Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is based on the mysterious disappearance of Harriet Vanger. In the 1960's young Harriet vanished without a trace from her family's island during a horrible fire that blocked the only bridge to the mainland. Harriet's disappearance still haunts her now elderly uncle, Henrik Vanger. Over the last 40 years, Henrik has used all of his power and wealth to try to find any clue of what happened that tragic day.  If Henrik is certain of one thing, it is that Harriet was murdered. As one last attempt to solve the case, Henrik has hired Blomkvist, a journalist whom is under investigation himself, to end the case once and for all. Blomkvist reluctantly sets out to unravel the mystery with the help of Lisbeth Salander, an eccentric computer specialist. But they quickly find that there is more to the case then meets the eye. Blomkvist and Salander find themselves venturing further and further into the Vanger family history and discover the risks involved.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is currently one of the most wildly acclaimed and popular novels of the year. In more than 800 pages, Steig has created a compelling and complex mystery with multi-dimensional characters. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a striking novel. Just when I was thinking there wasn't anything new on the horizon, along comes Stieg Larsson with this wonderfully unique story. I was completely absorbed." -Michael Connelly  

I agree that this novel was written with intelligence, that the characters were wonderfully developed, and the scope of the mystery was mind-boggling. However, I give this book a Thumbs Down for one important reason: it did not keep my attention. The first 150 pages were completely boring and unnecessary. A novel like this should begin with a bang not an essay about the Swedish economy. I felt like I was reading a business textbook. Then the book started picking up speed. But even then I found a lot of redundancies such as overdrawn descriptions and side stories of no real importance. I was disappointed by this book. I like authors to get to the point and to constantly peak my interest. I think this book would have deserved a Thumbs Up of it was half its length.

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4 comments:

  1. i started reading this book long ago...thought what you thought and put it down (who has time when there's such other pleasurable things to read! :D)...but, if it starts to get good...i'll pick it back up! :)

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  2. I feel like I should read this book since it's so widely acclaimed and recommended. But...I just can't do it. I'll just chalk it up to another bestseller I won't get around to. Bravo for attempting it!

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  3. kstar . . . That was the only reason I wanted to read it (because it is so popular) even though I am not really into mystery-type novels. It did start horribly but the author is really talented and writes intelligently. The depth of the case and the characters is insane.

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  4. Stephanie M. Hasty . . . I'm glad my review has inspired you to try it again. I does get a lot better towards the end. As for me, I think I will stick to watching the movie adaptions.

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