the girl with the dragon tattoo

This book.... I don't know exactly what to say about it. I think it was interesting but very disturbing at the same time. It was too graphic and horrific for me. I do have to say that it was written well, it had a good plot with an excellent mystery and it was riveting (except for the first 100 or so pages in my humble opinion).


The plot summary (stolen from Amazon.com):


Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. --Dave Callanan


What it doesn't say here is that the book is sexually explicit and filled with bad language. It also deals with a misogynistic, sadistic killer who describes in detail the horrors that he or she (I won't say the killer's sex in case you read this and don't want me to reveal the mystery) has inflicted on their victims. I can't read stuff like that, it literally makes me ill and I can't sleep. However, that having been said, the book wasn't terrible I just couldn't stomach it. OK that also makes it sound bad.

One of my friends who recommended it told me the second book in the series, The Girl Who Plays with Fire, has an even a better storyline and it is not as sexually explicit. I'm having doubts about reading it because of my reaction to this first book. If I read it I'll let you know. (Caprene can I get your two cents from this because I know you reviewed them and liked them, are they worth continuing on with?)

I give this book 2 outta 5 stars because of the goriness of it all.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I liked this book, but I don't know if you will. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is written by the now deceased author Stieg Larsson. Originally written in Swedish, Larsson's Tattoo and the two sequels (only one of which so far has been published) have received many positive reviews following their translation into English. I am starting the sequel The Girl who Played with Fire tonight. I found the books again on the NY Times bestseller list. I worry about recommending them. Let me explain why I enjoyed the first book.

Have you had the opportunity to read any British murder mystery novels? Or maybe even watch any of the Masterpiece Mystery! series on PBS (you'll see a lot of familiar faces there)? I really enjoy, shall I say, international mystery novels because of the detail and the story, or better stated, the stories. I think it's because it's how my own mind works. It's really rare for me to only be thinking of only one thing at a time. My mind goes in a million directions at once. And that is kind of how these stories work too. It's not just about a murder, or whatever the mystery is. I always learn about a subject, like the financial world in the case of Tattoo. And the story isn't just about the mystery. And in most cases, the story doesn't end when the mystery is solved. There's more story to tell. Am I confusing you? I hope not.

Now, please understand, any LDS readers out there, that I don't come from an all LDS family. In fact, sitting down to talk to my brothers, if they aren't on their best we're-talking-to-our-Mormon-sister-Caprene behavior, it's like sitting in an R-rated film, the rating solely based on the language. It's an adjustment, but I think that's how I can tolerate a lot of these books. Just as I've learned to tune out certain words that so easily and so often cross my brothers' lips, I can tune them out or cross them out with my eyes as I read.

Because of that, I'd actually like to recommend another author, PD James. I read Murder Room and The Private Patient over the summer and I enjoyed both books. They are MUCH cleaner than Larsson's book[s]. Some say that they do not enjoy British humor because it's dry, or it's slow? You may feel that way with these books, because unlike a lot of popular US crash 'em up, shoot 'em up, bang-bang novels, the books do not jump right to the point. In fact, the first murder may not occur until you are so far into the story that you begin to wonder if there's even going to be a murder. But that's what I like - there's substance to the story. It's not just about a murder and mayhem; the book is about people.

So, if you, like me, have become a little too desensitized and don't notice everything you used to (time for me to go on another mission maybe?), then I would recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But for those of you who are better people than I, may I recommend The Private Patient or Murder Room.