The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

This is the second book in a series of three, following The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which Cathy so eloquently reviewed earlier. The Girl who Played with Fire picks up with Salander exploring the world with her ‘earned’ billions and researching complex mathematical equations as a hobby. Stieg jumps into the action, much quicker than in the first book, with Salander observing a man who is violent to his wife in the room next door. This beginning conflict is unrelated to anything else in the book; however, it serves to display that Salander is the ‘woman who hates men who hate women’, a throwback to the original title of the first book.

Shortly after her return to Sweden, Salander finds herself as the main suspect in a triple homicide. Blomkvist steps forward to prove her innocence and pay his debt to her saving his life the previous year. Several other unexpected allies join to clear her name as Salander faces her past to solve the murders.

While the first book seriously lagged for the first 100 pages of the story, ‘Fire’ jumps off with a bang but then crawls to a near stop about two-thirds of the way through. Every part of it is important to the storyline, but at times I found my mind wandering and was forced to read the page over again to stay on track. The last 100 pages picked back up and the ending was exciting, if not a little unrealistic. But I guess that’s why this is fiction.

What I enjoyed most about ‘Fire’ was Salander’s character development. We find out that in addition to having a photographic memory and talent with computers, that she is much more than an awkward, brooding goth girl with a mysterious upbringing. She heavily weighs every decision before carrying out actions. And her actions, although not conformed to public opinion, are strong and morally grounded. I enjoyed this book and gained a great deal of respect for Salander. Not to mention the relief it was to root for a heroine whose only conflict is isn't a choice of two men in her life*.

*My bitterness towards that type of heroine has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with my lack of men. Not one bit. I swear.

Posted by Kil...who is pushing 30, shares a one bedroom apartment with her dog, and divides her time between knitting, running, and being a slut with a heart of gold.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

This book was recommended to me so I kept the title in the back of my head for awhile. Then a friend of mine mentioned she took it with her on a trip to New York and thought an afternoon reading in Central Park would be nice. She sat on a bench and noticed that there were girls to her left and right and they were both reading this book! I decided it was time to jump on the bandwagon and check it out at the library. Problem was, the wait list was so long, there were 345 people ahead of me in line. With a 3 week check out period, that's almost 20 years of waiting to get this book. So I borrowed it from my work library, of all places. Apparently, this book is everywhere.

The story follows a year in the life of journalist Mikael Blomkvist. After losing a court battle and facing jail time, Blomkvist decides to take a leave from his magazine and accept a temporary work assignement from Henrik Vanger. Vanger wants him to ostensibly write a family chronicle but his real assignment is to investigate a 36 year old family mystery of the disappearance of his grand-niece. In the course of his investigation, Blomkvist meets Lisbeth Salander, a troubled young woman with a knack for investigation. Together they delve into the Vanger family history as well as some other mysteries involving Salander and Blomkvist's personal lives.

In a nutshell, I think the book is overrated. Most people I've talked to agree that the book is slow to start and picks up after about a hundred pages or so. As you read on, the book continually picks up steam until I found myself not wanting to put it down for the last hundred pages or so. At 590 pages though, that's a lot to get through before I can't put a book down.

Honestly, I think reading about the author himself is more interesting. Steig Larsson was a journalist, as well as a political activist. He was considered an expert in Swedish extreme right and racist organizations. A quick online search will reveal a lot of interesting stories and rumors about his life - too many to go into here. When Larrson died of a heart attack in 2004, he left behind three unpublished manuscripts, of which The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first. It was published in 2005 in Sweden and translated several years later into English. The original title in Swedish is Men Who Hate Women. I wished I knew that before I started reading the book. It really is a better title. Maybe knowing that would have made the book better too?

My recommendation? Everyone's talking about it anyway, so you might as well read it. Hell, it's summer and this is one of those reads. Just don't buy it or borrow it from the library. Ask a friend for it, chances are, you know someone who has read it.

Reviewed by Cathy