The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
Was I the only one not to get on with this book? The first volume in the Millennium trilogy, this is the story of journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who is hired by industrialist Henrik Vanger to solve the mystery of his niece’s disappearance several years before, under the guise of chronicling the family history. Blomkvist is assisted by the rebellious security specialist Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo.
Partly, perhaps, because I am a translator by profession and I read the English translation, I found myself almost proofreading the text and I think this also impacted on my enjoyment of the book. This is not to say that the translation wasn’t extremely good. However, the complexity of the family history with all the many names and relationships repeatedly sent me into a slumber. Whatever the opposite of a page turner is, for me, this was it. I could barely finish a page without wanting to nod off.
The few compelling parts of the story were, unfortunately, outweighed by the many tedious narratives. I so wanted to like this book after the great reviews it received, but I won’t be rushing out to buy the second and third volumes.
James’ out-of-five star rating: ** (and that’s being generous!)
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Hi James (I wonder if we are related in the dim and distant past. I am from Durham but now living near Graz)
Just wanted to say that I bought all three books on the way back via Gatwick airport several months ago. I didn’t pick up the first one for a long time but when I did, I couldn’t put it down. I got through all three in a couple of weeks.
I did find the practice of naming every individual street in Stockholm very unnecessary so I just skipped it.
Also, I had to laugh at the sheer number of mentions of coffee and coffee machines. It gave the impression that Swedes are constantly high on caffiene. You are also right about some of the very strange translation.
On the whole though, it did not spoil my enjoyment of the books.
Alan
Hi, Alan, wow, a comment on my blog that isn’t spam
Maybe you are right about being related, also makes you wonder how many Grays from the north there are living in Austria… Thanks for your comment. Just last weekend I watched the Swedish movie of the book and I found it very accessible and enjoyable. Perhaps I was a little harsh on the book, tho as I said, being a translator I found it hard to switch off from proofreading.
James