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

Stieg Larsson,

Reg Keeland (Translator)

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Sep 07, 2010 C. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, first-novel, made-in-film

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson

Original Swedish titled "Men Who Hate Women" is part of the Millennium Trilogy, written by Stieg Larsson and posthumously published. The author, who died of a heart attack in 2004, had an impoverished life and fought against the extreme right wing and racism in his country. Both, him and his partner Eva Gabrielsson, were under the idea that their lives were under constant threat. Larsson's death came too soon, as he had planned a series of ten books The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson

Original Swedish titled "Men Who Hate Women" is part of the Millennium Trilogy, written by Stieg Larsson and posthumously published. The author, who died of a heart attack in 2004, had an impoverished life and fought against the extreme right wing and racism in his country. Both, him and his partner Eva Gabrielsson, were under the idea that their lives were under constant threat. Larsson's death came too soon, as he had planned a series of ten books, leaving the fourth one half way finished. His three books, including The Girl that Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornest Nest, became internationally popular, have been translated into many languages and are now in film.
The innocent looking Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the tattoo) joins Mikael Blomkvist ( a financial journalist on his way to jail, sentenced of libelling a corrupt industrialist) in the search of Harriet Vanger. Harriet is a teenager and part of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, who went missing four decades ago and her great-uncle Henrik Vanger presumed her murdered. Henrik hires Mikael to write his family memoirs, and unravel once and for all the mystery that had kept him obsessed for most of his life, Harriet's disappearance.

Lisbeth Salander is the most developed, intriguing and believable character… Emotionally disturbed, troubled, rebellious, with an anti-social personality and deemed legally incompetent to handle her own money. She had refused to talk and get treatment. She had concealed behind a brilliant mind. She was a computer wizard that led her into hacking her client's computers to get into the detailed research she did on her subjects.
Mikael Blomkvist appears more passive and opaque, although likeable enough. The Vanger's dysfunctional family with its tragedies and hidden horrors gives the plot substantial ammunition to hold the interest of the reader; although at times the reading is quite dense, especially during the first hundred pages. The story gets momentum and it is worth reading.

The novelty of the Swedish obscure culture exposed in this book, as opposed to that pristine image that Sweden has worldwide, may be an important element for its success. The dark side of society, sexual abuse, sadist rape, greed, women's hatred, convoluted white collar crime and more are the ingredients that the author manages sufficiently well. ...more

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Jun 21, 2010 jennifer rated it really liked it

What can I say about this book that hasn't been said by thousands of other readers already? It's two mysteries in one: Mikael Blomkvist is a discredited financial journalist who takes on a pointless murder investigation only because his new employer promises information about Blomkvist' enemy that will vindicate the journalist. For nearly a year Blomkvist, with the help of unethical computer genius Lisbeth Salander, pieces together the day 16 year-old Harriet was murdered.
Though it took me quite ...more

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May 04, 2010 Pam rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery, 2010

To be sure, this book is full of detail and the mystery is quite tightly woven. But I still fail to see what all of the fuss is about. This book nowhere near reaches the amazing pedastals so many readers have placed it upon. And I hated the ending, too.

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Aug 01, 2011 Melanie Knight rated it liked it · review of another edition

It took me a while to get into, but by about quarter of the way through I was intrigued and finished the rest of the book in a few days. I did skim over some of the longer business/financial parts and focused on the stories about Harriet and Salander, which I found much more interesting.

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