the girl with the dragon tattoo :: stieg larson

Title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Author: Stieg Larsson
Publisher: Knopf, 2007 (US translation)
Read: March 2009; NYC
Format: Kindle

In a nutshell:
Swedish journalist and magazine publisher Mikael Blomkvist is hired to investigate the decades-old disappearance and presumed death of Harriet Vanger. Given the tumult in his personal and professional life, and always up for a challenge, Blomkvist agrees to the unusual request. Joining him is 24 year old misanthropic-genius-hacker, Lisbeth Salander. Together, they unearth deeply hidden secrets and justice is ultimately, if not totally legally, doled out.

TGWTDT is part one (of three) in the late Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series. The trilogy centers around characters at Blomkvist's Millennium magazine and the title character, Lisbeth Salander. Since the author passed away in 2004, the translated US editions will be posthumously released through 2010.

So:
I have to say, it kind of took a while for me to get into this one. It starts out with several complex story lines that, while interesting and easy enough to follow, seemed to take a while in the telling. I found myself losing focus and getting all judge-y, fearing that the novel itself lacked focus. The book is an international sensation, though, so I figured it was probably going to be worth pushing through. A smart gamble, it turns out, because as soon as the separate threads started to gain sight of each other, the novel gripped me, with surprising developments and twists through to the very end.

Plot-wise, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is everything a good crime novel should be: twisty, turny and for the most part unpredictable. I’ll admit that I’m easily duped, but I didn’t know where the story would land pretty much until it was laid out in front of me. And really, isn’t that the best mark of a suspense novel? Also, each branch of the plot is layered with detail upon detail, bringing real life to the story. You could possibly argue that there is too much detail at times - this might be what made the beginning seem so slow to me, after all. I think for the most part, though, that in the end the effect is a better-imagined world with rich and more relatable dimension.

For a plot-driven novel, Larsson satisfyingly develops and executes his primary characters. Salander and Blomkvist, at first come off almost one-dimensionally steadfast and principled. I wondered whether this willfulness would eventually - and banally - lead to their downfall. Thankfully (and again, I shouldn’t have doubted), Larsson cultivates his characters throughout the work, planting a great mix of the realistic and unrealistic. The leads are heroes and victims, moral yet untraditional. The balances are artfully struck and provide the depth that catapults TGWTDT over other suspense novels where plot alone tends to rule.

A sum of many fascinating parts - corporate critique, classic detective novel, suspense thriller and indictment of misogyny - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is definitely a worthwhile read that leaves followers clamoring for the quick translation of volumes 2 & 3.

4 out of 5 stars.