The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Dec 02, 2010 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: winter-2011-12, thriller-suspense, thriller-mystery, classics, permanent-library, good-fiction

I first read THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Christmas week of last year while in Illinois celebrating the holiday with my family. I wanted to see if Stieg Larsson’s novel withstood the test of time; and it most certainly does! I had originally thought that the novel began slowly, but it is necessary that we get to know the “ruined” finance journalist, Mikael Blomkvist. His loss of the libel suit against the ultra rich financier, Hans-Erik Wennerström is imperative to the main plot line to the b I first read THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Christmas week of last year while in Illinois celebrating the holiday with my family. I wanted to see if Stieg Larsson’s novel withstood the test of time; and it most certainly does! I had originally thought that the novel began slowly, but it is necessary that we get to know the “ruined” finance journalist, Mikael Blomkvist. His loss of the libel suit against the ultra rich financier, Hans-Erik Wennerström is imperative to the main plot line to the book. If he had won the suit, Herr Henrik Vanger couldn’t have gotten Blomkvist’s interest in the disappearance of his niece decades ago. Facing a hefty fine, a leave of absence at Millennium Magazine, and a 3 month prison sentence, Blomkvist needs money and a flexible schedule. Though intrigued by Herr Vanger’s story about his missing niece, Harriet, and the fact that the old man has been receiving a framed single dried flower on his birthday Vanger clinches Blomkvist’s services by promising the journalist ammunition to bring down Wennerström. Under the guise of writing the history of the once very prominent Swede family, Mikael begins the year long assignment.

Blomkvist realizes that he needs help with his investigation and needs an assistant. Enter the very young looking waif, Lisbeth Salander. The 24 year-old with numerous piercings and tattoos (that includes a tattoo of a large dragon) has done her own investigation of Mikael Blomkvist. She is an egimia to all who know her, especially to her older employer at the Security firm. Her deep investigating tools are a photographic memory and that she is one of the world‘s premier hackers. She has a story of her own that is revealed in the course of the novel and will dish out her own brand of justice to those she believes deserve it. This girl whom is a ward of the Swedish state abhors violence against women and more so against those individuals she allows herself to become close to her. And there are many in the dysfunctional Vanger family who richly deserve her kind of justice.

Larsson has created more than your typical crime novel; he has crafted a deliberate calibrated mystery with the suspense of a thriller with enough violence that a true thriller enthusiast enjoys. But the violence is not gratuitous. It has its place within the multilayered plotlines. Unfortunately, violence against women has been happening since the morning of time, but Larsson brings a modern cautionary tale to the subject. Many reviewers have said THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is a great character study of flawed individuals, and it is true. We readers become enamored with some, cringe at others while ultimately caring for almost all of them. I am saddened that we will not get more Millennium books since Stieg Larsson died in 2004.
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Dec 18, 2016 Sam rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebooks, books-of-2016

I've read a lot of complaints about this novel, both concerning the pace and the content. I think that's why it took me so long to finally decide to pick it up, and I have to say, I'm disappointed that it took me so long!

Many people seem to complain about the slow start and how it takes the first quarter of the book before they were really invested. That wasn't an issue for me at all; I started reading and didn't want to stop! There is a lot going on, which can be a little confusing at the begi ...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Linda C rated it liked it

OK, what can be said about a book that has received so much hype, except that... uh, it didn't live up to the hype... I must have picked this book up a dozen times BEFORE the hype, read the summary, thought "not my thing" and put it back. Finally, since one doesn't want to feel like everyone else knows something that you don't, I actually read it.

And it was... OK. I liked the two main characters well enough, Lisbeth is an intriguing character and I will probably read the rest of the series to fo OK, what can be said about a book that has received so much hype, except that... uh, it didn't live up to the hype... I must have picked this book up a dozen times BEFORE the hype, read the summary, thought "not my thing" and put it back. Finally, since one doesn't want to feel like everyone else knows something that you don't, I actually read it.

And it was... OK. I liked the two main characters well enough, Lisbeth is an intriguing character and I will probably read the rest of the series to follow up on her, but the writing honestly wasn't very good. Perhaps some of that is due to the translation, which, frankly, I thought was really bad.

I'm sure it's difficult to pick up the nuances of any language, but it seemed that the translator was a native swedish speaker, rather than a native english speaker. I have no idea if that is true or not, but some of the dialogue simply sounded wrong-- as an example, I don't think I ever used the phrase "a fat lip," as in (and I know I'm paraphrasing) "If someone did that to me, I would have given him a fat lip." We simply don't talk that way any more; maybe in the '40s, but not now.

Ergo, the writing and/or translation distracted from the story, leaving the question, was the writing better in swedish? However, since most of us can't read it in the original swedish, we are stuck with the boxy translation.

As for the story itself, I didn't think the murders were gruesome enough for a thriller; you see better murders weekly on "Criminal Minds." Using the Biblical verses was very clever, but it wasn't developed nearly enough.

At the end of the day, this was book that didn't know what it wanted to be-- was it a murder mystery, was it a business corruption thriller, or was it a character study? It tried to do all three, and didn't do any of them terribly well. This would have been a vastly better story if Larrson had focused on the two main characters and the murders, and left the business aspect to a few pages in th beginning to explain why Mikeal (sorry about the spelling, I know it's wrong) was able to leave his life to live on the tundra for a year. ...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Emily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction, ebook, 2011-reads

I know I'm way behind on reading these books, but I finally decided to pull them off the shelf and dust them off while on an extended vacation. Thanks to other reviews and feedback from a coworker, I knew going in that the beginning was going to be quite slow. The first time I picked up the book I actually set it aside when I just couldn't get into it. While on vacation I picked it up again and pushed through the beginning and finally was able to get into the story. The characters are quite intr ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Arow rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, fiction, mystery, 2011

I had no idea what to expect from ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ and I was more then pleasantly surprised. With each page I was drawn further into the web of information and detail that Stieg Larsson had put into his world. I was fascinated with the lives of each of his characters and the incredible depth that went into everyone’s background.

The life and voice that he was able to breathe into Lisbeth Salander was beyond what most male authors do for their female characters. I felt everything ...more

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Nov 07, 2010 Madge rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorites, thriller-mystery

I really enjoyed this book. I think that about 50-75 pages worth of unnecessary descriptions and the like could have been cut without effecting the story, but over all it was a great book. The first third, or half, was a little slow. Ok, it was painfully slow at first. But, once it begins to pick up speed, it doesn't stop until right at the end. It took me a week to read this book. The first five or six days were spent between the first page and roughly page 50, but once it finally gained moment ...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Roxann rated it really liked it

I wasn't certain what to expect from this book. I had read such good comments on it and had friends who read and liked it. It did take me by surprise. It took me a little while to get through the beginning to becomes familiar with all the names, etc., but once passed that it was a very good book. The writing style isn't the best, but the main characters were wonderful. Salander (lead female) is intense. I enjoyed all the little quirks with her character and Mikael Blomkvist.

I saw the movie afte ...more

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May 31, 2012 Samantha rated it did not like it

Shelves: adult, fiction

I found this book wayyyyyyy to disturbing for me.

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Jul 26, 2011 Norma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: summer-2011

When I started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. As it turned out, I could not put it down. I cannot wait to start reading the next book. ...more

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