If you’ve been living in a literary cave for the past year or so you might have somehow missed hearing about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. It is actually a series of three books, the other’s being The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. The author Larsson was Swedish, so the books were translated from Swedish and take place there as well. Larsson actually died shortly after delivering the three books to his publisher, Random House/Knopf. The books are centered around two characters Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Bloomkvist. Salander is a young, super petite, “alternative” living, social outcast who specializes in computer hacking and private investigating. Bloomkvist is a respected middle aged investigative journalist. The stories are a mix of mystery and thrillers. Each book is around 600 pages, and can be a little dense at times, but overall are very entertaining. They are a great “summer/beach” read, or perfect with a cup of coffee (you’ll understand that reference if you’ve read the books). I’ve been lugging my copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest on the train against my better judgment, but now I’m too engrossed in the story to not use my hour of train reading everyday on it. Books two and three are not continuations of the first plot line, but having the background knowledge of the characters and their relationship is helpful when reading the other books. Also I think you need to know the first plot because you won’t be sympathetic to the characters without it. I’m currently 1/3 of the way through the last book, and I know Natalie starting reading the second book recently..
I don’t want to get into the plot because it can be rather complicated, and I don’t want to give anything away, but if your intrigued you can start with the movie version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is a foreign film in Swedish now streaming on Netflix. The movie is pretty close to the original story, leaving out some of the slower parts of the book. You won’t recognize any of the actors in the film unless your quite familiar with native Swedish actors, but the movie is good. The plot is a little twisted, so if you’re the sensitive type, maybe this isn’t the story for you, but I would give it a shot. Soon Hollywood is going to remake the first movie. I’m really hoping it doesn’t suck as much as the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Both of those Dan Brown books were super entertaining, and in theory should be great movies, but it just did not translate. I’m already skeptical about the supposed casting of Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth is supposed to a super petite, flat chested, black haired, goth dressed girl with lots of tattoos. I thought the Swedish actress was pretty spot on, but I’ve heard rumors that they’ve casted Carey Mulligan, who is a cute little English rose, and doesn’t look nearly tough enough for the part. I’ll wait to pass judgment until I see the film because as well all know a little bit of costume and make up can do wonders with a great actor, but as is usually the case, the films are never as good as the books. So my suggestion is read it! It’s better than watching reruns on TV.
Looks like she would have a dragon tatoo...
Doesn't look like she would have a dragon tattoo...
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