Second in the Millennium Trilogy, the astonishing set of works from Stieg Larsson. Like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, this fully justifies the hype as it continues the adventures of crusading journalist Blomqvist and the anti-heroine Lisbeth Salander. Blomqvist is working on an exposé of the sex trafficking industry in Sweden, dragged deeper in after the murder of the journalists who began the investigation. Salander is implicated in those murders and goes on the run.
Larsson again weaves the pain of Lisbeth Salander around the slightly calmer journalistic happenings and we learn more about the horrendous mistreatment of Salander through the years. Abused as a child at home, abused in institutions, she has developed coping mechanisms and skills that confuse the authorities but serve to shield her and save her life. Now she cares little for society and less for the fate of those who are directly trying to harm her. The police hunt for her, initially mistaken and ultimately corrupt, is almost another plotline as she continues on her way, deciding her own directions whenever able.
The writing is gripping, the pace is relentless, the characters are finely limned. There's a thriller here, a detective novel, a walk through the Swedish justice system and a morality tale. Though very much a Swedish novel this will appeal to anyone who likes their books intelligent and demanding. One caveat: you are much better reading this after The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
See The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -- The Book and The Movies for a discussion of books and both Swedish and US movies.
Showing posts with label played with fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label played with fire. Show all posts
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Monday, 29 November 2010
Stieg Larsson: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
First volume in the world-wide success that is Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. This combines a whodunit for a decades-old murder, a journalistic exposition of financial shenanigans, an array of personal relationships, a social commentary and more. Most importantly, it introduces the two main characters: financial journalist Carl Mikael Blomqvist and one of the most unusual (and unwanting) heroines of crime fiction for decades: Lisbeth Salander.
Salander is the girl with the dragon tattoo: she is the girl mistreated for years by the asylums and social services of Sweden, she is the hacker and fighter who goes unnoticed by all bar a few. Dismissed as stupid, near-autistic, a nonentity by those in authority, abused by professionals, her gifts and her courage drag her up to a crucial role in this book.
Okay then, I'm not sure if those two paragraphs will have scared you off or left you curious. Hopefully the latter and you're reading this third paragraph! Larsson's novel is a triumph of a debut: gripping, dark, incident-packed and written in a style all of his own. Slow in starting however, read only the first few pages and you will misjudge the book. Read a few chapters and you'll be hooked. You'll probably also be shocked and outraged at some of the content but that shouldn't put you off -- this is a book that plays you like a fish on a line. Order the next one in the trilogy before you finish this one -- you'll be angry with yourself if you have to wait for more.
Daftest comment from a reviewer (though overall he gave a favourable review): "It's hard to find fault with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. One must struggle with bewildering Swedish names" Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post.
Well yes, one might expect a few of those in a book set in Sweden, written by a Swede!
See The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -- The Book and The Movies for a discussion of books and both Swedish and US movies.
Salander is the girl with the dragon tattoo: she is the girl mistreated for years by the asylums and social services of Sweden, she is the hacker and fighter who goes unnoticed by all bar a few. Dismissed as stupid, near-autistic, a nonentity by those in authority, abused by professionals, her gifts and her courage drag her up to a crucial role in this book.
Okay then, I'm not sure if those two paragraphs will have scared you off or left you curious. Hopefully the latter and you're reading this third paragraph! Larsson's novel is a triumph of a debut: gripping, dark, incident-packed and written in a style all of his own. Slow in starting however, read only the first few pages and you will misjudge the book. Read a few chapters and you'll be hooked. You'll probably also be shocked and outraged at some of the content but that shouldn't put you off -- this is a book that plays you like a fish on a line. Order the next one in the trilogy before you finish this one -- you'll be angry with yourself if you have to wait for more.
Daftest comment from a reviewer (though overall he gave a favourable review): "It's hard to find fault with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. One must struggle with bewildering Swedish names" Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post.
Well yes, one might expect a few of those in a book set in Sweden, written by a Swede!
See The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -- The Book and The Movies for a discussion of books and both Swedish and US movies.
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