the girl who played with fire :: stieg larsson

Title: The Girl Who Played with Fire
Author: Stieg Larsson
Publisher: Knopf, 2009
Read: August 2009; NYC
Format: Kindle

In This One: We reconnect with Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist over a year after the Vanger investigation and Wennerstrom Affair (of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – see earlier post). Blomkvist is back at the publishing helm of his Millennium magazine, which soon plans to release a book and special issue on sex trafficking. One night, Mikael finds the writers of the book and article – a couple – murdered in their apartment; a gun with Lisbeth’s finger prints on it is found at the scene. On the other side of town, on the same night, Salander’s court-appointed guardian is also discovered murdered. The police investigation soon focuses on Lisbeth as its prime suspect. Though Lisbeth has cut Blomkvist out of her life, they work separately - but together - to unearth the truth about the killings.

Top Observations and Thoughts

1. Like TGWTDT, there is sometimes too much detail and time spent on trivialities (e.g., a list of every ikea item Salander furnishes her posh new apartment with and exactly how much she spent at the store)

2. The villains are awesomely scary. There are many and each presents a different kind of deviousness, ranging from the seemingly physically-invincible giant to the various sinister tormentors, unjustly in positions of authority.

3. I think it would be helpful to know more about the geographic layout of Sweden. As characters dash from location to location, it would be useful to know how long it should take to get from setting A to setting B. Especially at the end, the book is intensely suspenseful on every page. Knowing these details could maybe have taken the edge off.

4. A lot goes on in this book. There is a ton of action and several different storylines, most of which converge. Yet, there are also some seemingly purposeless threads. Why? Maybe it’s because the books are in a series and they're meant to be significant later?

5. Larsson offers a delicious plenty of red herrings. I'm easily duped, but there are so many evil characters you never know which one is ultimately to blame. Until the end of course.

6. Even though the characters are the same, TGWPWF avoids becoming a formulaic series. This book is a different type of suspense novel than his last: you know who (prob) did it, but we wait to find out the interconnectedness of all the evil men. The effect is equally riveting--maybe even more so--as the straightforward suspense in TGWTDT.

7. I appreciate that the almost wholly plot-driven novel adds in a little layer of complexity through its anti-misogynist subtext.

This book is awesome. I don’t read a lot of suspense, but having bought into the ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ phenomenon, I eagerly attacked this book as soon as it was released in the US. My expectations were high—I really liked the first book and had heard that the follow up was even better. It totally was.

The pageturneriest page turner I’ve ever read.

5 out of 5 stars

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.