expression.Nataliya wrote: "But my main gripe is with the sheer amount of detail - oh my, do I really need to know everything about every minute detail of the characters' lives? Do I care whether Blomkvist's phone is a Motorola or a Samsung? Or what was the exact price of Lisbeth's apartment?"
You know, for me the writing (not only style, but the text itself) is maybe the best aspect of this book. I do really want to know, whether character uses phone by Samsung or by Nokia, drives a Mercedes or Dodge, eats pasta or Chinese noodles and so on. Such details create the world. Thanks to such details, I feel that the book isn't just a plot surrounded by decorations, but that the story is developing in a world. Maybe Larsson a bit overused such details, but i liked it.
Nataliya wrote: "full marks for the awesome message of the story"
I agree that this topic should be brought to an attention, but it's better not to touch a topic at all than to do as Larsson did in this book. First book was really good and that is why the disappointment was even larger. I agree with Kris that there are better explorations of social problems.
Nataliya wrote: "but in the end, it's the awesomeness of Lisbeth that makes this book worth reading!"
And here i disagree completely. Lisbeth is what spoiled this book! In the second book Larsson became obsessed with Lisbeth and more than a half of the text consisted of reflections of almost every character, whether Lisbeth is guilty or not. Facts didn't matter, what mattered was a belief. Those who believed in Lisbeth's innocence were good characters, who in her guilt - were villains. And such void reflections are those things i don't want to read.
Besides, Lisbeth is just an unreal and cheating character - and this was growing exponentially to almost immortality and godlikeness. If i want to read about superheroes, i will take proper literature, but in a "social" literature i do want to see REAL humans. I do really like kick-ass heroines, but it's not the case with Lisbeth.
ATTENTION! SPOILER!
Nataliya, it's in your professional area: could Lisbeth survive in reality arter what had happened to her at the end of the book? I don't remember everything, but what i remember is more than enough. She was severely beaten, she was shot three times (one shot disabled her hand, another made a hole in her skull), she was buried (as a result, some soil should have entered her skull - to the brains). She was anorectic! And after all this she dug herself out? Impossible? Am i wrong?
Jurgen_i wrote: "ATTENTION! SPOILER!(view spoiler) Am i wrong? "
I think you're wrong only because (view spoiler)
Jurgen_i wrote: "I agree that there are books with worse plot, but my word is SILLY and even this is rather mild expression."I do wish someone would explain why it's silly. There's nothing in here that, individually, is not reported routinely in the media, and the way he brings the elements together is, at least, logical, and not overly dependent on outrageous coincidence (there is one truly annoying coincidence, which is the major reason why I consider this the poorest of the three books). I agree it's not nearly as believable as the first book, but I'm just not buying "silly".
Lisbeth is what spoiled this book!
Without Lisbeth, there is no book! Neither this book, nor either of the others in the series is about Mikael Blomkvist - they're about Lisbeth.
Again, it's not something that you can't find news reports of elsewhere. It's highly unlikely, but it's not impossible. And far more believable than your average Sylvester Stallone movie.
Jurgen_i wrote: "Nataliya, it's in your professional area: could Lisbeth survive in reality arter what had happened to her at the end of the book? I don't remember everything, but what i remember is more than enough. She was severely beaten, she was shot three times (one shot disabled her hand, another made a hole in her skull), she was buried (as a result, some soil should have entered her skull - to the brains). She was anorectic! And after all this she dug herself out? Impossible? Am i wrong? "Jurgen, what is in Lisbeth's favor here is that she is young and healthy. I've seen pretty miraculous recoveries of young and healthy people in the ICU before - and undoubtedly a little bit of luck was involved each time. So yes, it's possible for her to survive after all that.
I don't think I could get into a book with a character named Lisbeth Salamander.
Michael wrote: "I don't think I could get into a book with a character named Lisbeth Salamander."It would almost be like the War with the Newts! ;)
Kris wrote: "I can't wait to hear what you think of them. Martin Beck is a great character - he's clearly a formative influence on other Scandinavian detectives in more recent series. "Are they on the Kindle? Heh, heh.
- The other thing about the Kindle is, no anticipation of packages arriving in the mail. men this is great for my compulsive personality - NO MORE WAITING! IT'S THERE! de in an IJ-sense it's like I'm being Entertained. Not that good.
Michael wrote: "I don't think I could get into a book with a character named Lisbeth Salamander."...whereas SOME of us would be intrigued....
Doesn't Lisbeth rise from her grave after three days? Heh, heh.
Nataliya wrote: "Michael wrote: "I don't think I could get into a book with a character named Lisbeth Salamander."It would almost be like the War with the Newts! ;)"
Damn, girl, that was funny. Jeez I'm an old man so please don't misread the intention of this compliment but you are a very talented writer / reviewer, a resident physician, very cute, and hilarious to boot! Don't you have any chinks in your armor!? :)
Moira wrote: "Michael wrote: "I don't think I could get into a book with a character named Lisbeth Salamander."...whereas SOME of us would be intrigued....
Doesn't Lisbeth rise from her grave after three day..."
SHI+ - that was funny too somehow!
Thanks, Michael! I'm flattered.
:)
i also hated the enormous list of trademarks and the slow intro to the story. a little bit of action in the first chapters would have been nice.never the less a very good book
really liked your review -- i also prefer this book to the first one -- while the prose was a bit of a problem, the convoluted story line kept me hooked -- though i confess it was bizarre at times....so much weirdness --
I agree with your review wholeheartedly. For me, Lisbeth seemed to become almost a superhero in her mission to destroy the men who hate women. Wonder what's in store for the next book??
Hey, NataliyahI know it's been quite a while ago since you read this book, but nevertheless I just want to tell you that I have a similar feeling as you in your review, right now as I have just finished the book.
One question though: what's up with her half brother not reacting to 50.000 volts? It has nothing to pain, it's a matter of muscle spasms as the electricity "mimics" the brains signals to the muscles.
What do you thing about that?
I personally prefer Rooney Mara as Lisbeth and Daniel craig as Blomksvit. The american version is way better than the swedish one. It's closr to the book.
Totally agree with you! Great review!
Moira wrote: "The style is clunky, the translation is bad (and was reportedly butchered by the publishers), the plot is silly (and just gets worse), but - LISBETH. I just adore her."❤️❤️❤️
Your first paragraph says it all! I was like, “Get ‘em, Larsson.�
London wrote: "Your first paragraph says it all! I was like, “Get ‘em, Larsson.�"I’m glad you agree :)
He makes most of the guys you come across as straight douchebags and the women have exponentially more moral fabrics even Lisbeth with all her PTSD has more morals than most the guys in this book. It feels like he is a man pandering to feminism in this book in my humble opinion.
Evan wrote: "He makes most of the guys you come across as straight douchebags and the women have exponentially more moral fabrics even Lisbeth with all her PTSD has more morals than most the guys in this book. ..."Well, it’s the sequel to the book whose original Swedish title was “Men Who Hate Women�, so it seems thematically appropriate that he would feature men who are horrible to women. That’s the point. I’m fine with feminist views in any book.
As for the prose, these books were written actually in Swedish. It could be that the original prose got lost in less-than-impressive translation.