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Tusitala's Book Reviews

Stieg Larsson - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

ISBN: 978-184724-253-2

Sometimes a day in bed with the aftermath of migraine can yield untold pleasure! This book had been recommended in the most positive terms and had sat by the side of my computer for several months whilst I was ( unbeknown to myself) awaiting a bad headache and the ironic oppportunity for a stretch of concentrated reading time. Although it is also a hard back version which perhaps put me off. How weighty it is with 533 pages! Yesterday I began and just kept going all afternoon and evening.

I know that Sweden has never been top of my list of desirable destinations though I remain a life long fan of Abba with their enticing mispronunciations and joyous hymns to love, but this book did convert me to ice and snow and places with gritty angular names even though it seemed unhealthily populated by misogynists and sexual sadists. My conversion depended initially upon the humane values of the narrative even when the characters didn't quite seem entirely rounded and perhaps their emotions were more told than shown. However the girl with the dragon tattoo made the novel work . Lisbeth Salander is awkward enough and odd enough to compel. Putting her next to the hero Mikael Blomkvist makes him suddenly more credible and provides the narrative with a velocity and direction that made several hundred pages just disappear. Her individuality provides the novel with resources unavailable to more mainstream characters and the novel is best when she is involved. You would always want her on your side when faced by any serial killer or billionaire fraudster.



I'm going to Tesco to buy the next novel in this trilogy- and this time I won't need a headache for an excuse !

Reviewed By: Tusitala

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