The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)
My rating:

Wow! I can’t remember the last time I read a book quite this fast. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was GREAT!

Mikael Blomkvist is a financial reporter for Millenium. He gets torn down by a major financier after publishing an article that gets him in prison for libel.

Lisbeth Salander is a tattooed and pierced asocial young woman, who “has issues”. She works as a private investigator, and happens to be Sweden’s best.

Henrik Vanger is an old man. He wants to know who killed his granddaughter Harriet some 40 years ago. Will Blomkvist be able to solve this decade long mystery?

This turned out to be a suspenseful thriller, an absolute page-turner. I got properly freaked out at times. I loved the pace of this book, nicely reflecting the time, characters and places.

What also sets this book aside from other great thrillers is the writer’s pursuit of causes he finds important:
1. The strengths and shortcomings of the guardianship system in Sweden;
2. Violence against women, backed up with true facts and figures; I got the impression that Larsson was a feminist.
3. Nazism - The pervasive forces of eugenist thinking, and the horrific crimes committed in its name. (My thoughts: it seems that time and time again, we practice the well trodden paths of the superior/inferior polarisation of society, be it through race, strength, social status, politics, gender or money. We find it morally wrong and vilifying. Yet, we keep coming back to it. Why?)

The ending is bittersweet and raw. There’s a taste of revenge, and I personally grew to like the protagonists, so imperfectly human.

Clocking up at over 500 pages, this is my 3rd big book of the summer (#bigBookSummer) hosted by Sue at Book by Book! This was better than the film - thank you for the tip, Sue!

View all my reviews

Comments

  1. Sue Jackson14 September 2020 at 22:43

    Oh, I didn't remember that you read this one this summer, too! So glad you enjoyed it - he was an outstanding writer, and it is such a great series. Sounds like you are ready for book 2 :) My husband has read the additional books in the series (4 and beyond) written by another author after Stieg died, and he says those are very good, too. Maybe next year for Big Book Summer for me?

    Sue

    Book By Book

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  2. Elinor13 October 2020 at 21:30

    Hi Sue,

    I've just realised I have been missing comments for some reason so apologies for my protracted response. Yes, I thouroughly enjoyed this book, but wasn't quick enough to finish it during your Summer Challenge.

    I'm currently reading the third volume and unsure whether I'll read volumes 4+ - I love the fact that Larsson raises issues that make these books so much more than thrillers!

    I'll definitely be keeping some bigger books for next summer too as really enjoyed your challenge :-).

    Elinor

    ReplyDelete

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