I think part of the hub-bub was due to Larsson dying unexpectedly while still writing this series, and the drama that happened afterwards between his partner and his family. Some of it may also be due to the main characters not really being law-enforcement - the story itself isn't really that unique for "Scandanavian noir," but most of those involve law enforcement/private investigator-types, not a writer and a "punk-chic" hacker. Even if you don't consider Lisbeth the main character in this book, she's a pretty "flashy" one.
But yeah, Larsson was a bit too fond of exposition and info dump - the first book suffered from that aspect, a lot. It's been a while since I read the trilogy, so I don't really remember lots of infodumps in the following books. The next 2 books do focus on Lisbeth way more, though.
Yeah, I definitely haven't read as many Nordic/Scandinavian crime novels as you have (other than Larsson's, I think I've only read one by Jo Nesbø), but they do seem to be much longer than your typical US crime-thrillers. I guess I don't always mind the extra exposition, especially if touches on a subject that I find interesting, or if it's describing a society I'm not familiar with. But in other instances, it can be like Melville's "Whaling 101" in Moby Dick. I don't think Larsson's exposition was *that* bad (I liked the book better than fashion-piranha did), but I can see how it can annoy some people.
I think you have to be in the right mood for these type of novels - if you're looking for a fast-paced thriller that is mainly plot, you might not be pleased.
I'm not much of a thriller fan in the first place, so the book had a disadvantage from the get-go, but I tried to put that aside when I was reading it, largely because so many people told me it was great. But the exposition thing tends to bother me, whether it happens in historical fiction (I hate history lessons masquerading as conversations!) or mysteries or whatever.
Knowing that Lisbeth figures more prominently in the later books is good news - I found her far more interesting that Blomkvist.
And something I didn't consider 'til now - I listened to an audio version this book, narrated by Simon Vance. He has a very proper but dry narration style, and while it works pretty well in some scenes it made some of the long descriptions of Swedish banking and corporate history nearly unbearable.
It's been a while since I read it, (about 3 years) but when I did, I enjoyed it a lot. I wasn't reading it from the perspective of a critic though, and more just reading it for enjoyment. It was a fluff novel, albeit a rather and disturbing fluff novel. I liked the second and third novels better, as they are connected more in story.
The books that become huge best sellers are often read by people who don't read a lot. (my own theory!) Since these people don't read a lot, what ever genre that becomes the 'it' book seems fabulous. I read lots of mysteries and thrillers, and The Girl Who... was a good series, but nothing terrific, especially when there are mysteries by Indridason, Deon Meyer, Nesbo, Hayder out there that are really good, better than Larsson. But once a book starts to become popular, away it goes. And his dying provided the impetus to get it selling.
I thought the second book - The Girl Who Played With Fire, was by far the best of the the trilogy, which is odd in a trilogy for the 2nd book to be the strongest, usually they are the weakest, just there to connect first to last.
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But yeah, Larsson was a bit too fond of exposition and info dump - the first book suffered from that aspect, a lot. It's been a while since I read the trilogy, so I don't really remember lots of infodumps in the following books. The next 2 books do focus on Lisbeth way more, though.
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I think that taking the lead from the second book (The Girl Who Played with Fire) and giving all 3 'The Girl' titles was a brilliant move.
Just reading another Swedish crime novel and they do seem to be eating a lot of sandwiches.
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I think you have to be in the right mood for these type of novels - if you're looking for a fast-paced thriller that is mainly plot, you might not be pleased.
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Knowing that Lisbeth figures more prominently in the later books is good news - I found her far more interesting that Blomkvist.
And something I didn't consider 'til now - I listened to an audio version this book, narrated by Simon Vance. He has a very proper but dry narration style, and while it works pretty well in some scenes it made some of the long descriptions of Swedish banking and corporate history nearly unbearable.
Reply
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I thought the second book - The Girl Who Played With Fire, was by far the best of the the trilogy, which is odd in a trilogy for the 2nd book to be the strongest, usually they are the weakest, just there to connect first to last.
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