06 June 2010

Dragon Tattoo and Played with Fire

I read this book, the first in a trilogy by deceased author Stieg Larsson, and while the opinions were varied at the book club meeting, I loved this page-turning adventure. Many did not like the violence, but I felt it served a purpose in exposing violence against women. And at times, it was personally satisfying - when you read it, you will understand - let's just say someone had it coming!


In particular, I fell in love with computer hacker, bad girl, Lisabeth Salander ,who is one of two main characters. She is unique and has a nasty past as a ward of the state. She is on her own now and teams up with Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist who has been sued for slander. Together they solve a decades old murder mystery under extreme conditions. Blomkvist brings out the best in Salander, who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.


There are other supporting characters who are equally intriguing. When I finished the book, I could not wait to read the second book in the trilogy.


TITLE: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
AUTHOR: Stieg Larsson
TRANSLATOR: Reg Keeland
COPYRIGHT: 2009
PAGES: 608
TYPE: Scandinavian ficton, crime
RECOMMEND: I loved it.

Althought this second book had a different feel to it, Ther Girl who Played with Fire, was excellent in its own way. What I liked the best was slowly learning more about Lisbeth Salander. She has been hiding out and spending her secret stash of money for two years since she worked with Blomkvist. But three murders finds her before Blomkvist and she is implicated.

While the first book in the Millenium Trilogy focused on the abuse of women, this book seems to take an indepth look at the sex trade and how women are caught up in this nightmare. Perhaps Salander has too much information. I know that I could not stop reading until the duo figured it out. Sadly, the end of the book finds Salander almost dead with Blomkvist hoping he found her soon enough to save her. I cannot wait until I can run out and get the final book.

TITLE: The Girl who Played with Fire
AUTHOR: Stieg Larsson
TRANSLATOR: Reg Keeland
COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 630
TYPE: Scandinavian fiction
RECOMMENDATION: I loved it too!

2 comments:

Kate said...

Great review - these have been on my TBR list and I'm excited to get to them.

There's an award for you at Kate's Library!

Anonymous said...

I started reading the first one a while back but couldn't get into it as. Perhaps I will try again some other time. Your review of it makes it sound really good.