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Knopf
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Description
A sensation across Europe—millions of copies sold
A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue.
It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.
It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age—and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it—who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism—and an unexpected connection between themselves.
It’s a contagiously exciting, stunningly intelligent novel about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a brilliantly realized cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives.
Customer reviews for 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'
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Takes Some Effort
One real problem with this lengthy novel is that it encompasses a multitude of characters--most of whom have exactly the same surname! Hence, you really need to invest a lot of effort and valuable time referring back and forth to the expansive genealogical chart conveniently placed in the opening pages. Another difficulty lies with the occasionally awkward translation which, I thought, was a tad shaky with some foreign sounding naratives that seem odd to American ears.
However, if you stick with it, everything and everyone eventually falls into place, and you are rewarded with a fine intelligent mystery with accompanying psychologial pathologies. I might add that I uncovered what I believe to be an unintentional spoiler early on, which kind of took the edge off of the suspense. Query me by submitting a comment to this review and I'll gladly reply and explain.
[Monday, January 05, 2009]
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Slow start but great second half... left me wanting more
I don't do many reviews but I felt compelled to write a review of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it overall, and give it 5 stars.
Pros:
* Interesting to get exposed a bit to swedish culture.
* Great characters. Lisbeth Salandar particularly interesting.
* Great multi-threaded storylines.
* Good blend of mystery and thriller
* Exciting ending
Cons:
* Started slow for me. First chapter or two discusses a corporate corruption story the main character (a reporter) is writing. Didn't grab me right away.
* minor nit-picking: The author tended to swap referring to the characters by their first name or their last name. Not a big deal, but there are several character with the last name of Vanger. Henrik Vanger, the rich patriarch of a family that owns a corporation, and his relatives Harriet, Martin, and Cecilia, among others. So a sentence might go like this: "Martin and Cecilia discussed it with Vanger". That took a little getting used to. Vanger in most cases referred to Henrik, although all three in that sentence had the same last name.
* another minor nit: there was a subplot in the book around Lisbeth and an adversarial relationship with another character. It was loosely resolved halfway through the book, but I expected a bit of follow-up at the end. Perhaps it will be dealt with in the sequel.
Again, overall, one of my favorite reads this year. Can't wait for the sequel.
[Sunday, January 04, 2009]
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Good Story
It has been a couple of months since I've read this book, so I don't remember what I liked about it so much. I did enjoy the book and thought that it was an enjoyable read. I am looking forward to the sequel.
[Saturday, January 03, 2009]
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