So, I am one of the last people on the planet to read the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. And I loved them – a most pleasant surprise for someone who can’t stand books in translation ( I always feel like there is a ‘distance’ between me and the original language) and prefers not to read international thrillers. It’s a shame that Larsson died before completing the projected 10-book series….Mikael, Erika and especially Lisbeth are characters I would love to visit again.
As a latecomer to this party, it has been fascinating to watch the mainstream media dissect and analyze these three books, particularly as the US
Much has been made of the violence in the books, especially sexual violence. The books are unquestionably graphic, but not out of range for contemporary thrillers (see Chelsea Cain’s Gretchen Lowell series, for example) – I wonder if this because the books are perceived/marketed as more ‘literary’ fiction, and are consequently reaching an audience less accustomed to the extremes of some genre fiction.
I found some subtle differences in the structure of the books that vary from American-style thrillers. The first book (…Dragon Tattoo) starts slowly and presents much seemingly irrelevant backstory on Swedish industry, financial journalism and the three leading characters, all of which comes together when looking at the trilogy as a whole. Additionally, Dragon Tattoo is largely Mikael’s story, with Lisbeth in a critical supporting role. In second book (…Played With Fire) and especially the third (…Hornet’s Nest), we realize that this has been Lisbeth’s story all along. It is refreshing to read a well-plotted, well-paced crime novel that does not dumb itself down or make assumptions about the attention span of the reader. And I have come to think of the
books as one story, packaged in three parts.
If only there were seven more…
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