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| The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | 
 enlarge | Author: Stieg Larsson
Creator: Reg Keeland
Publisher: Quercus
Category: Book
List Price: $27.01
Buy New: $22.75
You Save: $4.26 (16%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 350053
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1847246761
EAN: 9781847246769
ASIN: 1847246761
Publication Date: July 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
A Swedish whodunnit that will make you miss appointments January 29, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
I bought this book because of its good reviews, because I love Sweden, and because I'd read about the sad and premature death of its author.
I don't often read mysteries, but this one had me hooked pretty quickly. You can't help being sorry that there will be no more new books from Larsson, but it's a relief to know there are two more books to come in this trilogy, because the characters he created are strong enough to carry that many and more. It's like having a wonderful first course and knowing there are still two to go.
Mikael Blomqvist is a complex protagonist, dogged, humane, flawed and sometimes insecure. His sidekick, the resourceful Lisbeth Salander, who hates to be compared to Pippi Longstocking (thereby making the comparison for us), is even more complicated. Personally, I liked her, and I'm intrigued to know more about her, which will hopefully happen in the next two books.
Plot-wise, this kept me guessing right to the end, with many satisfying twists and surprises. The writing is plain and unadorned, but with a story like this you really don't need lyricism.
All I can say is, I hope the translator is working fast on the sequels!
 Cats go their own way January 14, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is my first Larsson mystery and not my last. He's as sociologically interesting as Mankell and Indridasen, far more byzantine but less dark. I thought I knew the killer and where the body went half way through but was only close, as in horseshoes. Also, the hero is (compared with Kurt Wallander) in good shape athletically and is not deprived of appropriate sexual company. The weakness of the story is that the too-perfect feats of the anorexic, sociopathic super-woman are too often not at all believable, but this doesn't kill the effect, the book is a very good mystery. The ending has similarities with a modern Swedish fairy tale, 'Naer Maanen gick foerbi' by Alfredson and Aahlin. Unfortunately, we cannot ask the author if he read that tale, he died young of a massive heart attack in 2004 after a life of work as an anti-racism, anti-fascism expert. the latter topic appears in this mystery.
This review is based on the Norwegian translation 'Menn som hater Kvinner'. The English title should have been "Men who hate women'.
This Swedish bestseller deserves to be a blockbuster here too. August 25, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
A 24-year-old computer hacker sporting an assortment of tattoos and body piercings and afflicted with Asperger Syndrome or something of the like has been under state guardianship in her native Sweden since she was thirteen. She supports herself by doing deep background investigations for Dragan Armansky, who, in turn, worries the anorexic-looking Lisbeth Salander is "the perfect victim for anyone who wished her ill." Salander may look fourteen and stubbornly shun social norms, but she possesses the inner strength of a determined survivor. She sees more than her word processor page in black and white and despises the users and abusers of this world. She won't hesitate to exact her own unique brand of retribution against small-potatoes bullies, sick predators, and corrupt magnates alike.
Financial journalist Carl Mikael Blomkvist has just been convicted of libeling a financier and is facing a fine and three months in jail. Blomkvist, after a Salander-completed background check, is summoned to a meeting with semi-retired industrialist Henrik Vanger whose far-flung but shrinking corporate empire is wholly family owned. Vanger has brooded for 36 years about the fate of his great niece, Harriet. Blomkvist is expected to live for a year on the island where many Vanger family members still reside and where Harriet was last seen. Under the cover story that he is writing a family history, Blomkvist is to investigate which family member might have done away with the teenager.
So, the stage is set. The reader easily guesses early that somehow Blomkvist and Salander will pool their talents to probe the Vanger mystery. However,Swede Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is no humdrum, formulaic whodunit. It is fascinating and very difficult to put down. Nor is it without some really suspenseful and chillingly ugly scenes....
The issue most saturating The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is that of shocking sexual violence primarily against women but not excluding men. Salander and Blomkvist both confront prima facie evidence of such crimes. Larsson's other major constituent elements are corporate malfeasance that threatens complete collapse of stock markets and anarchistic distrust of officialdom to the point of endorsing (at least, almost) vigilantism. He also deals with racism as he spins a complex web from strands of real and imagined history concerning mid-twentieth century Vanger affiliations with Sweden's fascist groups.
But Larsson's carefully calibrated tale is more than a grisly, cynical world view of his country and the modern world at large. At its core, it is an fascinating character study of a young woman who easily masters computer code but for whom human interaction is almost always more trouble than it is worth, of an investigative reporter who chooses a path of less resistance than Salander but whose humanity reaches out to many including her, and of peripheral characters -- such as Armansky -- who need more of their story told.
Fortunately, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in English translation will be followed by two more in the Millennium series: The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Air Castle that Blew Up. I can't wait. Larsson also made a 200-page start on a fourth book, but sadly he succumbed to a heart attack in 2004 and his father decided the unfinished work will remain unpublished.
I recommend this international bestseller to all who eagerly sift new books for challenging intellectual crime thrillers, who luxuriate in immersing themselves in the ambience of a compellingly created world and memorable characters, who soak up financial and investigative minutiae as well as computer hacking tidbits, and who want to share Larsson's crusade against violence and racism.
For burnt out readers of American mysteries looking for a change of pace... August 20, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
After rave reviews in Europe, this book is finally coming to the US with much fanfare. American readers of literary fiction who also enjoy a whodunnit mystery will appreciate the multiple plot lines that interweave as the characters lives intersect. The primary plot concerns Mikhail Blomkvist, who as a disgraced reporter begins the investigation of a cold case murder. As he digs deeper into the history of the victim's family, he uncovers dark personal and financial secrets within the family. Of course because this is a thriller someone is not happy that these secrets may see the light of day and sets out to stop him.
The cause of the Mikhail's disgrace is another mystery, and is the focus of the beginning and end of the novel. Unfortunately the first hundred pages or so are the slowest. The family history is complicated, and I found it necessary to frequently refer to the family tree printed in the beginning of the ARC I was reading. Only once Mikhail partners with the girl with the dragon tattoo who helps solve these mysteries does the pacing of the book pick up speed, and it does so exponentially. At times this book was difficult to put down.
This book has received much praise by critics in Europe because of the commentaries it makes about race relations, financial corruption, and misogyny in Sweden. As an American reader with virtually no knowledge about Sweden I did feel that my ignorance made me not appreciate some aspects of this book fully. However, the fascinating characters and complex plot lines should be enough to win over a wide American audience for this book. Highly recommended for mystery readers looking for a smart and original read - it should appeal to fans of Sharp Objects.
This book is so addictive that it should come with a warning! January 14, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Yes, it's that good.
Journalist Mikael Blomquist is hired by a business tycoon to investigate what happened to his nice who vanished a long time ago. He teams up with hacker Lisbet Salander, who is a great character.
Imagine a story that diggs into the one family's darkest seacret. A story that makes twists and turns you wouldn't expect. And imagine a grown up Pippi Longstocking teaming up with journalist Blomquist to solve the mystery.
This is one of the best mystery books ever written. This is blockbuster material. Be patient through the first chapters, before the story really takes off. It will be well worth it!
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