Millenium Trilogy (Stieg Larsson)

[jeremy]

So much hype for these books (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest), and I'm thinking of trying it.

I don't generally read book series, or anything of the like. But seeing them in my face so much in bookstores and online made me wonder if they're worth the read. Half of me wants it to be a good set of pageturners and the other half expects its target readers to be somewhat comparable to Twilight fans.

Maybe I'm wrong, but all I know is that it was written by a SWEDISH* (sorry I was only half awake) writer and some basic themes and synopsis. Have any of you read it and would you recommend it? Comments without spoilers please :)

[margaine]

Thanks for starting this thread Jeremy, I was thinking of starting one myself that would have said pretty much the same thing that you said. I keep hearing so much about these books, but I'm reluctant to read them because they are mysteries. I don't really like mysteries unless they are really straight-up mysteries (Agatha Christie, or some mass market paper back I pick up from wherever, or Sherlock Holmes, or something like that), and I specifically am in the mood for a straight-up mystery.

I'm pretty sure some other members have read these books? I know I've heard them mentioned around on here, though I hope not in one thread yet (?).

Though the author is from Sweden, Jeremy. But I bet you probably meant that. ;)

I wasn't sure whether to move this thread to the mysteries sub-forum or not. I know the books are generally considered mysteries, but I haven't read them, so perhaps they are a bit more complex than what would be categorized as mystery? I wasn't sure.

[Phantom Paragrapher]

Hey Marg,
Its interesting this series as I tried to read the first one , because the hype was so much at work and then when I heard the reviews of the film, I was like this must be a book I have to read and will enjoy. However , I couldn't get into it , I tried twice of course starting with the first book. I found it so confusing and not to mention very dull . Unfortunately though I am a impatient reader and will only continue a book if I can get into it by the 2nd Chapter as my phiosophy is theres too many good books to read , why waste your time on ones you do not enjoy and if you are like me, my TBR pile continues growing by the day. I did however hear that there have been rumours that the stories were actually based on actual events and he was in the process of writing a fourth then died very quickly after the release of his last book- many have said it was a murder conspiracy.
It is a very financial -thriller with a hint of espionage, Id say a hint of Barry Eisler (though I enjoy his books) with a taste of Jo Nesbo/ Asa Larsson or Camilla Lackberg

[musi]

Stieg Larsson is a Swedish writer, not Russian. He died of a heart attack before he published all of the books in the Trilogy and, according to sources, he wrote the books for himself, never actually intending to publish them. Books were published posthumously, so he never got the fame while he was still alive.

As for the books themselves, I guess I managed to read them right before the hype began, just because my friend told me they were detective stories. :) I can see how they can be considered boring, because quite a big part of the book is full of details that, most probably, do not convey any significant influence on the plot (like, a long list of stuff the main character bought in the shop or a detailed description of what he was doing on a -30C day) and at book 2 I was already getting a bit frustrated with, for example, lists of what another main character bought in Ikea :)
As for the mysteries themselves, I very much enjoyed the first book - it was a worthy mystery (although it might have been 200 pages less in volume) and the characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist were... believable. Some parts of the book I found very gruesome, so if you are not ok with issues of abuse, it is better to not take up the books at all. They were disturbing at times. So, book 1 was a good detective story, while book 2 and 3 dealt mostly with conspiracy theories, although they were connected in plot with the book 1, and since I don't like the ideas of "super villains" and government cover-ups and the like, the enjoyment was much smaller. However, it was nice to see how the characters were developing, although, again, some relationships they had were pretty difficult to imagine and although Larsson did not manage to describe sex as well as Gabriel Garcia Marques in Love In The Time Of Cholera, the book is, fortunately or unfortunately, full of it :)
I cannot recommend or not recommend the series, unfortunately. Like, my future father in law loves detective stories, but I would never give him those books to read because of their gruesomeness and vivid presentations of abuse. Then again, my Mom is in a more stronger state of mind, so even if she would not enjoy the books, she will understand them. So, maybe don't buy them, if you can, but get them from a library not to regret the money spent? :D

[Jez]

I haven't read them, but practically everyone in the library has. :p It's a very popular series right now. So far it seems that most people love them, but a handful of people hate them. Not many in between. One of the librarians I work with was really turned off by the abuse, but she is also very sensitive (she couldn't get past the first scene in Inglorious Bastards).

From what I'm hearing, it sounds like each book is a stand alone book and they can be read out of order. Do you agree with that, Musi?

[musi]

I haven't read them, but practically everyone in the library has. :p It's a very popular series right now. So far it seems that most people love them, but a handful of people hate them. Not many in between. One of the librarians I work with was really turned off by the abuse, but she is also very sensitive (she couldn't get past the first scene in Inglorious Bastards).

From what I'm hearing, it sounds like each book is a stand alone book and they can be read out of order. Do you agree with that, Musi?

I think I am one of rear ones in between. I don't regret buying the books, but they will not be something I would pick up again (maybe to just check what exactly the character bought in Ikea - I am an Ikea fan, sorry :) ). And when it comes to purely a detective story in the first book, I think it was excellent - the "riddle" itself and the way the character found out the truth, and the rest was interesting, but a bit disturbing and, generally, laid the foundation for books 2 and 3.
As for books being "stand alone" books, I don't think so. Without spoilers, I'd say that it would be difficult to understand everything happening in book 3 without reading the first one. Even though main things are mentioned and the behavior of the main characters is explained, to really get into it I think they should be read one after the other.

[KneD]

I probably won´t read it because so many people like them: that usually means I won't like it. (whether that is because of my taste or because of the rest of the world I don't know)

I never read detective/thriller/mystery/crime types of books: but in this case picked some things up because they are mega-sellers (which in my line of work is interesting). Basically it seems to be a great choice for those who love both 'thrillers/detectives/crimes' and books like shadow of the wind. True crime lovers will probably not be impressed. What I hear from the editors at work authors like Nesbo/Patterson/Robotham are a lot better. Crime-novel-wise that is.

Ah well. A page turner is a page turner. And it will always please plenty. And why am I writing all this about books I haven't read? I'll stop now and let the people talk who actually do know what the books are like :)

[Phantom Paragrapher]

@Jez - The trilogy aren't stand-alones , from talking to customers you have to read them order. I think because Im such a mystery reader and as Kned said jo Nesbo, James Patterson and Michael Robotham are authors I have read all their books

[jeremy]

Thanks for all the info on the books! I did mean to say Larsson was Swedish, sorry. But reading what you guys wrote gave me a way different view. Before learning anything about them, I thought it was a basic teen series. I'm surprised that a translated mystery novel would achieve so many fans worldwide.

Also, I thought it would be a direct pageturner with zero complex themes. It seems like it's not. It also seems like the first book is more liked than the others, so I think I'll give it a go and see for myself if it's worthy of the hype. Anyone else going to try it?

[Jez]

Thanks for the clarification, Musi. One of the more recent commentators read the first book, then the third, and she's reading the second now. She didn't seem to have any problems reading them in that order, but she did read the first one first, so it sounds like she got a lot of the background when she should have.

Jeremy, I don't know any teens who are reading the series. Just adults. They're also shelved in the adult section in my library system.

[jeremy]

I keep getting the impression that these books were for young teens only; that's could be a reason for my doubt.

[Phantom Paragrapher]

@Jeremy - Its definitley not a teens book . We haven't had anyone in our libraries get it out that wasn't under the age of 30+ though it has been very popular with the older crowd.

[margaine]

I wonder if they are being marketed differently where jeremy lives? I'm not sure if that would be possible, given what you all have said about the content of the books, but you never know.

[jeremy]

It's not categorized under teens in the bookstores I go to, (ones in Hong Kong and Vancouver). I didn't mean it in the sense that the series is shelved under the teens section (as books like these (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/teens-teen-books/379001099/) are), but rather that it's suitable reading material for young adults.

Actually, I don't think I know anyone my age reaching for books in the teens shelf, haha.

[Jez]

I'm not your age (I'm a decent bit older!), but I regularly reach for books in the YA section. They have as much depth (and as little!) as adult books. Many, many books we now consider classics were originally marketed toward youths and "intellectually inferior" women.

A person with little intellectual depth isn't going to get much out of the most intellectually deep book--YA or adult. On the other hand, an intelligent person will be able to think about and find depth in even shallow books, again, either YA or adult. Try not to knock YA books so much, you're selling yourself short. ;)

[Phantom Paragrapher]

I guess though in mine and Jez's professions its not unusual to read YA or Teens books as Im probably maybe a few years older than you Jeremy, but every now and again I read teens as there are so many good ones out there. I have customers in the library that are in their 60's-75 that read the occasional teens as they thouroughly enjoy them.

[jeremy]

Now I see what it seems like I'm saying, haha. Actually, I really liked The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which I suppose is a teens book; I wasn't aware of my mental separation of good teens books and poorly written ones with dull plots, sorry!

[Phantom Paragrapher]

Guess we have a couple of spammers on our forum
14620561
cbkN258

[Star_Anise]

Guess we have a couple of spammers on our forum
14620561
cbkN258

There are a lot more than that, but with only one mod online this weekend, they're around for a bit longer than usual...please just ignore them and we will be back to our usual programming soon:)

[jeremy]

I thought the previous one wasn't spam? It was just about the user's interest in the series, right?

[Star_Anise]

I thought the previous one wasn't spam? It was just about the user's interest in the series, right?

The two cited by PP were definite spammers - complete with suspicious links in their signatures:)

[Phantom Paragrapher]

At first I was with Jeremy but then I noticed they wrote the same thing on every forum and with the links in their signatures that tends to be a clear giveaway.

[jeremy]

I've finally started the series. I got the book last summer but haven't had the chance to read it until now. I can't say why, but there is a slight John Grisham resemblance to it, or at least I am reminded of him when I read the first 200 pages of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Is anyone reading it? Or has anyone read it? I'm slightly hooked and pick it up whenever I have spare time.

[thelastmelon]

Is anyone reading it? Or has anyone read it? I'm slightly hooked and pick it up whenever I have spare time.

I've read the books. I didn't have much choice, since I'm Swedish, hehe, and if they series are everywhere where you guys live, I am sure they've been at least as much in my face when they were released, and a long time afterwards! Oh well, I read the whole series - and my impression after having read all three is that I really like the plot, and I found it intriguing to find out what would happen and what caused several things. Sometimes the story was a bit.. slow, and not as intense as I would have liked, but the plot saved that for me!

I don't know if there's a huge difference in what language you read the series in. I read them in Swedish, so maybe that's much different from reading them in English? I've never read a translated Swedish book, so hard to say. :)

[jeremy]

I've read the books. I didn't have much choice, since I'm Swedish, hehe, and if they series are everywhere where you guys live, I am sure they've been at least as much in my face when they were released, and a long time afterwards! Oh well, I read the whole series - and my impression after having read all three is that I really like the plot, and I found it intriguing to find out what would happen and what caused several things. Sometimes the story was a bit.. slow, and not as intense as I would have liked, but the plot saved that for me!

I don't know if there's a huge difference in what language you read the series in. I read them in Swedish, so maybe that's much different from reading them in English? I've never read a translated Swedish book, so hard to say. :)

Come to think of it, I haven't entered one book store since last summer that didn't have at least one book from the trilogy displayed. Even in a small book store in a Cambodian market - though I suspect the copy and the other books are no good and fake.

I have to say that the story is really the only thing keeping me going. The writing style doesn't particularly stand out, but the plot encourages me to read on.

Maybe you should flip through a few pages of the English version when you see it!

[john-briner-art]

I've finally started the series. I got the book last summer but haven't had the chance to read it until now. I can't say why, but there is a slight John Grisham resemblance to it, or at least I am reminded of him when I read the first 200 pages of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Good thing you have already picked this book, Jeremy. It's a good read actually. The plot is truly intriguing, which is why it's not that easy to put it down.

[jeremy]

I thought I came back to the forum after I've finished reading the book. I enjoyed it a lot and am looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

I also watched the Swedish movie which was great, and am really interested in David Fincher's American remake. The trailer looks promising.