Photo by philippe leroyer used under a Creative Commons license.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Knopf, 2008).
Mikael Blomkvist is a disgraced financial journalist, convicted on libel charges to which he did not offer a defense. Lisbeth Salander is a tattooed and a social private investigator, a hacker and an orphan. Before long, Larsson has them both working to solve a decades-old mystery, the disappearance of a teenaged scion of a wealthy family of Swedish industrialists. The plot is ever so much more complicated, but Blomkvist and Salander are equal to the task. Many of the locations are real, but much happens in a fictitious town on the coast of Norrland.
Here is Wikipedia’s page about Larsson, who died suddenly before the book was published. Here is the official Larsson site. Reg Keeland, the translator, has a new blog. NPR has this excerpt. Here are reviews — beware of spoilers! Joan Smith (The Times) says it deserves most of the hype. Maxine Clarke (Euro Crime) very much enjoyed it. Maureen Corrigan (Fresh Air) liked it. Jonathan Gibbs (The Independent) says it never feels like a by-the-numbers thriller. John Baker says it’s a strange novel; like me, he was unable to put it down. Neither could Pop Culture Nerd. Alex Berenson (The New York Times) thinks it ends blandly. The Complete Review calls it a very good second-rate novel; they also link to many reviews I don’t. Here are more links. Graham Beattie says, what a triumph. Rebecca thinks it defies the cliches of its genre. Sharon Wheeler sees a stunning achievement. Sue Arnold (The Guardian) says Larsson threatens to knock Henning Mankell off his throne. Peter calls it another great Swedish crime novel. Larissa Kyzer (3%) sees a critique of Sweden’s social-welfare state. Macy Halford chatted with New Yorker colleagues about the book. Barbara Fister locates some neat parallels. Myron really enjoyed it. WhereDunnit mapped locations in the book. Keith says it’s a fine one. Tom Cunliffe thought it too long. Semi Dweller says, believe the hype. Kerrie says it deserves the accolades. Pat Gray says it will keep you riveted. Material Witness writes about on-line debates about the book. Mack links to reviews he liked. Likewise, Maxine has all sorts of good links. Anuradha Sengupta says Lisbeth is the real hero. Martin Edwards sees a fascinating and innovative blend of story lines. Marg liked the plot’s complexity. Gwen Dawson thought it was a little too long. Cate Ross wasn’t overwhelmed. Nor was John Talbott. PopinFresh loved it. S. Krishna’s expectations were surpassed. Lit*Chick has a clip of an interview with Knopf’s Sonny Mehta. Martha Woodroof reported for NPR on how it became a U.S. bestseller. And you can watch the trailers for the forthcoming movie! There are many more reviews out there — please feel free to link to good ones in the comments.
January 30, 2009 at 11:48 am
Lovely post. Glad you got around to this author. Thank you for the link to my review on Euro Crime – I trust no spoilers contained within!
January 30, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Most of these reviews have no spoilers, but if you read too many at once the cumulative effect is quite different. I don’t usually like to read reviews much before I read a book, but I love to read them after I’m done. Thanks for the nice words.
January 30, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I, too, love reading reviews after reading the book!
Thank you for commenting at my blog – I responded to your comment but in case you don’t see that, I will repeat it here if you don’t mind:
Thanks so much for popping by, Mr or Ms H. I love your blog – I’ll check out the others you mention. What drew me to yours is that you cover some crime fiction, which I love reading, particularly books that convey a strong sense of place, as so many do, and are hence appropriate for your blog. A few of us have an online discussion here: http://friendfeed.com/rooms/crime-and-mystery-fiction. You are welcome to join us for many “placeist” discussions – most recently, the Sicily of Camilleri, an author you have reviewed.
One of my recent-ish experiences was (re-)reading Cannery Row while in and around Big Sur and Monterey. A wonderful experience!
(I think you might enjoy our Friend Feed room, as it is very focused on reading, and we often discuss the same book over again via different reviews of it. Not always Stieg Larsson but quite often just at the moment! Quite a few of the links in your post here are to posts by people in that Friend Feed group).
Best wishes, and keep blogging – it is a lovely blog.
October 24, 2009 at 5:42 am
I quite enjoyed reading all 3 Millennium novels( in translation ), but I agree they could’ve done with a good dose of serious editing before being published. Larsson does not impress me much as an accomplished thriller writer and his often superfluous attention to needless detail shows the investigative journalist he was.
Just saw the movie made from part 1 and I think it blows the book right out of the water. The script should have been the book 😉
Finally I’d like to contribute this : http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirstykomuso/sets/72157622096478500/
December 17, 2009 at 5:18 pm
While at a previous time tattoos were more well-liked by men, in recent times tattoos have becoming more popular with ladies as well.
March 4, 2010 at 2:34 am
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