The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
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Did Anyone Else Hate This Book?
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Jeff
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rated it 3 stars
Mar 29, 2013 11:56AM
This first book passed muster, but it was a plummet from there. The second book was bad. The third, worse.
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Emma wrote: "I have to be honest; I hated this book.I found the first third of the book clunky, slow and bogged down with jargon and pointless detail.
I found it disturbing and hard to read (which is not nec..."
yes, I hated this book and agree with all your comments. Could not understand why people liked it so much.
Barbara wrote: "Could not understand why people liked it so much." There heroine was a good character. It's a shame Larson couldn't keep it up. He went over the top with her father. Setting him on fire and not getting burned in the process? No way. And then the guy survives? Far fetched.
Loved it! Sometimes I need to escape in a wonderful world of fiction ... I loved Lisbeth! Unique characters and twisting plots make it a great book for me.
Dawn wrote: "Loved it! Sometimes I need to escape in a wonderful world of fiction ... I loved Lisbeth! Unique characters and twisting plots make it a great book for me."Have to agree 100% with you on that. IMO the Lisbeth character is the iconic heroine for the new millennium.
I thought it was pretty good. I mainly read it for the exciting mystery parts... not the other stuff.
i didnt hate the book... but i didnt like it either
I love the Salander character, but the last book is getting a tad tedious.
I read the three but I totally agree the first one was really tough to get through. I think I started it 4 or 5 times before I got into it.
I found the begining so slow, I almost gave up, but the trilogy was given to me, and I persisted and wasn't disappointed that I did with the first book.That said, I agree there isn't anything sensational or fantastic about it, but it captured those in Sweeden who sent it to number 1 there, and from that we come to a world wide best seller.
It's a book that like many others that take us by suprise and goes on to dominate book sales, it proves that readers at the end of the chose those that fly highest and I can't help wanting to congratulate the author for achieving that.
After all the fuss about this book I was astonished at how boring it was. i had to force myself to finish and I won't be reading another one by this author.
I read the first book (Girl with a Dragon tattoo) and found it to be an entertaining, escape-type, best-seller read. I tried twice to read the second novel in the series because everyone was going on about how great the series was but twice I found it to be stupid, over-the-top and I got really sick of reading about perverts -plus the I found myself really disliking the main character...want to read a great Scandinavian mystery author? try Arnaldur Indridason....
Lisa wrote: "After all the fuss about this book I was astonished at how boring it was. i had to force myself to finish and I won't be reading another one by this author."I agree w you
I found Lisbeth Salander to be the most interesting character ever created. It really doesn't matter if you loved her or hated her; she is fascinating. I was drawn into the books because of her. The books were all well-written, with interesting plot twists, and intrigues, and yes, tension. These were real page-turners, and I sped through each one as if the pages weren't there. That's the kind of fiction I love best, although it was way out my typical pick of genre.
The book's plot was hackneyed-- there are people living on an isolated island, attempting to discover the murderer of a missing girl. And as the tale of the characters of the island unfolds, lo and behold-- the girl is alive! I'm shocked! But not really. Because this has happened a million times in the crime genre. No one cares about the journalism subplot. It's only popular because it involves loads of sadistic sex.
Gina wrote: "The book's plot was hackneyed-- there are people living on an isolated island, attempting to discover the murderer of a missing girl. And as the tale of the characters of the island unfolds, lo and..."Well, I rarely read crime fiction, but Hollywood does the missing/murdered-person-reappears thing all the time. I didn't care about that, or the journalism, which added an element of reality, I thought. However, it was really the character of Lisbeth Salander that drew me in. As to "loads of sadistic sex," I did not see that. The sadistic sex happens to Lisbeth early on, and it is the basis of the story, which everything revolves around, including the guilt or innocence of Lisbeth and many others. It was not an ongoing occurrence, so "loads" seems like a huge exaggeration.
Terry wrote: "Gina wrote: "The book's plot was hackneyed-- there are people living on an isolated island, attempting to discover the murderer of a missing girl. And as the tale of the characters of the island un..."What about all the stuff that they found in that lad's basement? That was pretty sadistic... But, if you insist, I'll remedy my adjective to "ample".
Yes, I hated it. For one, it wasn't all that well written.I thought it was sexist and the original title was a much better fit.
And no, having Lisbeth kickass and revenge rape her evil case worker doesn't make up for the dismal portrayal of women in the rest of the book.
Blomkvist was so clearly a self-insert by the author who was Blandy McBland but yet had all these women throwing themselves at him. (Even Erika Berger's husband has to allow his wife to sleep with Blomkvist because he's just that awesome).
Blomkvist knows Lisbeth has mental and emotional issues, never mind the fact that she's young enough to be his daughter, yet he still sleeps with her.
The two parts – the Wennerström case and the murder mystery – didn't gel at all.
The whodunnit wasn't really hard to figure out since the murderer was the only viable suspect anyway (all other characters were just sketches really).
I guess the only surprise was that Harriet was still alive. But it was the height of stupidity that she thought sending mysterious flowers would make it clear to her uncle that she was still alive.
Emma wrote: "I have to be honest; I hated this book.I found the first third of the book clunky, slow and bogged down with jargon and pointless detail.
I found it disturbing and hard to read (which is not nec..."
Weird. Most of my friends who read the book had problems with this book, especially the slow start. I listened to the audiobook and really liked the book. I did not find it slow or annoying at all. I found the background info interesting to the story. I can only assume it's one of those books that is better in audio format. I've run into this with a few books now.
Gina wrote: "Terry wrote: "Gina wrote: "The book's plot was hackneyed-- there are people living on an isolated island, attempting to discover the murderer of a missing girl. And as the tale of the characters of..."Nice!
But to support your point. There was reference to her previous life. The guardian forced her to have sex with him twice and it was going to get sadistic. Then she got back at him in a sadistic and sexual way, then there was the main criminal and his long history with the basement. I'd say ample may be a bit conservative. Got another adjective?
Haley wrote: "I read through the entire series, quickly and found it to be an excellent depiction of the Russian Mafia and the secret police hijinks that are prevalent in any country, although more so, the nearer to the Russian border, of course."This part of the book (or movies actually, I didn't bother with the books) was so unbelievable that I lost interest altogether. Russian "mafia" in Sweden having that much power... It must have skipped Finland then.
Also unless the English translator was really bad, the translation or the cultural differencies won't make that big a difference. Sure some things are done differently but Swedish and English are quite close as languages and both are Western countries, although Sweden is more liberal and more "equal", too, I think...
I hated it too. I struggled to find the 'fabulous' that everyone was talking about. It took me about three months to get through the whole thing because I read quite a few books in between picking it up and putting it back down. I saw the movie because I thought maybe it would grab my attention there - nope. Just as bad.
I read it all the way through, but it never really hooked me. The writing is awful in places and distracted me. But, I will say that I like the character of Lisbeth. She's the only thing with any heat in the entire book.
Not exactly hate, but it leaves a bad taste. It didn't leave me ever wanting to read a sequel. The torture and cruelty are the result of a twisted and sick mind. It is very negative and does not promote any positive feelings.
Ali wrote: "Sorry! Not offended by your comments! I loved all three books, even though they are not within the genres I normally go for. I would agree that the first half of the first book is very slow to get ..."Agree. Was just the kind of book I like. But then I am a bit of a cold fish sometimes. I enjoy dysfunctional characters and extreme storylines. I love a book in which a trail is laid for the reader to follow. It's what I try to do in my own writing. Great to try to second guess what might happen next. Must get the second book in the trilogy. Hope I won't be disappointed. The Swedish version of the film knocked the spots off the later version.
What is it with these people and coffee?
MUNDANE!60 pages in was more than enough for me. I gave it away, which i never do
Emma wrote: "I have to be honest; I hated this book.I found the first third of the book clunky, slow and bogged down with jargon and pointless detail.
I found it disturbing and hard to read (which is not nec..."
I think the pointless jargon was kind of the whole point, in getting across to the reader how complex lisbeth thinks...i think it was an insight into her mind. although i do get where you are coming from.
I only made it halfway through The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I really wasn't interested in the story when I read the description on the back, but so many people I know have read it and loved it. I enjoyed parts of it, but I found it very difficult to get into. I will say that at the time, I was bogged down with other reading assignments for school (I majored in English in college, so I had several other books to read at the same time). I am willing to give the book a second shot in the future. Maybe a second read will do me some good!
Ali wrote: "Sorry! Not offended by your comments! I loved all three books, even though they are not within the genres I normally go for. I would agree that the first half of the first book is very slow to get ..."i agree 200%. i only wish i could find other authors/books as good. steig went tooo soon :(
Marius wrote: "Personally I think that anyone who can not stand reading 50 pages of background story should stick to childrens books or books for "young adults"."I found the book complex. Yes there was a lot of detail, but Steig came from that background.. and as a writer you write what you know. So I agree here Marius, if you aren't committed to the writers vision, stick to less complex and easy reading.
I actually loved Salander. I agree the movie depicted Blomqvist rather older than the character was written. I didn't see the appeal for the ladies, and for Berger, well I kinda envisioned her a little younger looking as well (In the Swedish movies at least).
But Larsson's writing and the English translations are great. I think the person who did the translations does so for many Nordic writers and I enjoy the word choices and phrases a lot.
I tried so hard, but I couldn't make it after page 30.
I read somewhere the Swedish to English translation was not very accurate, it gave examples of sentences that had been translated and they were not the same AT ALL. I don't think you get the full effect of the beautiful writing if you read a translation from another language.That said, I enjoyed TGWTDT quite a lot, TGWPWF I enjoyed, but TGWKTHN I did not like much and gave up on. Part of it was the extra time and trouble it book to make connections and remember the Swedish names and places, there seemed to be a lot more to remember in the 3rd book and not as much action.
I loved the entire series. Wish there were more
yepEmma wrote: "I have to be honest; I hated this book.
I found the first third of the book clunky, slow and bogged down with jargon and pointless detail.
I found it disturbing and hard to read (which is not nec..."
It had a good plot but the story was like baking a soufle you feel like your dedicating hours to this book thats filled with fluff (jargon, weird sexual obsessions, and too much description of the surroundings). A soufle is easily collapsable which I felt like this was. It didn't have enough 'flour' to mull the plot together. There definitely was some exciting parts but it was overall too disturbing and I wish that I didn't have the gift of detailed recollection of the stories I read. (Thats how I pass my english classes woohoo!) Overall it was a bitter deflated soufle.
Melissa wrote: "I read somewhere the Swedish to English translation was not very accurate, it gave examples of sentences that had been translated and they were not the same AT ALL. I don't think you get the full e..."that was my understanding - that there was such a rush to get it to the English market that the translation was hurried and not all that accurate. I heard that the translator opted to use another name because he didn't want his professional name associated with it
A rather dull, predictable book. I read it (though I had to make myself finish) and only got about 20% through the second book when I had to quit. What IS the big deal about these books?
It took me 4 tries to get through the 1st ridiculously slow and wordy third of the book. But once it finally clicked in, I found it mysoginistic and compelling all at the same time. I started book 2 but the violence against women was so horrific and immediate that I was done and never read the others. I do think that the discussion of whether her treatment of her overseer was empowering or a a continuation of her abuse is interesting and worthy of reading if only for the discussion.
one of the worst books I've read in a long time... felt very sophomoric. I didn't understand what all the hype was about.
Terry wrote: "I've only read the first one in the series. I disliked it as well. It is slow and over-written, in spite of some posters' opinions in this thread. Yes, there are cultural differences but storytelli..."I agree that the argument that it loses something in the translation is hard to buy. It's not like we can decide that the English version sucks and we want to read the Swedish version, right? Unless of course, you can read Swedish, which begs the question, why read it in English the first place?
I like The Lead Character in the books. Not so much the books themselves
Angela wrote: "I like The Lead Character in the books. Not so much the books themselves"That was what I found fascinating too, if you mean Lizbeth. She was the most astonishing, new character I'd ever run across. It was following her that got me to read all the books. Perhaps these are not the best crime/thriller books ever written - I don't know, it's not my niche - but I sure enjoyed reading about Lizbeth, wondering about her, worrying about her, and pulling for her to make it through all that crap, so, to me, that's a good book.
I won't say I hated it, because I couldn't actually read it. I thought it was boring, the writing stilted and weird. Life's too short. I put it down and went to the next book. Since I didn't read it, I didn't rate it.
Jennifer wrote: "Just puzzled over why Marius feels the need to insult people who did nothing to him/her other than dislike a book that he/she liked. People like that are what ruins this site for me."Exactly! Why people need to tear down the author or anyone who doesn't agree with their review/assessment of a book boggles the mind. I've dropped a lot of people/groups for that very reason.
Jeanine wrote: "I won't say I hated it, because I couldn't actually read it. I thought it was boring, the writing stilted and weird. Life's too short. I put it down and went to the next book. Since I didn't re..."curious when you say you didn't rate it because your name is showing it as a 1 star...
Dee wrote: "Jeanine wrote: "I won't say I hated it, because I couldn't actually read it. I thought it was boring, the writing stilted and weird. Life's too short. I put it down and went to the next book. S..."That is odd since I just looked and there is no rating...
Terry wrote: "Angela wrote: "I like The Lead Character in the books. Not so much the books themselves"
That was what I found fascinating too, if you mean Lizbeth. She was the most astonishing, new character I'..."
I could not agree with you more. I did have a good time reading the first book and that's all that matters.
That was what I found fascinating too, if you mean Lizbeth. She was the most astonishing, new character I'..."
I could not agree with you more. I did have a good time reading the first book and that's all that matters.
I was initally intrigued by the mystery of the pressed flowers appearing each year, and what happened to the niece. But as I read, the graphic sexual violence was just too much for me. I skipped to the end to find out if she was in fact alive or who sent the flowers, but I couldn't finish the book or the series.
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