The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [Kindle Edition]

I have just finished reading this book which was recommended to me by a friend. As someone who is not usually a crime fiction fan (I certainly never buy them), I was not very enthusiastic about it but had some curiousity because of the rave reviews it was getting in other areas also. I found the beginning of the book a bit tedious and was starting to think it was not for me, but, all of a sudden, it got a grip and I found that I was most reluctant to put it down! I have now had the satisfaction of finishing it this morning after a record reading time. I found the book most entertaining, evoking many differing emotions - suspense, disgust, intrigue, and some laughs also. The location being in Sweden was interesting and the translation certainly did not affect the impact of the storytelling. The two main characters were likeable and I grew fond of them and found myself caring about them. The author certainly can reach the reader and at the end, my main emotion was one of satisfaction. I certainly intend to the read his other two books.
Jean Ross

Okay...I admit it...I just don't get the whole Stieg Larsson hysteria. After all the hype, I had been relishing getting stuck into this - but in the end I just thought it was a very average thriller. I've tried to be objective about it - maybe I was affected by the hyperbole, maybe I was in the wrong mood, maybe I expected too much, maybe, maybe, maybe...but when all's said and done, I don't think any of that was the case. At the risk of committing literary heresy, I just think this is a not-very-good thriller. There. I've said it.

I know it's a worldwide phenomenon. I know I'm in a minority. But I didn't like it. There are plenty of people who will disagree with me - and Lord knows, it's just one opinion - but I honestly can't put my hand on my heart and say it was even okay.

Whilst I thought the premise was promising (eccentric tycoon commissions disgraced investigative journalist to solve a 40-year-old mysterious disappearance), the plotting was leaden, most of the characters irredeemably unlikeable (with the possible exception of Salander) and the sub-plots completely detached and irrelevant.

I'm not going to be so crass as to suggest how the late Larsson might have written it differently - I'm not qualified to do that - but I do think I was forced to spend an unholy amount of time at the start being given reasons to dislike the central character Michael Blomqvist, finding out more than I needed to know (in the context of relevance to the core storyline) about how he came to commit the libel that will ultimately land him in prison and generally being taken through a series of scenarios and situations that, I discovered, have little, if anything, to do with the key plot.

It's not even as though the story (or finale) is remarkably unique. Whilst it's true to say the solution to the puzzle isn't obvious, neither is it so outlandishly surprising or shocking that it redeems the turgidity of some of what precedes it.

In truth, I feel somewhat silly writing all this. Surely I must be missing something? Talking to my father, who loved it, I can't avoid the creeping suspicion that I have overlooked some aspect or element of the book that has elicited the oohs and ahhs of appreciation that I have heard from so many others. If it's there, then I am either horribly under-appreciative, fiendishly difficult to please or simply stupid. Or perhaps everyone else is a gullible victim of publisher rhetoric. The only way to judge is to read it for yourself.

My overall impression of `The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' is positive and I will remember a lot of the strong aspects of the writing, notably the unique characterisation and the Nordic backdrop described. Central to the plot are Kalle' Blomquist, a journalist convicted of libel who serves out his penance between jail and the isolated wilds of Norrland + Lisbeth Salander, an expert system hacker and all-round investigator. Blomquist is employed to investigate the unsolved disappearance of Harriet Vanger in the 1960's. At first he is not really interested but as Blomquist delves into the complex layers of the horrible Vanger dynasty he picks up clues that will ultimately lead to the truth, amid a Silence of the Lambs tale of horror. The social misfit Salander is the star of the book; a complex irrational character who joins up with Blomquist after originally being employed to investigate him. Together the expose the horrible truth and then set about taking down the corrupt businessman that Blomquist had supposedly libelled. It is a bleak tale with no clean cut heroes - Blomquist is clever but lacking in common sense and with awkward social skills in dealing with women. There is a struggle in reading the book where the narrative is over descriptive and long winded, particularly early on when adapting to the style. Sometimes you know what is coming but it takes five extra pages to get there through the extra unnecessary passages. Will have a break before reading the next book - The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium Trilogy)

I would advise persevering with the early chapters and wait for the hook the draws you into this harrowing tale.