I just finished Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Warning, if you have not read the book and are planning to read it, I am going to include spoilers in this post. Huh. I just read on Wiki that the original title in Swedish is Men Who Hate Women–which is a much more apt title. Anyway.
I have had several people recommend this book to me, and I have been intrigued by what I’ve heard. Plus, I enjoy the mystery genre very much, and I enjoy mysteries set in other countries, and there were tattoos! (At least, I assumed there would be). This book sounded tailor-made for me. Because I was going to read it, I didn’t look to see what it was about. I rather not read blurbs if I know for sure I am going to read a book. If only I had read a bit about it beforehand. Then again, I just read the Wiki entry, and it wouldn’t have been enough to put me off my feed. A pet peeve of mine, but I will get to it later.
Now, I bought the book some time ago. And I meant to read it at the time; I really did. However, I kept putting it off, and then, I never read it. Then, the books and the movies became a sensation, and I felt compelled to pull out the book and read it. Someone at BJ jokingly asked if I was one of Lisbeth Salander’s alter egos (titular character). Briefly, Stieg Larsson wrote three books (his Millennium trilogy) before dying. People have mourned that he hadn’t been able to write more. Intrigued, I dug out the book and started reading.
The first thirty pages were deadly dull. I struggled to get through them, and I almost put the book down several times. However, I plowed through, and I was soon glad I did. The story really picked up steam, and the introduction of Lisbeth Salander was…well, let me put it this way. I have not identified with a character like this in some time–and, that’s not necessarily a good thing.
I’m going to get all spoilery below the fold, so again, if you want to read the book without knowing what happens, leave now.