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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
Has anyone read this book? I'm about 50 pages in and liking it so far. The writing style was so fun to read, and the characters seemed interesting, but I read several reviews that said there are some scenes of pretty gruesome violence and rape of women and children. I don't think I want to read it if that's the case. Anybody who's read it have anything to say to persuade me otherwise?
We just watched the movie this week, now I am skimming - not really reading - the book to see how they compare.
I don't really think it's fair to say I read this - I really did skim it in a couple of hours to see how it compared to the movie. (I think the movie was tighter, and less rambling in its tangents e.g. the Wennerstrom plotline.)
The graphic sexual violence seemed unnecessary to me - Lisbeth was clear as a character beforehand, I don't think a brutal rape was necessary to show me her character.
And to quote Zoje George's review, I agree that the "bad guys [...] are over the top bad (oh no, it's not good enough to have them be serial killers, but incestuous, abusive, multi-generational, religiously fanatical, ^Nazi^ serial killers!).
I don't want to read any more of the series, but I might watch the other movies.
I don't really think it's fair to say I read this - I really did skim it in a couple of hours to see how it compared to the movie. (I think the movie was tighter, and less rambling in its tangents e.g. the Wennerstrom plotline.)
The graphic sexual violence seemed unnecessary to me - Lisbeth was clear as a character beforehand, I don't think a brutal rape was necessary to show me her character.
And to quote Zoje George's review, I agree that the "bad guys [...] are over the top bad (oh no, it's not good enough to have them be serial killers, but incestuous, abusive, multi-generational, religiously fanatical, ^Nazi^ serial killers!).
I don't want to read any more of the series, but I might watch the other movies.
That was so good! A little slow towards the beginning but then I couldn't put the book down. I'm gonna say 4.5 since I'm not sure why it took like 150 pages to wrap up the story after the mystery was solved...
To be entirely honest, the only reason I was able to get through this book was because I listened to the audiobook version as I was driving.
The first 3rd or so of the book is not a very interesting summary of the economic situation in Sweden, as well as the backgrounds of the main characters. I had tried starting it a couple of times before I listened to it, and was never able to get passed the dry narrative that bounced back and forth between characters in a seemingly random manner.
However, once the actual mystery was presented and the characters came together, I found this book quite engaging. The story focused in on the main characters and the main plot point quite nicely, and following the steps they took to answer the many surprising questions that arose were enough to keep me listening to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed most of this book, and would recommend it, with the condition that you not be afraid to skip a few pages to get to the good stuff.
The first 3rd or so of the book is not a very interesting summary of the economic situation in Sweden, as well as the backgrounds of the main characters. I had tried starting it a couple of times before I listened to it, and was never able to get passed the dry narrative that bounced back and forth between characters in a seemingly random manner.
However, once the actual mystery was presented and the characters came together, I found this book quite engaging. The story focused in on the main characters and the main plot point quite nicely, and following the steps they took to answer the many surprising questions that arose were enough to keep me listening to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed most of this book, and would recommend it, with the condition that you not be afraid to skip a few pages to get to the good stuff.
Brilliant sequel. I do have to disagree with some "blurbs" I've read, though. I personally do not find these books impossible to put down once you've began to read them because in both the first book and this one, approximately the first third of the books were nearly painful to get through. After that, they were wonderful and difficult to put down, but I've had difficulty staying interested for the first part.
This book sheds light on Lisbeth's past, "All the Evil," and various relationships she's had with people (romantically and otherwise). Once the story gains momentum, it's packed with mystery and action that will have you gripping the edges of the book, furiously turning pages, and desperately trying to see what's coming next. I have to admit that I found one revelation very predictable, but I won't spoil it here.
This book sheds light on Lisbeth's past, "All the Evil," and various relationships she's had with people (romantically and otherwise). Once the story gains momentum, it's packed with mystery and action that will have you gripping the edges of the book, furiously turning pages, and desperately trying to see what's coming next. I have to admit that I found one revelation very predictable, but I won't spoil it here.
This was a great book overall. A gripping plot with likable characters, I read this on my vacation to Virgina and I managed to finish it in that week. I can't wait till I read the second one.
This book is the strongest in the series to me. We now know all the players, we understand the game, and we're watching everything play out, hoping for some kind of resolution. This book builds on everything before it and it pulls all the puzzle pieces together to form a coherent, if not totally complete, picture. And while there are things that were not addressed and probably never will be, I still feel satisfied with the conclusion; like everything has come full circle.
Even though the book is long — I feel like I was reading for a solid 12 hours, and I don't believe that's an exaggeration — it did not lag whatsoever. From the moment it started, it just went. It immediately resumes where the last one left off, and there is no break in pace from beginning to end. I can't recall at any point feeling like I was bored, even in parts of the story where not a lot is happening.
Now, I'm going to talk about the trilogy as a whole.
Stieg Larsson has a very unique writing style, he writes in a way where you are put into the mindset of the individual characters without reading the story from the character's individual perspective. Within the narrative, he includes very mundane details about the characters' daily activities, but it seems to lend itself very well to the story. Do I need to know exactly what someone is wearing or how they take their coffee? Not necessarily, but I don't mind it. It does not derail or otherwise take away from the story itself. In fact, it does feels kind of prudent to include some of these small details, as they in a way, form our basis for understanding these characters.
An issue I have with the writing is that Larsson seems to portray men in a very specific black or white way. There seems to be two type of men that exist in this world; the men who think all women are stupid b*tches, c**ts, or whores; and the men who think women are beautiful, capable and intelligent creatures. He does not seem to entertain the idea that there are some men who fall somewhere in between the two. And while that strict "good" guy versus "bad" guy schema works overall, it feels somewhat lazy to me; it is an oversimplified representation. It comes to a point when you just put characters into the one of the two groups, even though many times, as is especially the case in this last book, they fall somewhat outside of either.
But on the other hand, I do love the way women are portrayed in these books. With a few exceptions, all the women are intelligent and strong, capable of doing things a man can and willing to put themselves into situations where they'll have to face scrutiny and judgement for being a woman in a man's world. Lisbeth is every bit the physical representation of feminine weakness, but she proves time and time again that she is both physically and intellectually capable, if not exceptional, and that any presumptions you make about her can and will be your downfall.
I think the story itself is interesting, but I am most impressed by the characters. Larsson was not a perfect writer and the Millenium trilogy is not perfect, but it is definitely worth reading, and I am glad that I did.
Even though the book is long — I feel like I was reading for a solid 12 hours, and I don't believe that's an exaggeration — it did not lag whatsoever. From the moment it started, it just went. It immediately resumes where the last one left off, and there is no break in pace from beginning to end. I can't recall at any point feeling like I was bored, even in parts of the story where not a lot is happening.
Now, I'm going to talk about the trilogy as a whole.
Stieg Larsson has a very unique writing style, he writes in a way where you are put into the mindset of the individual characters without reading the story from the character's individual perspective. Within the narrative, he includes very mundane details about the characters' daily activities, but it seems to lend itself very well to the story. Do I need to know exactly what someone is wearing or how they take their coffee? Not necessarily, but I don't mind it. It does not derail or otherwise take away from the story itself. In fact, it does feels kind of prudent to include some of these small details, as they in a way, form our basis for understanding these characters.
An issue I have with the writing is that Larsson seems to portray men in a very specific black or white way. There seems to be two type of men that exist in this world; the men who think all women are stupid b*tches, c**ts, or whores; and the men who think women are beautiful, capable and intelligent creatures. He does not seem to entertain the idea that there are some men who fall somewhere in between the two. And while that strict "good" guy versus "bad" guy schema works overall, it feels somewhat lazy to me; it is an oversimplified representation. It comes to a point when you just put characters into the one of the two groups, even though many times, as is especially the case in this last book, they fall somewhat outside of either.
But on the other hand, I do love the way women are portrayed in these books. With a few exceptions, all the women are intelligent and strong, capable of doing things a man can and willing to put themselves into situations where they'll have to face scrutiny and judgement for being a woman in a man's world. Lisbeth is every bit the physical representation of feminine weakness, but she proves time and time again that she is both physically and intellectually capable, if not exceptional, and that any presumptions you make about her can and will be your downfall.
I think the story itself is interesting, but I am most impressed by the characters. Larsson was not a perfect writer and the Millenium trilogy is not perfect, but it is definitely worth reading, and I am glad that I did.
I'm giving this book two reviews:
On the one hand, it's an entertaining closed-door murder mystery that builds (slowly at first) to an explosion. For this, it's good but not great.
On the other hand, it introduces us to Lisbeth Salander, who is one of the most impressive feminist heroines I've seen in modern literature. For that, I'd give it 5 stars.
On the one hand, it's an entertaining closed-door murder mystery that builds (slowly at first) to an explosion. For this, it's good but not great.
On the other hand, it introduces us to Lisbeth Salander, who is one of the most impressive feminist heroines I've seen in modern literature. For that, I'd give it 5 stars.
I can't even warrant a full review of this, but wow, what a let down. Terrible prose, uninteresting characters, way too much information and set up, way too many side characters to keep track of, and frankly the titular girl wasn't this kickass model of female empowerment everyone touted her to be. She had some great moments, but once she turned to mush with Mikael and was relegated to little more than the love interest in the ~daring drama~ that is Mikael Blomkvist's life (fun fact: his name is Swedish for "uninteresting fuck who people inexplicably love at every turn"; look it up). Perhaps had I seen this before the movie, I would have been more invested; but this is a book that relies so heavily on its underlying mystery that nothing else can stand up on its own. The writing is bland and basic; the characters are cardboard cutouts; everyone is falling all over themselves for Mikael--he has sex with no less than three women in the book and I still do not understand why they were attracted to him. Lisbeth spends half the novel not even involved (a half which was exponentially more interesting than anything going on with Mikael or the insane, sprawling Vanger family). By the time I got to the big reveal, I frankly didn't care about anyone involved, anything they were doing, or anything that had happened. I just wanted to finish the damn book. I couldn't even make myself do that.
