The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Karl Stig-Erlad Larsson, better known to the world as Steig Larsson, the creator of the Millenium trilogy, wrote just three books in his lifetime. Three books the pretty much catapulted him to fame after his death in 2004. Amazing isn't it? That well written books even when published posthumously become a phenomenon and the author's life becomes even more interesting?

It's fascinating, Larsson's life and his stories, especially with claims that his stories are based off of actual experiences, that the characters are fictional manifestations of some that he knew... Either way, I was quite drawn into the story behind the author and the story itself. And I liked it.

It starts of darkly. Actually, it is dark, the storyline, the history of the characters, the backdrop. And it's cold. It's everything a locked room mystery/crime novel should be.

The general tone of the novel is depressing, to be very honest. It is very well written, don't get me wrong, with a good amount of detail that will keep you interested in turning the pages to the very last one. But it is rather dreary and goes very well with the setting, i.e. a cold, solemn place in Sweden.

It starts off with Mikael Blomkvist taking the fall for an exposé gone wrong and subsequently being summoned by the head of the Vanger family to investigate the mysterious death of his niece. This, after Vanger has 'the girl with the dragon tattoo', Lisbeth Salander, a very intelligent hacker with a seriously crazy history, goth tendencies and photographic memory, compiles a detailed report about Blomkvist, his life, his loves, his work... Vanger lures Blomkvist with the promise of a hefty sum of money and irrefutable proof against Wennerström, the industrialist Blomkvist was trying to expose.

The cover story is that Blomkvist is working on a book on the Vanger family history. It could be dangerous, Blomkvist is warned, because Henrik Vanger, possibly the only sane one of the family, suspects that one of the family members is the murderer. The story progresses at a decent pace once you get past all of the history, and sort of get the hang of the numerous members of the family, and other characters.

Salander has her own reasons for following Blomkvist's progress in the case; she doesn't believe he, a seasoned journalist would've published anything without proof. Inadvertently, she reveals that she's been spying on Blomkvist, and he recruits her as an assistant on the case because he needs her expertise. Her issues with her 'guardian' because she has been deemed mentally unsound, who forces her to do him sexual favors and her eventual revenge for it are a reflection of the author's stand against crime against women (the Swedish title for this book translates to 'Men Who Hate Women').

Salander figures out who the murderer is, and Blomkvist works out the fate of Harriet Vanger and the story essentially ends on a good note. It also sets the premise for the next book, with Salander making off with Wennerström's money.

Critique? I liked it. After a long time I read a good mystery story and it was fun getting through it, retaining information and calling it up when required as I solved the case with the protagonists. A lot of it was insanely graphic. It's not just the killing, but also the sexual offenses. It makes for a good read for those who like this genre, crime writing; if you don't, then stay away from the book.

(I watched the movie in Swedish, with English subtitles, and await the Daniel Craig starring English version. Should be interesting.)