Robinson
took the never-ending book quiz.
| questions answered: | 778 |
| correct: | 459 (59.0%) |
| skipped: | 0 |
| best streak: | 30 |
| questions added: | 0 |
I enjoyed this book, but not as much as some. Others have provided plot synopsis so I'll stick to my thoughts. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is an unconventional mystery that deals with a number of sub-genres. Part-financial, part-historical, part-cyber, etc. The author does manage to integrate all these elements into a complex tale that is unquestionably authentic and realistic. But for my money, I thought the book lacked passion. Yes, the characters were flawed, but outside of Lisbeth, who is a wonderful character, I didn't really care about anyone. Even Bloomkist, the main protagonist, was rather droll in my humble opinion.
The book spends its entire first half doing setup work. We spend three hundred pages getting to know a singular family history, complete with a substantial genealogy, but there's little outside of supplying information going on. Most modern readers have begun crossing genres, wanting more thriller in their mysteries, and I suspect I'm one of them. While I wouldn't say the first half of the book is boring, I did expect a little more danger and mystery and felt myself hoping things would quickly pick up.
The second half of the book does take off and provide more of the conventional mystery aspects, replete with clever clues and complex plot twists. The author wraps up the main mystery a little too quickly for my tastes and then adds an unconventional ending that relates to the protagonist's backstory, not the main mystery itself. The result is satisfying, however, because it's clever and well constructed.
Overall, I don't regret reading THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, but I'm not rushing out to buy the follow-up. I can see why people like it. The writing is very solid and though-out and much better written that the average mystery tripe most bestselling authors put out to meet their quota. That being said, it's a little un-provocative for my tastes and a tad too slow. Probably why I read more thrillers than mysteries these days. ]]>
bookshelves: currently-reading, science-fiction
]]>
bookshelves: to-read
]]>
bookshelves: to-read
]]>
bookshelves: literature-fiction
]]>
I would love to see Patrick McGoohan as Tywin, although he might be too old now. He was the bomb playing the King in Braveheart. Nasty. ]]>
Excellent show. Very well written. I fought like hell not to watch it, but a buddy gave me the first season DVD and told me to watch two episodes and he'd quit B!tching if I did. Mistake. I had to order the rest from Blockbuster and ended up watching them all in a couple weeks. Ironically, Starbuck works out at my gym and I never knew who she was. :) ]]>