The Millenium Trilogy - Stieg Larsson

[Coqueline]

Stolen from the Book Nomination thread, it seems that a number of people have read these books and are happy to discuss it, so I thought I'd open a topic for it.

So, what do you guys reckon about the books?

[Coqueline]

I didn't want to read these books when I realised it got so popular, but then two things happened that made it easier for me to read them:

1. A friend of mine who lives in a small town in Northern Sweden recommended me the books because Stieg Larsson used to live in their little village of Skellefteå.
2. I was given the whole trilogy in glossy hardback as birthday present by somebody who told me that I reminded him of Lisbeth (a.k.a my husband).

[Rachel, First Lady]

Glossy hardback? That's a super fineeeee gift. Seriously. I'm such a book nut right and I'm confused as to why people don't buy me books as gifts for my birthdays, lol.

So, about this series. I actually read it because it was popular. It was never in my radar, but then this famous blogger blogged about it, and one day I saw it at Periplus, so I started it even though crime/mystery has never been thing.

I did love the first book. The second and third one not so much, but I really loved it when justice was finally served in the third book. It's hard to explain how I felt when I read the whole court scene. But I was at the edge of my seat and so freakingly happy that Lisbeth got the justice that she deserved.

And I'm a shipper of Blomkvist's and Lisbeth's relationship. I wish it had developed more. Romantically. haha.

[Rachel, First Lady]

Oh and probably the reason I loved the first one was because it was a one-off case? And it was eerie and very mysterious. When it was all about Lisbeth's past and such, even though it was intriguing, it didn't pull me in that much. Maybe the Sweedish names got a tad bit difficult for me to follow as well, I can't remember.

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

I like the 1st book a lot, dislike the 2nd, and have a mixed feeling about the 3rd.
I think Stieg Larsson had some kind of crisis when he wrote it; in some way his books support feminism but I can't help to feel the chauvinism in it, especially when it comes to Blomkvist. I never read a book when almost all women when ga-ga over a 40-some old man.

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

unfortunately, i didnt really enjoy the story. first one was alright, although being someone continually immersed in IT and electronics (we all have our defects, right?) i cant help but cringe at what passes as a hacker in the story and how larsson seem to use that as a magical all purpose all-explaining plot continuity device. aannd.. that made more sense in my head that it does in writing.. i'll ponder it some more, but meanwhile,

i have to say that the second book has less mystery in the story. and while i dont mind extraordinary characters, a goth genius? ok. goth genious hacker? a little much, but yeah. goth genious hacker with photographic memory? and one of the best in the country despite the level of skills written there? and boxes with the country's best boxer? and concious about getting nice boobs? i'll allow the last one, but the rest are just over the top.

i'm just nitpicking, obviously. and Larsson did a good job creating a good story and keeping it cohesive, it's just that the depth of the characters were lacking in most parts.

also, a nationally renowned 40 something year old man who has casual sex anytime he wants with an attractive s&m enthusiast while at the same time has a petite attractive goth falling for him. yeah. that's just.. i dont know.. somethings wrong with that picture. or maybe i'm just wishing i'll be like that in 20 years. LOL

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

Jati wrote: "also, a nationally renowned 40 something year old man who has casual sex anytime he wants with an attractive s&m enthusiast while at the same time has a petite attractive goth falling for him. yeah. that's just.. i dont know.. somethings wrong with that picture..."

Well-said, worth quoted.
And don't forget the super hot and sexy secret agent (although I never knew a very tall and muscular girl is considered as hot and sexy) who falls head over heels to Blomkvist. I kept rolling my eyes when I read that...

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

i know, right? his next book might as well have blomkvist win the damn nobel prize and rock and roll lifetime achievement awards in the field of badassery and awesomeness.. it's just way too much to be believable.

now if only i can make those things happen to me instead... ahaha..

[Coqueline]

I also felt that Lisbeth is a bit too super heroic, but then I read somewhere that Larsson based her character after Pippi Longstocking (Lisbeth is imagined as a grown up Pippi), and then it kind of clicked. I had more fun reading the rest of the book knowing this piece of trivia.

[Tomoe]

Blomkvist felt too much of a wish-fulfillment character for me. And I thought Twilight was bad.. :p

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

well, now i feel bad that this whole discussion has nothing positive to say except for two passing comments about liking the first book. throw Larsson a bone guys.. list of good things from the series?

also. apparently grown up Pippi had spent her chest full of gold and lost her horse she always keeps on her porch as well as her super strength? all traded with magical hacking powers then? haha.. i wonder where all those pippi books i read as a kid have gone to..

[Coqueline]

Jati wrote: "also. apparently grown up Pippi had spent her chest full of gold and lost her horse she always keeps on her porch as well as her super strength? all traded with magical hacking powers then? haha.. i wonder where all those pippi books i read as a kid have gone to.. "

Lisbeth didn't spent all her gold, she invested it in the Caribbean. Aaand, she does have super strength, considering she was always pictured as having fights with guys twice her size (and usually winning).

Don't forget that Pippi's two best friends are brother and sister Thomas and Annika (Blomkvist sister's also an Annika). Instead of a pirate as a father, Lisbeth got a spy. I always thought the movies should've cast a redhead as Lisbeth.

I like the books. I almost gave up halfway through the first book, but I'm glad I put up with it. I'm not usually into crime/thriller, but the trilogy did hook me up to read until the end. It was also quite refreshing for me to read a thriller novel not based in the US.

For those of you griping about the amount of casual sex people are having in these books: guys, guys, guys, they are Swedish. Enough said. LOL.

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

I dont mind casual sex. In fact, I always include it in my morning to do list. And yes, that is a big fat lie. Even considering the way women seem to throw themselves at me these days. And yes, that is another lie.
the thing is, I dont mind a lot of sex in a story, the problem is that there seems to be a lack of tact in the way Larsson writes. Patterson has a lot of sex in his stories, but written in a flowing, beautiful way that it was embraced as an important component of the story instead of just a filler to get the male audiences satisfied (with BONERS!! Ahaha..). But maybe i'm just being overly critical again. I do that a lot when talking books. And I apologize. :D

[Coqueline]

I actually prefer the way Larsson wrote about his sex scenes; nothing was overly narrated, it wasn't beautiful, it wasn't made poetic, he just made sure you knew who slept with who and now let's get on with the story (just the way I enjoyed office gossip... hehehe). I was also hugely relieved that there were no 'real' romance in the books. It was just more realistic. Casual sex in real life is rarely flowing and beautiful.

I also love the way he depicts Erica Berger. She is one hell of a cool strong female character you don't get to read about in many thrillers. She kicks ass in different way to Lisbeth, but she's a great character. Too bad she was not featured much in the movies.

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

I don't mind the sex scenes, my concern is how it seems every woman falls head over heels to Blomkvist which, in my opinion, is just an okay guy.
But beside that, I'm fine with the series although as a mystery freak, I could guess the culprit in the 1st book half way through it...

[Coqueline]

How many women did he sleep with in the duration of the trilogy? Erica, Lisbeth, Cecilia, Harriet, Monica (I have a Swedish friend called Monica, btw, and I couldn't help but imagining her face for that character).

Anybody I missed? :) To be fair, of all those women, 3 are above the age of 40, so it's not as if any random young girls are falling for him (unlike James Bond).

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

there was also some girl-on-girl action from lisbeth. but i digress, this sex talk is starting to go wild. agree? besides, i really didnt think that Larsson was crude in those sex portions, just wished there was some more meaning in them, something in the story that warrants more for the sex. and i'm starting to make no sense here. sounded much better in my head. again. but then, maybe it's the sappy romantic in me that's just bitching about. hehe..

but come on, there has to be something more interesting to talk about in a 3 book series. some assistance guys?

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

Dont forget Figuerola (or something like that) the hot and sexy secret agent who madly in love with him.
So throughout the series, there are 4 women who love him. Lucky eh?
ps: I don't like James Bond, Jason Bourne for me :p

Jati, the mystery? Politic? I'm not really familiar with IT so I don't know whether all the stuffs he wrote were true or not...

[Coqueline]

I hardly noticed the prevalent of sex scenes in the book before you guys started... hehehe Probably because they were never dwelt upon too cringeworthily in the books.

Just be glad that there was no sex scene involving Plague... hehehe

What did you think interesting in the series?

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

For me it's the 'foreign' element in it. I never read any book from Sweden author before. I've read Norway author (Jostein Gaarder) but that's different genre. Although I must say I had hard times to remember all those Swedish name, but still it's interesting.
Now that you ask, I couldn't remember anything specific about it...

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

same here Lynossa. for me it was just passable, but not memorable. i normally loved foreign elements in a story, and stories set somewhere new always hold my attention. that was probably one of the stronger reason i read the series. but the places and the people just seemed so.. generic. it was honestly pretty hard for me to finish, but there has to be something in the story that held my attention. but right now, i swear i have no idea what that was.

[Coqueline]

They were really good plot-driven stories. Like Jati, I could not really pin point what I liked about them specifically, but I know I enjoyed them.

Did you guys know that Larsson originally planned 10 books for the series? The rights to his unfinished 4th book is currently under dispute.

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

I wonder if it's going to be the way Larsson would continue it or not now that it's on other hand.
Will you read the 4th?
I probably will, but only because I'm curious, not because I love the series.

[Coqueline]

I would first read the summary of the book and some people's reviews before reading the 4th book if it ever comes out.

There are some unexplained loose ends to the stories so far, though. For example Lisbeth's sister, where is she? How did she lived until now? Why did he bother writing about the Vanger's mystery on the first book (which has practically nothing to do with the rest of the series so far)? What's Lisbeth's going to do next with her money?

[Rachel, First Lady]

Woah, so many new posts! Haha.

10 books? Really? Well, wow. I don't think I'll be continuing it though. Even though I enjoyed the trilogy, it did drag in some places and as far as I'm concerned, Lisbeth's story ended in the 3rd one. I don't need to go all through it again. It's not something I'll re-read as well.

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

hey.. the group boss reappears! haha.. how goes the holiday, Rachel?

[Rachel, First Lady]

Hahahahaha. Holiday is good. I had a really awesome weekend, I hope everyone did too. We haven't decided on the next book read, have we?

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

soo.... we're done with this series? that was quick? wow.. well then, back to the book nominations thread?

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

Hahaha, I think we can sum up that there's nothing memorable about this series despite all the good things?

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

just wasnt expecting it though. i mean, 30 posts for a 3 book series? well, fair enough.. what's next?

[Rachel, First Lady]

Well if you want to continue discussing it, be my guest. Hahaha. I read the series a while back so I can't recall in detail the things that I liked and the things that I disliked.

However, for some reason I couldn't finish watching the Sweedish movie version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I'm excited for the Hollywood one though, mainly for Daniel Craig. Haha.

[Coqueline]

Lynossa wrote: "Hahaha, I think we can sum up that there's nothing memorable about this series despite all the good things?"

I would have to say that the series was like sex: you don't know why you liked it, but you sure know you enjoyed it.

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

Well, I KNOW why I like sex.. lol

[Coqueline]

What part of it do you particularly like? Give them in bullet points, please. :)

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

Yes Jati, list them all please :p

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

That's easy:
- the beginning
- during
- not so much after. Especially the awkward stares and apologies.

Hahaha..

[Coqueline]

That pretty much sums up my experience with the Millenium Trilogy. With the exception that I didn't really like the beginning.

[Rachel, First Lady]

I think I've said this before (but am too lazy to scroll back up); I loved the beginning of the trilogy, wasn't too crazy about the middle and was satisfied with the ending.

[Coqueline]

My god, the beginning with all of those financial journalism bits did my head in!

The second book was my favourite (and I was glad I have the third book nearby when it ends). The third one was a good ending, but not as fast paced as the second one.

[Rindya]

Jati wrote: "I dont mind casual sex. In fact, I always include it in my morning to do list. And yes, that is a big fat lie. Even considering the way women seem to throw themselves at me these days. And yes, tha..."

Definitely agree with that!!!!! I read only the 1st book because people keep on saying that these books are soooo good. Not to me, I hate Blomkvist and to me the story itself (1st book) started to look interesting and not dragging after p 300.

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

Rindya wrote: "Jati wrote: "I dont mind casual sex. In fact, I always include it in my morning to do list. And yes, that is a big fat lie. Even considering the way women seem to throw themselves at me these days...."

agree with what part? my first sentence? please please please pretty please let it be my first sentence. ahaha.. just kidding..

[Rindya]

Hahaha, maybe ;-) . well, let see, if we delete that part, would it affect the story? That part only make me dislike him more, and his stupidity at the end of the story (1st book) just made me plain mad. I even hoped that he died.

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

Rindya wrote: "Hahaha, maybe ;-) . well, let see, if we delete that part, would it affect the story? That part only make me dislike him more, and his stupidity at the end of the story (1st book) just made me plai..."

actually, it probably won't. those parts just felt randomly included for no apparent reason. also. hello.. how you 'doin? ;-D (here's hoping i didnt just say that to a dude. hehe..)

[Liwin]

I just started the first book 5 days ago, almost finish now. This book keeps me up all night, it is so creepy till I look for spoiler in the internet. Lol!

[Rachel, First Lady]

We should all meet up to watch the Hollywood version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Hahaha.

[Liwin]

yeah, I wonder how David Fincher will deliver the movie.

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

i'm in! let's do that. who knows, maybe the discussion will last longer that 30ish posts then. hehe..

[Liwin]

Lol! I'm also in if we meet up in Medan. Anyone watch the Swedish version yet?

[Rindya]

Last time I tried to watch a movie after reading the book, I was so disappointed. I hope as good as I am number four, meaning, the movie is better than the book :-)

[Coqueline]

I watched the first two Swedish version on the flight from Amsterdam - Jakarta and the third one on the flight back from Sydney - Amsterdam. Nice time fillers.