The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
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could not finish
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without marking it finished
I think that just your shelf saying that you "couldn't finish" would be enough for people to know that that is how you felt about a book. I think you should mark it as finished so you can add it to your "couldn't finish" shelf. I think you should put in your review the percentage or page that you stopped reading the book at, so that people who look at this shelf would know at what point you couldn't read it any more. Hope this helps :)
if you make an exclusive shelf called don't finish you can move it there
I have a shelf called "set aside". I probably won't ever get to any of these.
What happened? This is one of those books I raced through. The back and forth of this conversation would have been 50 pages of the thing. But then, I came out of the computer industry, so Lisbeth Slander's and her friend's proficiency fascinated.
Lily, I think people who have no interest in either corporate fraud, hacking, or Sweden have a seriously hard time getting through the first 100 dense pages of this book. That seems to be the chief (and understandably valid) complaint. I dig two out of three of those topics so I flew through it as well.
KJ is very right. I don't really care about any of those things so the first part of this book was really slow for me. I actually ended up putting it down for months, and finally finishing it on Vacation in Australia. I am really glad I made a commitment to finish it though. I loved it.
But isn't it one of the values and wonders of reading to expose ourselves to that in which we have no interest, at least insufficient interest to make a larger commitment to those things? (Yes, I'm playing with ideas and perspectives. lol)
I couldn't stand this book. Although I pushed myself through, I could care less about the subject material or the characters. I felt the book did little in the area of character building for me.
ditto. i hated the people, and not in a compelling way. i didn't care about them. i can't imagine reading anything more about them ever again.
Why did you guys not like the characters so much? I thought Blomkivist wasn't too bad of a character. Yeah, Lisbeth was a little off for me, but she wasn't horrible to read about. I was more fixed on the mystery than anything else though really. It was one of the best murder mysteires I have ever read. Kind of sherlock holmes type. Instead of it being a one room closed door mystery it is a one island locked gate mystery. I thought that was really neat.
perhaps hated the people was strong wording. mostly i just found them dull. it isn't that i found lisbeth repulsive, i just didnt care. in the end i think it really was his writing style that did nothing for me. i actually liked the plot, but did not enjoy reading the book at all.
I had a hard time with the first 70 or so pages. I actually stopped after 50 pages until a friend convinced me to keep going. I'm glad I did!
Weren't these books translated into English? Just a random thought, but if my assumption is right I think, at least for me, that calls for some leniancy in writing style.I personally really loved Lisbeth, but wasn't really invested in most of the other characters. Fortunately I thought the book had more to offer than just surface material. So...
Louise wrote: "perhaps hated the people was strong wording. mostly i just found them dull. it isn't that i found lisbeth repulsive, i just didnt care. in the end i think it really was his writing style that di..."Yeah, I can see where you are coming from. I thought the characters were a little dull myself. However, after I got to a certain point in the book I couldn't put the book down. I started liking Lisbeth after she got her revenge on that gaurdian guy. But before that I was kind of up-set (as her being an abused woman) that she didn't do anything about what was happening to her. However, I can understand where she was coming from, because no one would probably have believed her with her history and everyone thinking that she is crazy. In a way I think she really is crazy though. But all in all I thought it was a really good book because of the plot, but I probably won't ever read this book again :)
Kathleen wrote: "Weren't these books translated into English? Just a random thought, but if my assumption is right I think, at least for me, that calls for some leniancy in writing style.I personally really loved L..."Yes, the book was translated into English. That is the version that I read. I think that the people who are saying that this is a horrible book because of the sexually violent descriptions didn't think about, that this book was written by a Swedish man and that things people experience there or talk about things that happen to them like that are normal. Who knows. It is just like how people in Paris think it is totally normal to walk around naked, lol, and we would never consider that normal at all. So, I think there is a lot of culteral things that those people need to look at as well. I liked and didn't like Lisbeth at the same time. I really liked Blomkivist though, but I feel like they didn't portray his character good enough in the movie, but that is just my opinion. I liked the book, but I do think the characters could have been a little more appealing to the reader. But hey, if I am not mistaken, these were his first and only books ever written so I think that needs to be thought about as well.
Evelyn wrote: "I have added a shelf called "could not finish" for those books I thought were wasting my time.How do I get the book off my "currently reading" shelf with marking it finished?"
Once I became used to a Swedish author's way of turning a phrase, I flew through it! And the sequel. And the third (and sadly) final "Hornet's Nest". Don't know how far you got, but is there time for another shot at it?
You have to read to the end to find out what happens. The second book in the trilogy was better, and the third was the best. But you have to read the first ones to find out about the characters.
I started this book at least 3 times-couldn't get through the first 50 pages. Then I read in a review here, that if you could get past those 50-100 pages, it gets alot better. That review was right! So if you like sort of quirky mysteries, you might just want to give it one more chance!
Susan wrote: "I started this book at least 3 times-couldn't get through the first 50 pages. Then I read in a review here, that if you could get past those 50-100 pages, it gets alot better. That review was rig..."Glad you saw that review :) It is definately a book worth reading. I loved it. However, I just stuck with it because I always have this feeling that most books start off really boring and maybe this one does too, well I guess I was right for this one :) Glad you liked it!
try T.P.Boje instead. She is also Scandinavian and much better.
I really liked Karin Fossum for Nordic Noir, Henning Mankell (although i've only read one of his) and a newer guy, James Thompson (his second book just came out). I've heard mention of Liza Marklund who sounds interesting, but I haven't read yet
I started reading while visiting some family. I had gotten about 100 pages or so into the book, before my grandpa took it from me and started reading. We both finished it and then watched the movie. ( book was better, we thought). I have read the second and passed it on for him to read, and I thought it was great too. I will admit that the it is a little slow going in the beginning but everything comes together at the end, and he writes a fantastic mystery!
Delicious Dee Challenge Addict wrote: "I really liked Karin Fossum for Nordic Noir, Henning Mankell (although i've only read one of his) and a newer guy, James Thompson (his second book just came out). I've heard mention of Liza Marklu..."I have Liza Marklund's Red Wolf but I'm not sure if I'll like it because it's from a series of books and I can't find the first ones. I loved The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund so I wanted to try some of her other stuff.
Liza Marklund is awesome. I have read almost all of her work and loved it.
@ Pam - well, it looks like all the early ones have been translated into English...that is the worst part, when they pick up halfway through the series for translating to english...i.e. Karin Fossum - the first book of hers that was translated was the second one in the series...blah!I'll have to see if my library has any of the early ones
Louise wrote: "ditto. i hated the people, and not in a compelling way. i didn't care about them. i can't imagine reading anything more about them ever again."I agree wholeheartedly. I couldn't stand the characters. They were dull, dull, dull, and even the Goth girl did nothing for me. Boring, wooden characters in a plot that took forever to get going. I wouldn't read anything by Stieg again.
KJ wrote: "Lily, I think people who have no interest in either corporate fraud, hacking, or Sweden have a seriously hard time getting through the first 100 dense pages of this book. That seems to be the chief..."I agree. That was the hard part for me. Once we got into the actual excitement of the book, it moved a lot faster. I hear that Plays With Fire starts off a lot faster, so I'm curious to read that one and compare the two.
Kerra wrote: "Why did you guys not like the characters so much? I thought Blomkivist wasn't too bad of a character. Yeah, Lisbeth was a little off for me, but she wasn't horrible to read about. I was more fixed ..."Interesting. I liked Lisbeth more than Blomkivist. I thought he was just a dude who had ample opportunities to meet women and who took advantage of it. Thats not disgusting to me, but it kinda goes along with that line of reasoning that "men are dogs". I was kinda hoping he'd rise above that, but he didn't.
Lisbeth, her twisted personality aside, was somebody who I could relate to more, understanding many of her decisions, even if I didn't agree with them.
Charles wrote: "Kerra wrote: "Why did you guys not like the characters so much? I thought Blomkivist wasn't too bad of a character. Yeah, Lisbeth was a little off for me, but she wasn't horrible to read about. I w..."I liked Blomkivist, but I liked Salander better as far as the characters go. I have to agree with you that I was hoping by the end of the book that he would have changed a little bit with his near death experience. Hopefully he will change as the books continue. I have just bought The Girl who Played with Fire, so I can't wait to see how the story takes a different path.
Lyndsay wrote: "I started reading while visiting some family. I had gotten about 100 pages or so into the book, before my grandpa took it from me and started reading. We both finished it and then watched the movie..."It took me the first 150 pages to really get into the first book. I have now read all three and the last book of this series was by far my favorite.
The movies mixed up some of the details from the books. I haven't watched the third movie yet and not sure I will. I didn't enjoy the movies as much as I loved the books.
I guess if you get through Stieg Larsson, you might enjoy Henning Mankell. I'm reading a few books by Mankell right now.
KJ wrote: "Lily, I think people who have no interest in either corporate fraud, hacking, or Sweden have a seriously hard time getting through the first 100 dense pages of this book. That seems to be the chief..."I didnt have interest in any of those topics but my curiousity compelled me to find "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and when I found her, boy was I intruiged.
John wrote: "I agree wholeheartedly. I couldn't stand the characters. They were dull, dull, dull, and even the Goth girl did nothing for me. Boring, wooden characters in a plot that took forever to get going. I wouldn't read anything by Stieg again."Well, lucky for you, the author is dead. :(
I'm glad I found this string. It validates many of my thoughts about the book. You have to read it, everyone is reading it! After getting through the first hundred pages I got to the can't put it down part, and when that ended the book continued for another fifty pages. A decent book but not deserving all the attention it is getting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I just flat out did not like this book. Won't read any of the others, wouldn't recommend it to anyone!
The book is not for everyone. It is like walking out of an space ship for the first time. I found that books that were set aside in the past were hardly ever finished in the future. this may be that book for people. It is so nice that we have so many choices.
To answer the original question in this thread. You can make your "could not finish" shelf "exclusive" by going to the main Goodreads page, clicking on My Books, then clicking (edit) next to "bookshelves" on the top left. Just click the "exclusive" box next to your newly created shelf, and books you put there will only appear on that shelf--not in "read" or "currently reading." For what it's worth, I slogged through about 50 pages of this book, then skimmed a lot more before I got into it. Once it took off for me, I went back to read certain parts more thoroughly. After that I loved it, and I liked each subsequent book even better, with the exception of one more slightly dull patch. Larsson's techno jargon seemed to have sometimes gotten the better of him.
I know I have no real interest in fraud but love mysteries, and I loved it. The beginning was Slow but after that it went quickly. I loved it.
calawpaugh wrote: I guess if you get through Stieg Larsson, you might enjoy Henning Mankell. I'm reading a few books by Mankell right now. I've read all three of Stieg Larsson's books...they're okay reads in my opinion, not going to make it to my favourites list at all. However Mankell's books are different, and I do think much much more enjoyable - even though his writing is subject to the same translation into English as Stieg Larsson's, his books come across as better written with better story lines and characters.
Would be interesting to know what you thought about Mankell...
I read the book after several people had recommended it to me. The plot was OK, but frankly I found Stieg Larsson's narrative style primitive, clumsy and boring. I finished the book but I will not be reading the other ones.
I think a key difference between Mankell and larsson is that Mankell is still alive and can see his books through the process, which is something that was never done with larsson's work
This book was so boring to read. The book only gets better more than half way.
Overrated! I have no idea why everyone made a stink about this book! I was so bored, and I couldn't wait to finish it! The prose stunk!
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How do I get the book off my "currently reading" shelf with marking it finished?