Book: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

[elusivek]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Stieg Larsson
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Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

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To be absolutely honest, I didn’t really like this book. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t live up to the hype from a couple years back. A colleague saw me reading this and commented that the movie is better than the book, but since I haven’t watched the movie either, I can’t make a decision.

I have a few issues with the writing, but I’m not sure if it’s just the translation or if it indeed is that way even in its original language.

There were perhaps, too many scattered plot lines? The English title obviously refers to Lisbeth but the book isn’t exactly about her. Upon finishing the book, I think the original Swedish title should fit the story better. And I kind of think the book focused more on Blomkvist than Lisbeth... Heck, her dragon tattoo was only mentioned once, I think, whereas I saw mention of her wasp tattoo twice at least. But I digress.

I also understand that when in conversation, the characters may call each other by first or last names, depending on how well they know each other. I however, caught twice (I think it was just twice) where the narration switched from Blomkvist to Mikael for no apparent reason. I think it was even in the same chapter, so I’m not sure if it was a... author forgot to unify, translation forgot to unify, or what.

For some reason I knew all along the outcome of the Harriett story. I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Though having Blomkvist’s kid give that hint for his breakthrough was a bit... convenient? Cliche? Predictable? I dunno.

I know this is a series... but I’m not sure I’m convinced to go on reading the series...