#98 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Recently convicted of libel, journalist Mikael Blomkvist is facing a future ninety day prison sentence, and professional ruin. Then an
elderly industrialist named Henrik Vanger shocks him by offering Mikael a job. Henrik wants him to write the history of the Vanger family, but his true purpose will be solving a murder already decades old. As Blomkvist begins to dig into the Vanger history, he shocks himself by coming up with new evidence. Recognizing his need for help to solve the case, he calls upon the help of Lisbeth Salander, a strange young woman with a dragon tattooed on her back..
As a librarian, people are always recommending books to me, many of them not exactly to my personal taste. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one that's been mentioned to me many times, but I have hesitated to pick is up. This is mostly due to the fact that the last time a bestselling thriller (The Da Vinci Code) was recommended to me, I found that I really disliked it. But with the upcoming movie coming out, I finally decided to take the plunge and read the book that everyone was talking about. I'm happy to report that I found myself pleasantly surprised. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may have it's fair share of issues, but at it's core is a thoroughly engaging mystery.
For anyone thinking about picking up this book, I highly recommend going the audio route. The reason behind this (besides the fact that the unabridged production is really well done) is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has some serious pacing issues, which the audio makes easier to swallow. It takes forever to get off the ground, and it drags out at the end. Fortunately, the middle section really shines. Once we began to get into investigating the murder of Harriet Vanger, I couldn't help but be pulled into the story. I also really enjoyed the complex character of Lisbeth Salander, a tough but brilliant young woman with a talent for hacking. The character of Mikael Blomkvist was likable enough himself even though sometimes he felt like a wish fulfillment fantasy, given the amount of attractive women that throw themselves at him. I thought that he and Salander balanced each other very well, with Mikael's more positive outlook on the world, and Salander's rather negative one.
One thing that's worth mentioning about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is there are a couple of disturbing scenes of rape and other abuses against women (when you learn that the original title for the Sweedish version translates into something like “Men Who Hate Women” it makes sense). I would not recommend this book to people that are sensitive about that type of material, as the scenes are appropriately disturbing.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is certainly a title out of my comfort zone, and it's certainty a title with flaws. Still, the audio version is superb, and once you can get past the pacing issues, it's worth the commitment. I plan on finishing this series sometime in the future.
Rating: four stars
Length: the print version is 644 pages, the audio is 16 hrs and 19 minutes
Source: Overdrive
Other books I've read by this author: this is my first
Next I will be reviewing Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish, and goodreads
elderly industrialist named Henrik Vanger shocks him by offering Mikael a job. Henrik wants him to write the history of the Vanger family, but his true purpose will be solving a murder already decades old. As Blomkvist begins to dig into the Vanger history, he shocks himself by coming up with new evidence. Recognizing his need for help to solve the case, he calls upon the help of Lisbeth Salander, a strange young woman with a dragon tattooed on her back..
As a librarian, people are always recommending books to me, many of them not exactly to my personal taste. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one that's been mentioned to me many times, but I have hesitated to pick is up. This is mostly due to the fact that the last time a bestselling thriller (The Da Vinci Code) was recommended to me, I found that I really disliked it. But with the upcoming movie coming out, I finally decided to take the plunge and read the book that everyone was talking about. I'm happy to report that I found myself pleasantly surprised. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may have it's fair share of issues, but at it's core is a thoroughly engaging mystery.
For anyone thinking about picking up this book, I highly recommend going the audio route. The reason behind this (besides the fact that the unabridged production is really well done) is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has some serious pacing issues, which the audio makes easier to swallow. It takes forever to get off the ground, and it drags out at the end. Fortunately, the middle section really shines. Once we began to get into investigating the murder of Harriet Vanger, I couldn't help but be pulled into the story. I also really enjoyed the complex character of Lisbeth Salander, a tough but brilliant young woman with a talent for hacking. The character of Mikael Blomkvist was likable enough himself even though sometimes he felt like a wish fulfillment fantasy, given the amount of attractive women that throw themselves at him. I thought that he and Salander balanced each other very well, with Mikael's more positive outlook on the world, and Salander's rather negative one.
One thing that's worth mentioning about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is there are a couple of disturbing scenes of rape and other abuses against women (when you learn that the original title for the Sweedish version translates into something like “Men Who Hate Women” it makes sense). I would not recommend this book to people that are sensitive about that type of material, as the scenes are appropriately disturbing.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is certainly a title out of my comfort zone, and it's certainty a title with flaws. Still, the audio version is superb, and once you can get past the pacing issues, it's worth the commitment. I plan on finishing this series sometime in the future.
Rating: four stars
Length: the print version is 644 pages, the audio is 16 hrs and 19 minutes
Source: Overdrive
Other books I've read by this author: this is my first
Next I will be reviewing Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish, and goodreads