Dave F. said...The book is well represented in the press. It seems to be "THE" popular book. I have the second but I haven't read it yet. I just didn't get the time to plow through it yet. I sort of liked the first.
Robin S. said...I've noticed everyone reading this book, and gifts of this book being given to people at the office, etc. It went viral. Would love to know how to get a toehold on that process. Do you have to die after writing a novel to do that?
Evil Editor said...I'm not sure why it's so popular. I liked it enough to read the second one, but does it have a special quality other good mysteries don't have?
Dave F. said...It has all the elements of a good mystery: a wronged hero (At least we are told he is wronged for slandering a corporate head), a quirky heroine with computer skills, and lots of bizarre sex.
Evil Editor said...Everyone on the island was a possible suspect and there were forty or fifty people there. I didn't feel I was getting to know any of them well enough to care whodunnit.
Robin S. said...Agree with EE. This novel is well-written, and the 'conversations' in it are well done, don't feel stilted, etc. BUT - P D James kicks this guy's butt. I think it's down to the viral thing. And a good title. And him being dead. It does feel distanced on the people. I wondered if that was simply cultural.
Dave F. said...It's a fairly complex book. The opening chapter of the pressed flower picture is satisfied along with the second plot of the libel conviction. I thought there would be more connection between Vanger Inc and Wennerstrom from years back. The connection was tenous to vaporous. I found it interesting that the original title in Swedish meant "Men who hate women" and that makes me wonder if some of the extreme misogyny meant the book was more a screed on misogyny than murder mystery. It might be that the mystery was just a vehicle and the secondary plot. Let's hold a seance and ask the author. Anyone got a Swedish Ouija board?
Robin S. said...Dave, that's really interesting on the title. I had no idea -but it fits.
Evil Editor said...As some of us haven't read The Girl Who Played with Fire, I won't provide any spoilers. But I will say that while Blomqvist was the main main character of Tattoo, Salander is the main main character of Fire. And she's a more interesting character. I liked Fire a lot more. It's also more thriller than mystery, while tattoo is more mystery than thriller, though they both have strong elements of both.
Dave F. said...No one has to look at any of this. I'm just posting it for people to read after the discussion. The Internet is filled with stuff about "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and the other three novels. Yes, there are two definite books and the fourth is possible. The fourth novel was 3/4's finished when Stieg Larssen died and someone who might be involved with the author and his notes and outline and the the court fights about Larssen's estate might be finishing it.
Steig Larsson Unpublished Work Discovered After Death
By MALIN RISING
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/steig-larsson-unpublished_n_604290.html
There's a New York Time's article:
A Scandinavian Hit Sets Publishers Seeking More
By JULIE BOSMAN, June 15, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/books/16noir.html?ref=books
There is an amazingly funny satire in The New Yorker:
The Girl Who Fixed the Umlaut
by NORA EPHRON in The New Yorker Magazine, July 5, 2010
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2010/07/05/100705sh_shouts_ephron
There's a tour in Stockholm of the non-existent locations that might have been in the novel:
Stockholm tour for 'Dragon Tattoo' fans: Readers of late Stieg Larsson get lost looking for quaint town of Hedestad
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38205073/ns/travel-destination_travel/
And last on my list is the Swedish Movie Adaptation of the novel, which is long at 2 hr 30 minutes and has English subtitles. And please note that several reviews are negative because of the explicit sex and murder scenes.
Blu Ray: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Dragon-Tattoo-Blu-ray/dp/B003T6LIBM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1279425737&sr=8-2
DVD: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Dragon-Tattoo-Michael-Nyqvist/dp/B003FBNJ4U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1279425737&sr=8-1
Evil Editor said...Explicit sex? Where do I get a copy?
Robin S. said...Cool for the article links - thanks, Dave. And, EE, you've had some damn good sex scenes done on this blog, as I recall...
Evil Editor said...The street signs in Sweden must be about six feet wide to hold some of those street names.
Dave F. said...Hedestad doesn't exist. So the streets might not exist either.
Evil Editor said...Book 2 has long street names too, and it's set in Stockholm.
Dave F. said...That's a big dump but most of it is background and ephemera...I think that success might be described as having NORA EPHRON write a parody of your book. AS for "dragon tattoo" I think the two stories aren't as well entwined as they might have been and that's what leaves us looking for more.
Evil Editor said...I was highly disappointed after all the conjecture about how the dead/missing woman got off the island to find she was in a car trunk. I was expecting it to be something ingenious.
Dave F. said...I thought that was too normal (leaving town in a trunk). It's logical and very simple, considering that simple works in most real life situations. However, in a novel one wants an escape worthy of James Bond movies *who started out in novels)...Gee that's a circular car chase argument. Exciting for exciting's sake. The thought did cross my mind that Harriet couldn't have hidden that many years without being discovered. And then I remember a visiting scientist I met at work (Bruce Proudfoot if you can believe that name) from Australia and how amazingly anarchic and independent of all government rules he was. Only in Australia would be the answer.
Robin S. said...Yep - not saying this is badly written. It isn't. But I am saying it doesn't seem to merit the 27 million or so copies sold. Maybe it's all about the sex and the misogyny. Reading about sanitary pads rammed down throats and suffocating tortured female victims. That kinda thing. Thank God I have more than one explicit sex scene in my novel.
Dave F. said...There are critics who compare the basement scenes to "Silence of the Lambs" and I think that's a little overdone. I would like to have seen Wennerstrom connected to that bit of killing. That, I think is the missing plot connection. An old two family skeleton of serial murders inspired by Nazi beliefs. Disturbing to even type that stuff.
Evil Editor said...Serial killers are fascinating. And plentiful if you can believe Criminal Minds. Maybe it's that you never think of serial killers living in Sweden. If I were a serial killer in Sweden I'd always be saying, it's too cold; I'll kill someone tomorrow.
Dave F. said...There was enough in the book that seems "otherwordly" and foreign to me. I was satisfied with that element of the book.
Robin S. said...I like the otherworldliness of the book. Agree with that. Like I said, not a bad read- well-written, etc. But I do think the 'darkness' of the subject and the death of the author, etc., lends itself to a certain mystique.
Dave F. said...Steve Allen (The comedian) once published a record under the "name" of a dead black piano player and the record was so successful that he had to admit what he did so he could publish the second album of piano jazz. Dead poets and writers have that mystique.
Evil Editor said...I liked it better than the other mysteries we've done.
Robin S. said...Yeah- it's head and shoulders above, for instance, the mystery about the newspaper murder. No argument there.
Dave F. said...I don't know if I would agree about being the best but it is a satisfying mystery. I enjoyed it.
Dave F. said...I did not buy the Swedish movie -- BTW. There is a US production company interested but no script and no actors. Just speculation.
Robin S. said...I wouldn't have bought this book for myself without it being on the Chat, so glad you had it on the list, EE, so I could see what the fuss was all about.
Evil Editor said...Anyway, if you haven't bought and read The Girl Who Played With Fire, do. Especially if you find Lisbeth Salander an intriguing character.
Dave F. said...I've read too much about it in the press and I don't care if you spoil it but you might be the only one here who read "Played With Fire".
Robin S. said...I haven't read the second one.
Evil Editor said...The third book is out, but possibly only in hardback.
Dave F. said...I'd rather have paperback. I got so many books laying around...
Evil Editor said...It's interesting to have a mystery series in which the stars are a publisher and a computer hacking woman. Usually if it's a series it's a detective or a lawyer or at least an amateur sleuth.
Dave F. said...A very non-standard mystery duo. How exciting can book publishing get? I mean unless you are Kitty Kelly or that woman who tried to publish OJ's "maybe I did something in a dream" book...
Robin S. said...Yeah, we've seen hackers in movies, etc., but the combo of publisher and hacker is interesting.
Evil Editor said...I think we've said all we had to say. I'm sure Sylvia will add her comments at the end, as will anyone else who cares to. I'm expecting Sylvia to show up in a few minutes and say that she thought it was now 10 AM eastern.
sylvia said...GAH I'm an hour out after all that?
sylvia said...Catching up now - I was worried everyone was going to say they really loved it. I thought it was OK but not mind-boggling. I am somewhat relieved to see that you guys had the same impression.
sylvia said...Well, you were absolutely right that I was not able to tell time. Sorry, I totally messed that up. A few more quick comments having read the rest: I did wonder if part of the excitement about the book was because it was Scandanavian, so viewpoint and minor details are quite different from what we might be used to with US/UK releases. We've read some translations before but I don't think "most people" who stick to the best seller list have? So there's an undercurrent there that feels fresh and different. I thought the story was good enough but I agree, it did feel distanced. I liked Blomqvist but he seemed like he was going to turn out OK regardless. Salander's life was scary and I respected her for remaining in control, but I didn't like her. As a result, I wasn't too invested in the story. I liked the tone and the overall darkness though and I will finish Played with Fire now.
fairyhedgehog said...I read "The Girl Who Played With Fire" first and enjoyed it more, but I think part of my enjoyment of this one was finding out things that had been referred to in the second book. I think of all of them, book two was my favourite. I think EE's comments about Salandar being the most interesting character are spot on. I did enjoy the hacking aspect, and the way that her past had affected her.
