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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
Original review: https://holedupinabook.blogspot.com/2018/06/millennium-series-1-2-by-stieg-larsson.html
I watched the US version of this movie years ago and honestly, it’s probably one of the few movies where I have only watched it once yet I can recall almost perfectly some of the scenes in the film. So while I was reading the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I was able to pretty much recall each scene and compare it with the book. And this was especially vital because I believe the narrator (I listened to this series via audiobook) had a slight accent and with some of the names sounding really similar (to me, at least), it was really important for me to remember who everyone was via the movie instead.
However, that only worked with the first book…the second book gave me a much harder time and that’s actually one of the main reasons why I ended up dropping the third book. The books also had really slow beginnings so with me being somewhat lost with all of the names and the sudden scene changes, I was usually confused once the action started to happen. So by the time I reached the third book, I think my brain was really fatigued and I honestly wanted something a bit easier to listen to. Who knows, I might end up picking up the third book again but I think it would have to be a physical copy instead. But I definitely want to watch the Sweden version of the movies soon (just saw that they are on Netflix so score!)!
As for the characters, I can really relate to Lisbeth or, at least, connect with her in terms of her own moral compass. I can also really appreciate her personality – she’s quiet and reserved in some ways yet also incredibly ruthless if needed plus she is also a genius. I can see why she doesn’t have any friends because no one really understands her or cares to even try so when they do try, such as Mikael, she is taken off guard and her walls comes up. However, I do really enjoy the interactions they shared and how despite how much she pushes him away in the second book, he always tries his best to help her and his faith in her is solid. Honestly, I absolutely enjoyed reading about these two characters.
Overall, I do think that the books are solid but I would suggest reading them via a physical copy instead of audiobook versions. For me, I think I will watch the movies first and then go back and finish the series with a better understanding of who everyone is.
I watched the US version of this movie years ago and honestly, it’s probably one of the few movies where I have only watched it once yet I can recall almost perfectly some of the scenes in the film. So while I was reading the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I was able to pretty much recall each scene and compare it with the book. And this was especially vital because I believe the narrator (I listened to this series via audiobook) had a slight accent and with some of the names sounding really similar (to me, at least), it was really important for me to remember who everyone was via the movie instead.
However, that only worked with the first book…the second book gave me a much harder time and that’s actually one of the main reasons why I ended up dropping the third book. The books also had really slow beginnings so with me being somewhat lost with all of the names and the sudden scene changes, I was usually confused once the action started to happen. So by the time I reached the third book, I think my brain was really fatigued and I honestly wanted something a bit easier to listen to. Who knows, I might end up picking up the third book again but I think it would have to be a physical copy instead. But I definitely want to watch the Sweden version of the movies soon (just saw that they are on Netflix so score!)!
As for the characters, I can really relate to Lisbeth or, at least, connect with her in terms of her own moral compass. I can also really appreciate her personality – she’s quiet and reserved in some ways yet also incredibly ruthless if needed plus she is also a genius. I can see why she doesn’t have any friends because no one really understands her or cares to even try so when they do try, such as Mikael, she is taken off guard and her walls comes up. However, I do really enjoy the interactions they shared and how despite how much she pushes him away in the second book, he always tries his best to help her and his faith in her is solid. Honestly, I absolutely enjoyed reading about these two characters.
Overall, I do think that the books are solid but I would suggest reading them via a physical copy instead of audiobook versions. For me, I think I will watch the movies first and then go back and finish the series with a better understanding of who everyone is.
There is one main plot in the book, and a number of subplots. The main one is the head of the Vagner family asks a disgraced journalist, Blomkvist to undertake a assignment to write a family history of his family, but to also to see what he can discover about his niece who vanished without trace one day.
Having lost a libel case against a significant industrialist, he takes on the assignment, and starts to write the book as requested. As he studies and talks to the family he begins to notice tiny detail that were missed in the original investigation. He requests assistance, and he is recommended Lisbeth Salander, a uber geek with a photographic memory,. She is a strange character, she has suffer rape and abuse from an appointed guardian, and took revenge in a particularly unique way.
As their combined investigations start to uncover the real truth about members of the Vanger family, and find links between a series of murders and the family, they become targets for the ire of the individual behind the disappearance. This builds to the initial endings, and then Blomkvist seeks to extract the truth behind the company that libelled him.
This is a bit of a page turner! I managed to read it in just over a day.
There are some pretty graphic scenes in the book, that do not make the most pleasant of reading, but they are integral to the plot. It it a dark book with very little humour. I liked the character of Salander; she is strong and determined and at times vulnerable, she is reluctant to trust anyone, but her and Blomkvist seem to have something.
Will be reading the next one soon.
Having lost a libel case against a significant industrialist, he takes on the assignment, and starts to write the book as requested. As he studies and talks to the family he begins to notice tiny detail that were missed in the original investigation. He requests assistance, and he is recommended Lisbeth Salander, a uber geek with a photographic memory,. She is a strange character, she has suffer rape and abuse from an appointed guardian, and took revenge in a particularly unique way.
As their combined investigations start to uncover the real truth about members of the Vanger family, and find links between a series of murders and the family, they become targets for the ire of the individual behind the disappearance. This builds to the initial endings, and then Blomkvist seeks to extract the truth behind the company that libelled him.
This is a bit of a page turner! I managed to read it in just over a day.
There are some pretty graphic scenes in the book, that do not make the most pleasant of reading, but they are integral to the plot. It it a dark book with very little humour. I liked the character of Salander; she is strong and determined and at times vulnerable, she is reluctant to trust anyone, but her and Blomkvist seem to have something.
Will be reading the next one soon.
Mikael Blomkvist is the publisher of (and reporter for) Millennium, a magazine that's devoted to uncovering corruption. After a story goes bad (to the tune of a libel suit and jail sentence), he accepts an offer to investigate a missing person's case.
Harriet Vanger's been missing for decades. She disappeared from an island while the only way out was blocked due to a car accident. The man who hires Blomkvist was like a father to Harriet. He's pretty sure she's dead but he wants to know what happened and who was responsible. Eventually, he hires Lisbeth Salander, ace hacker and awesome person (but incredibly antisocial). (She's the girl with the dragon tattoo.)
I feel like this book took a ridiculous amount of time to get going but once Mikael arrives on the island, it becomes almost impossible to put down.
A lot's been made of the fact that the translation for the Swedish title is "Men Who Hate Women." And that's deserved, because there's a lot of violence toward women in this. So be aware that there are multiple rapes in here and also some pretty gruesome deaths. (It's not dwelled on, per se, but there are images in my head now--bad ones.)
I definitely want to read the other two and I hope that Stieg Larsson's family and girlfriend come to some sort of agreement so the fourth book can be completed and released.
Harriet Vanger's been missing for decades. She disappeared from an island while the only way out was blocked due to a car accident. The man who hires Blomkvist was like a father to Harriet. He's pretty sure she's dead but he wants to know what happened and who was responsible. Eventually, he hires Lisbeth Salander, ace hacker and awesome person (but incredibly antisocial). (She's the girl with the dragon tattoo.)
I feel like this book took a ridiculous amount of time to get going but once Mikael arrives on the island, it becomes almost impossible to put down.
A lot's been made of the fact that the translation for the Swedish title is "Men Who Hate Women." And that's deserved, because there's a lot of violence toward women in this. So be aware that there are multiple rapes in here and also some pretty gruesome deaths. (It's not dwelled on, per se, but there are images in my head now--bad ones.)
I definitely want to read the other two and I hope that Stieg Larsson's family and girlfriend come to some sort of agreement so the fourth book can be completed and released.
In the middle of book I thought that there must be additional title: "and they have a conversation for several hours".
But book is really good.
But book is really good.
Whew! This book was like a particularly unsettling striptease: the more that was revealed, the more horrified I got. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is one of the sickest books I've ever read, in every sense of the word.
I recommend this for readers who a) enjoy thrillers, and b) can get through A LOT of graphic discussion about sexual assault. Some of it, especially near the beginning, will seem gratuitous, but as you get further in the story, you'll understand why it was important to have it in there.
Oh, you'll be getting one of the most fascinating female characters in thrillerdom that I've encountered so far (even if she doesn't like labels, *snore*).
Well worth a read, especially in this day and age, where bastards who hate women get top seats in the government.
I recommend this for readers who a) enjoy thrillers, and b) can get through A LOT of graphic discussion about sexual assault. Some of it, especially near the beginning, will seem gratuitous, but as you get further in the story, you'll understand why it was important to have it in there.
Oh, you'll be getting one of the most fascinating female characters in thrillerdom that I've encountered so far (even if she doesn't like labels, *snore*).
Well worth a read, especially in this day and age, where bastards who hate women get top seats in the government.
I thought that this book got hype because it was groundbreaking or dramatic in some way. It wasn't. Instead of Sherlock Holmes's observations of different kinds of tobacco ash or Encyclopedia Brown knowing that a polar bear and a penguin do not belong in the same geographical exhibit, Lisbeth Salander's shtick is that she is a genius computer hacker, with contacts around the globe despite having no social skills, *and* has a photographic memory, *and,* despite minimal schooling, speaks at least two non-native languages (though Norwegian is maybe not so foreign for a Swede?) with her German unaccented. She's a fun character but she suffers from severe protagonistitis.
Left feeling distinctly meh about it. Man investigates an old disappearance and finds that he might have bitten off more than he can chew.
This is one of those books that always pops up in the Amazon suggestion list for me, so I thought I would take it out of the library and see what the fuss was all about.
While the start was very slow, and I wasn't too involved, I am glad I stayed with it. I loved the setting in Sweden, and I liked the challenge of reading a book in translation which still kept a lot of cultural references.
The plot was wonderful. I had about a hundred pages to finish and I just couldn't stop without knowing what had happened. So I stayed up until I finished it and was so happy that I did.
I think if you like foreign mystery/ thrillers, then this would be a good fun read.
While the start was very slow, and I wasn't too involved, I am glad I stayed with it. I loved the setting in Sweden, and I liked the challenge of reading a book in translation which still kept a lot of cultural references.
The plot was wonderful. I had about a hundred pages to finish and I just couldn't stop without knowing what had happened. So I stayed up until I finished it and was so happy that I did.
I think if you like foreign mystery/ thrillers, then this would be a good fun read.
Absolutely loved it. Definitely my favorite of the trilogy. (:
3.5 because of how slooow the beginning was and how draggy the ending was