I had read a lot of good, bad and ugly reviews about this book. Many reviewers absolutely trashed this book while others generously praised. Undoubtedly, I was curious about the book and when I finally read it I found this book UNPUTDOWNABLE in one word. A real page-turner. I have not read such a thrilling novel in recent times.
This book was posthumously published after the author Steig Larsson died in 2004. This book is the first book on the trilogy. The book was called Men who hate Women in the original Swedish version. The other two books in the series are “The Girl who played with Fire” and “The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest“.
There are three parallel stories in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The first is the story of Lisbeth Salander an unsociable girl who is a genius when it comes to investigative research. She is such a genius that the other protagonist Blomkvist suspect that she probably has Asperger’s syndrome. She is often misunderstood and was also raped and abused. She is the one who has a dragon tattoo on her shoulder blades.
The second story is about Mikael Blomkvist who is an investigative journalist who was sent to prison for libel when he tries to uncover a corrupt business tycoon.
The third story is about a fading Business family the Vangers. Harriet Vanger mysteriously disappears 36 years back and her aging grand uncle appoints Blomkvist and Lisbeth to find the truth.
Every paragraph in this book has a new twist. The three parallel stories blend with each other in such a way that the reader has no chance to get bored. There are too many characters in this book but each and every character contribute to the narrative and therefore none of them go waste. The book also has a historic angle which takes us back to the Nazi era and talks about biblical cleansing rituals. There is also an angle of incestuous rape and secret ritual of human sacrifices combined with domestic abuse and abuse of women in general. The book also gives us a good picture of Sweden and Swedish customs. This book is worth reading and will keep you hooked.
The prompts this book adheres to from #WriteTribeReadingChallenge2019 are
- A book that is a Translation
- A book written by someone of a different nationality/color/ethnic group than you
- A book set in a country that you want to visit (Sweden)
- A book on crime-solving
- A book written by an author who is new to you
- A book made into a movie
Read my book reviews of 2019 #writetribereadingchallenge:
Trina Looks Back 
Your review has piqued my interest. I had studiously avoided this book because of the ‘dark’ incidents but I should get out of my happily ever after mold and read something that can actuay disturb me.
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This book has dark incidents but the book is not dark, it is an engrossing thriller that will make you burn the midnight oil. Do read and let me know.
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I loved this book for the clinical way it doggedly follows the investigation. I am yet to read the other two. Apparently, they are also as good as this one.
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I am also looking forward to read the other two. Apparently the last one is the best.
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Looks like I have another series to add to my TBR list. I definitely want to read this now.
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Add if you like pageturning thrillers.
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Your review has piqued my interest in this book for its cultural setting which is in Sweden. I want to know if there is any difference in the way women are treated there although I don’t see that.
There is a whole lot of books starting with ‘The Girl in/on/with the….’. I wonder what is the fetish with the beginning of this title.
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I too loved this trilogy and watched the movie in swedish with subtitles! Thats how much I appreciated this one. Your review is so spot on and well detailed out for anyone wanting to read it.Love how you have pared out the three parallel tales and presented them so well!
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I am at the moment reading the The girl who kicked the hornest nest. I would also love to watch the movie. Where can I get it?
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