The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) in Queereaders

Nov 08, 2011 okyrhoe rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, sweden

I had no interest in reading the Millenium trilogy until commentators started making reference to Stieg Larsson and his political activism while discussing the murderous rampage of Anders Breivik (here and here).

It's obvious that Mikael Blomkvist, the protagonist of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the author's alter ego - both worked relentlessly as investigative journalists and share the same political views. My expectation was that there would be some political or social depth to the novel I had no interest in reading the Millenium trilogy until commentators started making reference to Stieg Larsson and his political activism while discussing the murderous rampage of Anders Breivik (here and here).

It's obvious that Mikael Blomkvist, the protagonist of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the author's alter ego - both worked relentlessly as investigative journalists and share the same political views. My expectation was that there would be some political or social depth to the novel, based on descriptions of the author's achievements as a journalist and activist. However, despite the subplot of crooked dealings in the sphere of finance and industry, the novel comes short of providing any meaningful commentary on social or political matters (eg. in the manner of George Pelecanos, or of Petros Markaris), besides the obvious message that even in the progressive egalitarian society of Scandinavia women are still prey to sexually-motivated violence. In the end, the novel is just another escapist thriller, where the greatest danger to humanity is nothing more than a sexual sadist who abuses women (as the Swedish version of the novel's title, "Men Who Hate Women," testifies).
The story begins with the case of a shady financier, Wennerstrom, who manages to disgrace Blomkvist, the journalist who dares to expose his dealings. But then this thread is pushed aside as another case takes center stage - a missing girl, who may or may not have identified a serial killer on the loose. Instead of delving into the privileged world of financiers and capitalists (the missing girl belongs to a long-established Swedish industrialist family), the mainstay of the magazine Millenium that Blomkvist writes for, the investigative journalist is happy to take on an "extracurricular" assignment- to solve a locked-room type mystery of a murder/disappearance.
Despite the contemporary flourishes - frequent casual sex scenes, the fashionably geek-goth character of Lisbeth Salander (whose presence in the novel and on the book's cover will surely hook fans of Tank Girl comics, or of Luc Besson's cult film La Femme Nikita), and other references to comics, children's books, music, technology and popular culture - the storyline is at its core more conventional than innovative.
The ending particularly devolves into stereotypical exaggerations of comic book or Hollywood thrillerese - cloak-and-dagger theatrics ( Lisbeth's multiple disguises in the Swiss hotels and banks scenes), Blomkvist frantically dodging bullets, then trapped in the killer's lair and literally hanging on for dear life, and the blood-rush-to-the-head of a speed chase along the highway.
Although Blomkvist isolates himself in his remote cabin to write a book exposing Wennerstrom's misdeeds, we as readers of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are not privy to the specifics of the criminal activity this shadow character is guilty of, besides the stashing of his ill-gotten gains in exotic tax havens, and the alleged manipulation of the Swedish media. One can't help but wonder what Blomkvist's bestseller exposé, albeit a fictional one, could be, compared to this real-life novel.
At some point Blomkvist decides to take a break from his investigations of the murder/disappearance. To pass the time, he randomly chooses a crime fiction novel, one by Val MacDiarmid, if I'm not mistaken. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is just that - good enough for escapist reading, without the expectation of anything more substantial. ...more

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Nov 30, 2010 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it really liked it

Shelves: what-mystery, what-not-u-s

Excellent story, a little slow to start but sucked me in and kept me going until the end. I had avoided it believing it was another mainstream Oprah-inspired touching story about nothing. (I love Oprah and think her having a book club is fabulous, but most of the books sound boring.) I'm so glad I was wrong! I learned a lot, too, like the horrible sounding things Swedes apparently eat and that in Sweden, you can schedule jail time and take holidays from it. I did figure out the larger mystery by ...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Jamie rated it really liked it

Wow! It took me awhile to get into it, but after 100 pages it had me on the edge of my seat. A satisfying read until the very last page. I can barely wait to read Part 2!

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