I used to be a literature snob. I stuck my nose up at anything that was a mega-bestseller because if it had such a wide appeal, it must be trash. Then I read The Da Vinci Code and decided that if something sold that widely, there had to be some merit. Yes, the writing might not be spectacular, but the story was likely to be worth reading anyway... as was the case with Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
It is a gripping story, but takes a bit to get into. As a friend told me, "Once you get to page one hundred it gets good." And that was pretty accurate. It was about 100 pages in that I settled into the story and let myself be hypnotized, even obsessed.
A girl disappeared 40 years earlier and Blomkvist, an investigative journalist, along with Lisbeth Salander, a researcher/ hacker, are on the case to figure out the mystery. The crime/ mystery genre isn't really my thing, but again, the story is compelling. Enough so that the novel's other shortcomings can be overlooked. When I read a novel, I want to meet an interesting character and feel like I've gotten to know this fictional person, that I've spent time with him/her, almost like a friendship developed. You don't really get a sense of that with a plot-driven mystery/crime novel. (Though Salander is an interesting, likable character.) But again, the trade-off is you get a good story, something that keeps you frantically turning the pages, which is its own virtue.
I will have to read this-- but I am torn... read the book or see the movie? It's a rarity for a movie to be out that I am actually interested in seeing and I am interested in Dragon Tattoo... so, having read the book-- should I go to the movie or read the book?
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the movie yet (it's on hold for me at the library so I'll be watching it soon) but I'd probably say see the movie. Alan started reading the book and he was on page 260 last night saying, "How is this book popular? NOTHING has happened!" It made me reexamine it and yeah, it's pretty slow and dry for a large chunk of the book. The pacing is kind of strange because it is really good and fast paced--but only for about 150 pages and it's not until almost half the way in--and I thought the ending kind of dragged on too. I'm assuming the movie is pretty good because all the dry, background stuff that truly could've been edited out won't be included. I'll let you know after I see the movie this weekend, but right now, I'd say skip the book. (At least the first one. The second book in the series is proving to be much more interesting/ normally paced.)
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