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Tatiana's Reviews > The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)
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The original Swedish title of this book is "Men Who Hate Women." If you ask me, it suits this story much better than catchier but less relevant "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," because it is in fact about men doing all kinds of horrid things to women. So here is the first warning to you, if you don't handle violence against women and children well, skip this novel.
It's hard to give a short synopsis of the book. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" starts off as an investigation of a 40-year old disappearance of a teenage heiress, but gradually morphs into a tale of serial murder and corporate trickery spanning several continents and later takes in complicated international financial fraud and the buried evil past of a wealthy Swedish industrial family.
I found this book extremely engaging and full of action and came to regret many times that I had an audio version instead of a regular paper book. I also enjoyed immensely the amount details about everything - the publishing business, twisted Swedish family, corporate crime, history and political order of Sweden, etc. I am guessing if you don't care to read about any of this subjects, this book is not for you, because it is packed with this information.
My only qualm about this book, a small one, was the characterization. The character of Mikael Blomkvist smelled of a male wish fulfillment fantasy, the one where a man is adored by all women, gets laid all the time and always gets lauded for his stellar bedroom skills. Lisbeth Salander also felt a little shaky and I thought Asberger's decease didn't quite account for her strange personality. I thought her antisocial behavior was inconsistent.
This however didn't spoil my reading experience. I am eager to move on to "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and see what Mikael and Lisbeth are up to next.
It's hard to give a short synopsis of the book. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" starts off as an investigation of a 40-year old disappearance of a teenage heiress, but gradually morphs into a tale of serial murder and corporate trickery spanning several continents and later takes in complicated international financial fraud and the buried evil past of a wealthy Swedish industrial family.
I found this book extremely engaging and full of action and came to regret many times that I had an audio version instead of a regular paper book. I also enjoyed immensely the amount details about everything - the publishing business, twisted Swedish family, corporate crime, history and political order of Sweden, etc. I am guessing if you don't care to read about any of this subjects, this book is not for you, because it is packed with this information.
My only qualm about this book, a small one, was the characterization. The character of Mikael Blomkvist smelled of a male wish fulfillment fantasy, the one where a man is adored by all women, gets laid all the time and always gets lauded for his stellar bedroom skills. Lisbeth Salander also felt a little shaky and I thought Asberger's decease didn't quite account for her strange personality. I thought her antisocial behavior was inconsistent.
This however didn't spoil my reading experience. I am eager to move on to "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and see what Mikael and Lisbeth are up to next.
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
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Reading Progress
April 30, 2009
– Shelved
February 23, 2010
–
Started Reading
February 25, 2010
–
0%
"Just getting more and more interesting. Wish I had a paper book instead of audio..."
page
4
March 2, 2010
– Shelved as:
2010
March 2, 2010
– Shelved as:
mysteries-thrillers-horror
March 2, 2010
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 52 (52 new)
message 1:
by
Heather
(new)
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rated it 3 stars
Feb 26, 2010 07:22AM
I've heard so many mixed reviews on this one. I'm glad that you are liking it.
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With the bestsellers you never know if you'll like it or not. Luckily, I am really into it.
I keep seeing this one. I will be waiting for your review to see if it is a worthwhile read =)
Wow, you really are enjoying this. I just love it when you love a book so much that the ending is bittersweet.
Hopefully, you'll like it as much I did
Love the review, I'll pick it up as soon as #4 in line returns it to the library :)
Thanks.Didn't know you were up for it
Well done for the review! I read it in French where the title is the exact translation from the swedish "The men who hate women" (Les hommes qui detestent les femmes). I liked also the next installement but couldn't finish the 3rd one until now: the too many details about the SÄpo got boring.
Thanks.Was the 3rd book really that bad? :(
Great review =) I think I will add it to my tbr.
Tatiana wrote: "Thanks.Was the 3rd book really that bad? :("
No it's not bad it's just a bit "heavy". Larsson got into too much details for the period when the Sapo hosted Lisbeth's father and I just wasn't in the mood for that type of stories to finish it.
Wish I had read this before I started. I don't handle the violence well and I wish I could undo what I started.
thanks for the head's-up about this one. almost got if for my wife, but she wouldn't enjoy it - knowing what you explained here. thanks.
i agree that the original title is much more suitable. I dont think i can stomach the other books in the series.
Okay, you're the only person that I'm following or that I'm friends with that has read this book. I tried a couple of times to read it, but just couldn't get throught the economic/financial situation at the start. I really, truly tried to muddle through it, and I really want to read these, the hype is outrageous. In your opinion, would it work if I just skipped ahead a bit?
If you didn't like this first book I don't see a reason for you to continue. The 2nd book is weaker than the 1st.
I would have said five stars if not for the same qualm you had. Exactly: male fantasy with the main character. Do the follow on books have the same thing going on? Cuz I may not read em if so. It really got in the way of the story at times.
Blomkvist has pretty much the same sex god thing going on in each book.
thanks for the info. glad i read your review before buying it.
Thanks for the heads up on the content!!
Glad I could help you.
I'm glad to see you liked this book. I haven't read it yet but it's on my short list of books to read. I'm definitely going to check it out.
Thanks for sharing the info about the original Swedish title - greatly adds fuel to my ongoing meditations about the book.
I completely agree with your observations on the Mikael character; I found it a little ridiculous myself...
He remains a stud throughout the trilogy. There is no woman in the world who can say "no" to Mikael:)
Besides the whole Mikael issue, which I also thought was ridiculous and totally wish fulfillment, I really like this series. The movies are also good, very faithful to the books.
I loved the series and I thought the charaters were famoninal.
Trust me there are far worse books with crime against women. This is acceptable in crime fiction these days.
Thanks for the heads up about the child violence. I have a weak stomach for that these days.
Wish I had read your review before I read it but I did manage it and liked Lisbeth.
I'm currently reading the book right now--about 25 % through it, and I noticed at the beginning of some chapters, there's a statistic about crime against women. Reading the first part of your review makes a lot more sense now, but I haven't gotten to any of the violence yet.
You'll get to it soon enough. The first part is mostly about some company business, if I remember it right.
thank you for the warning about the violence.
Lisbeth is an outstanding character - hence the new title
"The character of Mikael Blomkvist smelled of a male wish fulfillment fantasy"I thot so too- Male Mary Sue all the way! Still- I love this series.
RE the movie- he's a different character on film, my friend who hadnt read the book before we saw the movie said she totally didnt get that about Blomkvist when we who had read the book discussed that aspect of him. (For the record she and I both loved Craig's portrayal of him non the less.)
Yes, Craig's portrayal is a lot more sympathetic, because so much of his "adventures" were omitted. Plus, Craig is hot:)
wordI hadnt read the other two when i saw the movie- isnt a hardship having Craig running around my head as Blomkvist as I read them now! :P
I tried to read this book but I didn't get very far until it bored me BUT I did watch the movie tonight and thought it was fantastic so will try and read the book again now are they pretty close story wise?
Well, the story in the book is much more detailed and much longer, and there were some changes made to the plot, not huge changes, but still.
I'm on the last book - taking me longer to finshing as much focus is paid to the villians - book 1 and 2 were great - I look forward to seeing the movie.
Marisa wrote: "Okay, you're the only person that I'm following or that I'm friends with that has read this book. I tried a couple of times to read it, but just couldn't get throught the economic/financial situat..."heres what i have to say. watch the american version of the movie. then read the book and you can skip all that investigation/history stuff bc its covered in the movie and isnt important to the main storylines other than as fodder to the investigative yearnings. feel free to skip all you want in that arena. the second book is much more interesting and focuses on the characters and lisbeth much more and is much more satisfying in that area. im on the third book now and im finding myself skipping again. not as much as the first book but some. :D enjoy....
having studied and worked with people on the aspergers/autism spectrum i think that its a very possible diagnosis that she is on the high functioning, aspergers end of the spectrum. the anti social behavior is due to a all the evil she endured when growing up, things that would turn just about anyone anti-social in one way or the other. the autism spectrum is a very complicated and diverse population, very hard to pigeon hole. but her lack of interest/success in close relationships and distaste for making eye contact and small talk, coupled with her extremely high intelligence and aptitude for a variety of things are strong indicators for being on the spectrum.
Hello! I have this book sitting in my shelf, and I've been wanting to read it for a while, but I've recently learned that the author passed away before concluding the series? Is this true? And if so, is it worth it to read anyways with an unfinished ending???
He did wrap up lisabeth's character arch by the third book. Altho there was definitely roomfor continuing in. But you wont be left hanging.
The first book: the first quarter of the book is mind numbingly dull. But then about 25% in, it takes off at a break neck speed. Shocked even me. I literally sat up straight in bed about that point and fell so hard into the story i didnt look up till the last quarter if the book. If you find yourself ready to set it down and give up before the 25% mark, dont. You'll be glad you didnt!
Lisabeth Salander is one of my all time fave female characters.
Thanks for the heads up.
I had similar thoughts about wish-fulfillment Mickael, but I thought maybe that's the point. The ending throws into relief that, despite his good qualities (protagonist), perhaps he is also a man who hates women (albeit in a different way).
Brian wrote: "I had similar thoughts about wish-fulfillment Mickael, but I thought maybe that's the point. The ending throws into relief that, despite his good qualities (protagonist), perhaps he is also a man w..."Great point!
I wish I have read that first paragraph of yours before taking the book... But at least the detective side of it all was indeed engaging for me too.
Ohh...thank you very much for the warning! I truly appreciate it. Hmm...I'm going to search about how brutal it is then decide if I should still read it. Thanks again!
