The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Review

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005): B-

Stieg Larsson's novel "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is the first book of a mystery trilogy released after his death. The three novels have sold over forty million copies worldwide and have been adapted to film in Larsson's home country of Sweden. The two main characters of the novel are Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist may be a stand in for Larsson himself as both are/were unmarried investigative journalists in Sweden. Salander is a young (early 20s), weird, and misunderstood prodigy. I personally did not find the Lisbeth Salander character likable at all - she was cold, silent, and had a vicious temper. The novel is about Blomkvist redeeming himself after an embarrassing affair in which he is convicted of libel and solving the mystery of a child that has been missing for decades. 

The novel starts off fairly fast and is undeniably interesting. In the beginning of the novel the story shifts from Blomkvist's point of view and Salander's. Salander's story is really dark and at times gruesome. Blomkvist's character comes across as a bit pompous and has a holier than thou attitude. The other issue I had with Blomkvist is that the character is portrayed as some type of modern day Casanova. Blomkvist is a middle aged, moderately successful journalist not Tiger Woods, so the sheer amount of women he was bedding was a little ridiculous. For much of the novel Blomkvist is investigating the mystery of the missing child and it for the most part engrossing and exciting but the novel insisted on switching back to Salander who is living her boring, tragic, and uneventful life. The two storylines are merged towards the midpoint of the novel and for a short time the novel is truly excellent. However the ridiculous ending ruins the novel - it is way too convoluted and wraps up way too neatly. The ending of the novel is exciting and fast paced but once you're done reading it you realize some of the ridiculous things that have just gone on.

Some of the issues I had with the novel are not the fault of the novel itself. For example, I came into the novel with sky high expectations. Everything I had heard about the novel was outstanding and on Amazon the three books were among the top 5 novels sold. The novel is an above average thriller; it is certainly a notch above mediocre popular fiction novels but it by no means a literary classic. The novel is set in Sweden, virtually all of the characters are Swedish and as a result it is a little hard to decipher what exactly is going on at times. I would say "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is absolutely worth reading but expectations should be modest. The book is  definitely worth the $5.48 its priced at on Amazon and is a fun read for the most part. It is not a fast read in my opinion - usually if a novel is good I can finish it in one or two sittings but it took me a couple weeks to finish the novel (its relatively large size, 600 pages, didn't help). I have started reading the sequel "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and at least so far (I am about 75 pages in) it is not better than the first novel.