Saturday, February 11, 2012

Stieg's Girl

When I went to Canada a couple of weeks ago, I made sure to bring a book with me. For some reason, and it has always been completely accidental, it seems that I have always ended up with a fiction book about plane crashes when I flew.So this time I grabbed a non-plane crash book from the library to keep me company.

I enjoy the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. Reacher is a fascinating character that refuses to be tied down with 'ownership and documentation'. So he owns nothing and doesn't even have a drivers license -- but somehow gets around, solving the woes of the world. They are entertaining reads.

So I carried my book onto the plane and settled back for a comfortable read -- and discovered within three pages that I had read the book before. This was awful. A trip without a book to read was an unthinkable situation. So I had to be content for the four hour trip with watching Moneyball on the little screen on the back of the seat in front of me.

We -- I was traveling with a business associate -- landed in Calgary, fought our way through customs, rented a car, and headed west toward Banff National Park. Within an hour or so we were greeted with beautiful snow covered mountains and made many attempts to take pictures from our moving car which is really kind of a dumb thing to do. In the midst of all of the awe and wonder my internal nagging voice was beginning to grate at me. 'I need to get a book!'

The notion of staying a few nights in hotels without a book was simply unthinkable.

Finally we spotted a bookstore -- one of those place with publications about the wonder of the area. I was disheartened, because I wanted a novel to read. If I am traveling I want something entertaining, not something full of non-fictional facts. The bookstore was pretty good size and had tons of books. I wandered around until I found a small table of fiction. Prominently displayed on the table were two small stacks of books. One featured The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the other was The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, both by Stieg Larsson. I asked the proprietor if he had read either book. He said he hadn't, but he had a hard time keeping them on the shelves. He went on to say that those stacks of books would be sold out today.

I had heard of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I was pretty sure there was a movie out about it. This threw me into a bit of a quandary. Many times, actually most of the time, I don't care for what seems to be popular with everyone else. It is not that I am so particular, it is just that -- well, maybe I am little particular. No one has ever heard of the movie Spitfire Grill or Picnic at Hanging Rock. I really liked them but no one else seemed to. Some will rave about the latest Sherlock Holmes movies. I saw about an hour of the first one, and didn't like it at all. This wasn't the Sherlock Holmes I appreciated. It is the same with books. Many times, with a few exceptions, I simply didn't appreciate what was on the bestseller list.

I looked at the two novels on the table. Both books were softcover but the size of a hardcover. And each was thick, which interested me. Thicker books imply that the author was serious about the whole thing. But my choice was limited, and I definitely had to buy something to read. So I grabbed The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest simply because I liked the cover better.


I didn't get a lot of reading done during the trip. It seemed that my evening hotel hours were spent with work-related stuff in preparation for the next days meetings. But I did get in a few pages of reading.

Right from the start I realized that I was going to have to concentrate a little. With characters like Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander and Karl Axel Boden and locations like Sahlgrenska and Stallarholmen, I could see I was going to have to really pay attention. And I could see that for the first 100 pages great effort was spent in setting the stage for the rest of the book. There was also a lot of time spent on delving into recent history -- and I was quick to figure out that this book was the third in the series of 'The Girl' books.

I am now on page 301 and a little over halfway through. I am now staying up way too late at night reading for it has become truly intriguing. I started off mildly interested. Now I am really interested.

Interestingly it is the story of a sequence of events revolving around The Girl, Lisbeth -- but she is only playing a background part so far in the book. I am not even going to try to tell the story for it is complicated and full of twists which start building the reader's hopes, then suddenly twists, which fire up a new set of hopes.

I can only leave you with a strong recommendation for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. Will I read the two preceding books in the series? Reluctantly I think, and that is a tribute to the authors writing talent.  Will I see the Dragon Tattoo movie? Probably not. I now understand that the movie would probably be a fairly dark one with a lot of incest and violence that I would rather read about than see in a movie.

I am saddened to understand that these books were published after the author died of a heart attack in 2004. Mr. Larrson lived with Eva Gabrielsson for many years, and she says that she had collaborated with him on the books. Because Stieg Larsson and Eva were not married, his estate went to his parents who, if I understand correctly, had the books published. Eva is suing for the rights to the publications and has said that she has a fourth book, God's Revenge, which she has completed since his death. The book continues with the story of Lisbeth Salandar in Canada. The estate has offered two million kroner for her to drop the suit and give them the book. She has refused.

Mr. Larsson never saw his books published.

16 comments:

  1. Like you, I'm usually reluctant to jump on the bestseller bandwagon. I prefer to make my own path, and my tastes don't always jibe with what is currently popular.

    My husband had gotten all three books, because he'd heard some people say that they were actually very good. He read the first one, zipping through it in record time, and told me he loved it and knew I'd like it. I found that it started off slow, but he urged me to be patient, because it really picked up. He was right! I think around page 70 is when I was completely hooked, and also like you, I stayed up late to read these books!

    Are they literary works of art? No, not really. But they are all ripping yarns, and a very, very fun read. I would recommend them to anyone who likes a good thriller. They were a pleasant surprise for me!

    We did go see the movie, and it was excellent. Very dark, but also riveting. There is also an original Swedish version of the movie, and although I haven't seen it, I've heard that it's great.

    Glad you enjoyed it...you'll like the other two, as well! Happy reading!

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    1. I'm sure that I will end up reading the other two books in the series. I hope that it holds up for me having read the final book first. Now my quandary is, do I read the first book then watch the movie, or go ahead and see the movie first. I'll probably have to read the book first.

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  2. Loved Spitfire Grill. Read all three Larssons at warp speed, watched the English dubbed Swedish movies and the one American one. And I grew up swimming at Hanging Rock park, so that's next. Thanks!

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    1. Since 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' occurred in Australia, I suspect that your Hanging Rock Park was elsewhere. I'm glad to see that someone else appreciated 'Spitfire Grill'.

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  3. That's so sad that Mr. Larrson didn't get published till after he died...tragic, really...

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    1. It is tragic to have put so much effort and research into the books and not live to see the wave of popularity of his work.

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  4. I read the Girl with the Golden Tattoo. I haven't read the Hornet's Nest one, but I plan to. I liked the Girl w the golden tattoo - but I didn't love it. In that one, there were an awful lot of details (genealogy, business machinations, etc) that I tried to remember, but they didn't become very relevant in the book - so that disappointed me a little. Still I was pulled in about midway through. And yes, as you say, what a tragedy that the author was unable to enjoy his success.

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    1. The Hornets Nest does have quite a bit of background information, but it seems as if it is all folding into the plot. I think at this point in the series, the details are intended to bring the reader up to date so that the book can stand alone. Actually, I am a little surprised at the popularity of the series given the amount of information that the reader has to wade through. This just doesn't seem typical for what hits the bestseller list these days.

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  5. More books to add to the list. Thanks for contributing to my life!

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    1. I think you will enjoy them although it will require some patience and a little dedication. I suspect the rewards will make it worth it. Happy reading.

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  6. These are great books. After having read the story of how he delivered all three manuscripts at once to his publisher then died,it made the conspiracy theorist in me begin to wander. Afterall, he was a journalist.... Hoping the movies are as great. And good grief I hope his partner publishes :}

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    1. Good point. If all the stuff that Larsson presents is only partially true, it is presents a pretty horrid picture of what goes on in Sweden.

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  7. i saw the English version of "Tatoo",,, not sure I have planned on reading the book because I didnt really enjoy the movie, but I may now reconsider.. thanks,,

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  8. That is so sad, that the poor guy who slaved over these creations, didn't live to see them published. That sucks!
    As to reading while on business trips. I'm right there with you. If I didn't have something to read, I'd drink more. A.D.D. you know. But, if I had a good book, I was happy to spend most evenings in my room. I LOVE kindle. I have a backlog of books already downloaded and waiting...

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  9. I enjoyed this post for so many reasons.;) I grew up in Sweden and now live in Denmark and Stig Larsson's books and later movies are truly popular here. I never read any of the books, but I saw the film adapted after the first book "The girl with a dragon tattoo". I sat mesmerized watching it as it was really good in that typically raw Scandinavian way. But it was very raw, to say it our right. However I did not care much for the follow up movies.
    "Picnic at the hanging Rock". Now you bring back my childhood memories. I recall seeing again the movie version with my little sister and we both never forgot it. It was so strange and mystical and yet very intriguing t the same time. Loved "Spitfire Grill" too. Again, I never read any of the books.;))
    xoxo

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  10. I read the Dragon Tattoo two Years ago and saw the original Swedish movie with no subtitles. It was quite a challenge to follow but worth watching. To date I have not been eager to read the others. Like you say it requires a lot of concentration and I seem to be unable to get my mind to that level lately.
    I have a niece and her family living in Calgary but so far haven't been to visit. Perhaps its time?

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