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Should I bother to read...
Ooh. Good question. I've been wanting somebody to tell me whether the fuss is worth it.
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.It's really "Lifetime After Dark." The beginning is terribly slow, it's way too long. I dunno. I read it because I wanted to see what the fuss was about, and honestly, no, I don't see what the fuss is about. Lisbeth is pretty cool. I like Blomkvist. I was interested in the story once it got going, but it just fell flat.
Oh, and there's a lot of rape.
i really enjoyed the book and couldn't wait to read the second one after resisting as long as i could to read the first. i was hesitant because it seemed to have so many words and the names were all hard to pronounce and it seemed like much work. i know that sounds petty but that was my original assessment. after getting into it i really loved the characters and i found it to be a much smoother read than i first thought. i am now awaiting a friend to get me the third installment which she has so i can finish the trilogy. i def recommend it
Thank you. That will not be going onto my list.
I actually am leaning more towards Kevin's recommendation. It did start out slow, but I thought it was pretty good.
Barb - YES. What the heck was with the statistics before every chapter? "Every year, so and so many women are raped in sweden" "This many women have reported unwanted sexual attention blah blah"And when that guy did that thing to Lisbeth - Advokat - What the hell was the point?????
"Oh, and there's a lot of rape" pretty much kills it for me.
I heard they spend a lot of time eating sandwiches.
I watched the subtitled movie because it was on Netflix's instant queue and we have a PS3 to play it on.As I already said in the other thread, there wasn't enough to make me "have to read" the book, even if the book was quite a bit better.
It was interesting, but long and a bit dark.
and if you like revenge for said acts of violence....
I found all the Millennium trilogy excellent, though very slow to start. Larsson's style is quite matter-of-fact and journalistic, but it really drew me in.Gus, I'm completely with you about going with the herd; I almost read 'The Da Vinci Code' when it first came out, then when the hype started thought I'd leave it to die down. Then after being on train and counting fifteen people in the same carriage reading it I realised I'd probably only read it if stuck on a desert island with that and Twilight...
i know i'll eventually read the millennium trilogy and every time someone tells me something about the book i become more convinced i should read it.i like revenge. i enjoyed the ending of death proof way too much, and inglourious basterds too.
*checks list of Movies to Watch. yep, Death Proof already there. mentally highlights it in glamorous, vibrant neon pink*
Ummmm hold up, reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was nothing like watching Inglorious Basterds. I loved the latter. The scene in the beginning with Hans Landa and his think like rats/milk speech is nothing like the long, dry, boring beginning of that book.
Misha wrote: "DEATH PROOF ROCKED!!!!*ahem* Sorry. I don't usually shout, but I fucking love the ending of Death Proof.
*walks away humming "Chick Habit"*"
i'm listening to it now. it works so perfect with that ending. i should really watch death proof again soon.
I'm reading TGWTDT now, and am enjoying it so far. The "sandwiches" thing is a translation problem, I think.
"with all of it's slowness and talkiness" I interpreted that to mean the pacing. In Inglourious Basterds, there is slowness and scenes where we have nothing but conversation, but those conversations are important, and a payoff eventually comes. For example, when Hans Landa is talking to Perrier LaPadite, the suspense doesn't come in until we see the Dreyfus family hiding beneath the floorboards, and later when Hans Landa reveals that he knows exactly what's going on. The beginning of Dragon Tattoo was like reading a news report with no payoff at all, and I found myself thinking, "Okay, when does the book start?"
But he needed that plotline for Lizbeth's sake *cough cough*It put Mikael (?) in the necessary state of mind - sure it was a plot driver but none the less I enjoyed it. Plus it was a rehash of actual Swedish politics that Steig himself covered so I enjoyed getting an inside view of the fascism and corruption he himself encounted as a journalist.
I didn't find the rape gratuitous, it helped drive the horror of the abuse Lizbeth underwent throughout her life, sure a melodramatic but successful way to show that many men in authority hate women - which was it's real title.
I liked it a lot.
I bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when it first came out because I saw the psychedelic yellow cover, and I think it probably reminded me subconsciously of some experience I had when I was in my 20s and have now intentionally forgotten...Anyway, I put the book aside for quite a while, but when I got around to reading it, I thought it was pretty good for a thriller--lively, memorable characters, slow pacing perhaps, but a well-constructed plot.
I do know what you mean about not wanting to follow the herd, Gus. I felt that I ought to read the Da Vinci Code when it came out because everyone was talking about it. I tried and ended up flinging it across the room the minute Dan Brown gave his first art history lesson, every detail of which was wrong.
I liked TGWTDT but, like others, found it slow to start and packed with multiple endings (as various plot lines wound up).I also enjoyed TGWPWF (book 2), though it took about 100 pages for me to get past the feeling that some part of Lisbeth's core had been altered. She was different enough in several ways that it was disconcerting at first.
The third book is SLOOOOOOW. There's so much back story about the secret police that I've fallen asleep several times trying to plow my way through it. I hope it picks up SOON. zzzzzzzzzz
Oh, I forgot to mention that book 3 did something you almost never see. Instead of starting a new story and filling you in with a spot of history here & there, it was a direct continuation of book 2; it was like just another chapter on the end of TGWPWF.
Misha wrote: "It put Mikael (?) in the necessary state of mind - sure it was a plot driver but none the less I enjoyed it.I think the film handled it much more elegantly by playing on Mikael's childhood connec..."
Totally agree, that was mighty fine in the film. The film also added the mixed-up memory of the cousin - that wasn't in the book was it.
Truthfully, I read Dragon awhile back - got lucky and caught on before it became impossible to get from the library so upon first US release whenever that was. Anyway, I do forget my quibbles with it, I only know that I quickly became addicted - the characters were more important than the plot, altho that held up as well. I felt like I had had a glimpse into another country which I always love.
Yep, well said Misha.I just ran across this article in Gawker about what books spark conversation with strangers, of course Dragon was mentioned but also A Rebours which Gus just finished, so I guess that's the literary groovy choice of late!
http://blog.theparisreview.org/2010/0...
Lori, "A Rebours?"
Did I read that?
Did I read that?
Oh criminy it was someone else. Well it does seem like a Gus book?
Woops, I posted the original link that jezebel took off from: http://jezebel.com/5608493/what-books...
I'm almost afraid to read this thread for fear of spoiling the story.
A Rebours, as in the 19th-century French novel? I read that for a class in college, but I can't think of any reason it would be trendy. Seems totally random.
Larry wrote: "I'm almost afraid to read this thread for fear of spoiling the story."
I'll wait for you to read it before adding it to my to-read shelf. I have read too many negative reports about it and my to-read list is getting too long.
Waiting on your recommendation... (is that really slack?) :)
I'll wait for you to read it before adding it to my to-read shelf. I have read too many negative reports about it and my to-read list is getting too long.
Waiting on your recommendation... (is that really slack?) :)
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The original Swedish title was (translated) "Men Who Hate Women." Thus the rape statistics, and all the rape in the book.
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You do? Misha's right, I read a lot of Swedish crime fiction and they eat sandwiches constantly. Never stops. They also piss outdoors all the time. At crime scenes, at the side of the road, wherever.
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Oh? Do tell. I saw the movie but will never read the book.
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Lobstergirl wrote: "Oh? Do tell. I saw the movie but will never read the book..."I remember pretty early on there is a description of how Leonardo headed up an enormous workshop filled with assistants.
Many artists--Rembrandt, Rubens, etc.--operated on the workshop model, but Leonardo didn't.
This was being narrated 3rd person but basically from the point of view of the Harvard professor who is the book's hero (I've forgotten the character's name). A professor of "Symbology" was it?
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That said, I can hardly wait to find out what happens in the third.
I think it is funny Gus mentioned Da Vinci Code in the first post. This was very very very much like that.
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Robert Langdon.
Yes, Robert Langdon. I don't know if editors pay any attention to historical details in works of fiction.
Actually, even in trade non-fiction, accuracy is the mostly the author's responsibility, not the editor's. An editor might catch something egregious, or query the author if the sourcing seems vague. It's not like writing for The New Yorker, where everything is extensively fact-checked.
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Misha wrote: "Misha's right, I read a lot of Swedish crime fiction and they eat sandwiches constantly. Never stops. I knew it! Although it's worth mentioning the other book I saw that in was [book:The Unit|573..."
dutch people also like to eat cheese sandwiches. just a slab of cold gouda on a slice of bread, that's all. i like to add tomatoes. maybe the swedish do the same, i have no idea.
European sandwiches come in a great variety, it's quite a smorgasbord...
Paul wrote: "European sandwiches come in a great variety, it's quite a smorgasbord..."can i have an aquavit with that?
i don't like her for this (solely based on this photo). was the period supposed to be before or after the parenthesis?i prefer someone with a tougher edge and a more guilty hotness to her
I think that makeup will make her look at lot edgier Kev.
Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "i don't like her for this (solely based on this photo). was the period supposed to be before or after the parenthesis?i prefer someone with a tougher edge and a more guilty hotness to her"
The period is correctly placed. The e.e. cummings imitation, however, is misguided.
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It seems like everyone's read it or is reading it. If you've read it, would you recommend it to me? And what about the novel did you like?
I wouldn't mind reading it, but I'm usually loathe to read something just because everyone else has, i.e., The DaVinci Code.