false 2429135 0307269752 9780307269751 14315 4401 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255570700m/2429135.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2429135.The_Girl_with_the_Dragon_Tattoo 706255 Stieg Larsson 24649 7401 2 0 true Fri Nov 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Oct 31 16:52:20 -0700 2009 Sat Nov 14 10:14:02 -0800 2009
So I didn't read it until it was assigned by my book club to see what all the hype was about. And sure enough - I hated it. And it wasn't just the over-the-top sexual torture scenes, but I found the pacing ridiculously slow - around page 170 I started freaking out about there being even more backstory/exposition (oh joy - a chart of all of the suspects in the family!). There weren't enough scenes with the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I enjoyed her bits, but as one friend remarked, "Can we get some female characters in this book?" I wasn't really drawn in until I was about half-way through (around p. 300 - this book is way too long).

I applaud Larsson's attempt to draw attention to violence against women in Sweden, but this book was devoid of any underlying heart, and the ending was a letdown - really, Lisbeth starts to feel a trace of trust, only to be let down once again/withdraw into her scary protective shell? Boo! And there are no beautiful turns of phrase; the style is almost stilted in places - the writing quality may have suffered in translation. The only reason I can think this was such a mega-hit is that the mystery/thriller genre doesn't have a lot of quality books, so this book seemed special.
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