Guest post by Loki

A novel from Stieg Larrson.

A little bit of a spoiler warning, some of the story will be revealed but the major plot will not be revealed.

Something a little different this time and not political. After hearing all the hype about this novel I decided to purchase the book. It has been lying in a pile of other books waiting to be read. Recently I saw the TV ads promoting the movie. I decided it was time to knuckle down and read the book before the movie ruined the novel.

I learned many years ago that books of about 150 pages make a good 2 hour movie. Any books longer than that can never be covered fairly in a movie. The upcoming movie will not even come close to covering this novel. I doubt a 10 hour mini-series could get close. This is not a simple book.

First off there are many plots and sub plots revealed. There are affairs, lawsuits, libel, jail time, mysteries and murders. And the large number of characters can have the reader racking their brains trying to remember which character is which. To add to the confusion most of the names are Swedish (it is a Swedish novel translated) and many assumptions are made that the reader is familiar with Sweden and local customs and values.

Although the book is touted as a murder-mystery-thriller at times it seems more like a character study of Swedish morals. The story follows journalist Mikael Blomkvist through most of a year. After publishing a libelous story and followed by a lawsuit conviction he is about to lose his job, his business and spend time in jail. He is approached by a rich patriarch seeking to have a decade’s old murder of his niece solved before his death.

The character is interesting and the plot is compulsive. And it is not a real mystery as the reader is not expected to try to solve the murder. But the most interesting character in the book is Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Yet she is only one of many main characters in the book. But she is by far the most compelling and interesting. She is an extremely damaged woman with what could be described as asocial behavior bordering on being a psychopath who may have Asperger disorder. A woman who has created her own moral standards while trying to live within societies confines and avoid consequences imposed by society. I found myself wishing to read more about her. But that I fear will have to wait for the second book in this trilogy.

I recommend that anyone interested in this book read it soon especially if you are planning on seeing the movie. For I fear the movie would ruin the book should you try to read it afterwards. Because the movie will be unable to even approximate the depth of the book. I give the book 3 out of 4 stars.

As to me, I have made myself a cup of hot chocolate and started reading “The Girl Who Played with Fire”.