The Millenium Trilogy has become a cult classic of sorts hitting best seller lists all over and winning critical acclaim worldwide. So, when I picked up the first book in the trilogy, expectations were, naturally sky high.
Did the book measure up to the hype? Does it belong right there with the greatest of the great books? Is it one of the books that makes you want to read it over and over, again and again?
To begin with, i must find a nice log of wood, just squat and a feet long, to clobber the idiot who named the books. The names are so cliched that they might as well belong in a 80s chinese movie. That apart, they dont give a clue as to their place in the sequel. I ended up reading part 3 first.. . *gasp*.. I told ya. The worst is yet to come. I realized that only after I finished reading it. *gasp*.. i told ya already.. if that makes me an airhead, so be it. But I will stick to my complaint.. silly names for the book. They might have as well been named Millenium Trilogy -1,2 and 3. I hear that their swedish books have appropriate names.. Anyway.. lets move past names.
Stieg Larsson is a master writer and there is no doubt about it. To write a book that spans a 1000 pages over three volumes and write it in such detail that it might as well be used as a script in a movie and keep the reader glued to the three books and that too in a genre that is not Fantasy or War or High voltage spy games is a stupendous feat. Stieg Larsson has weaved a plot that must involve about hundred characters (i have not kept count) and all around just two central figures, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. While all the three books involve the two central characters, they are episodic in nature. The first book has two stories. One about the missing prodigal daughter of the Vanger family. She's been missing for 40 years and Blomkvist is called upon to dig up the reasons behind her disappearence/murder. The second one is about a financial powerhouse run by Wennerstorm and how Blomkvist must attempt a second time to uncover the dirty scoundrels behind the empire.
The second and the third books (no, i wont name them.. you go figure that out yourself) are two parts of the same story. The history and future of Lisbeth Salander.
While the one line synopsis may not sound much to go on, Stieg Larsson builds the plot with a touch of a veteran writer (this was his debut and his only series before he died tragically). He weaves the characters in books to almost a life like form. Their raw nature keeps you intrigued till the very end. He does justice by keeping their characters true to their original form till the very end. In other words, a socially introverted and a untrusting woman as Salander is, suddenly does not become emotional or soft as the series closes.
So how does the books work? Part one is pure adventure and its easy to see how that works. The second and third part seem to work so well due to sheer realism. The opinion of realism is obviously subjective and is based one what one believes could happen and that one finds it too much to happen in reality. The plot is such that it could happen if one is willing to overlook a few fundamental flaws.
I cannot review this book without referring to its weakness, casual sex. The books are peppered with it. Nothing detailed or shedonesque. But just that Blomkvist takes women to bed more than he takes them out for coffee and they all seem to be ready to jump into his bed. Someone wrote that these books have drubbed an already drubbed Swedish society. I can see why. While I have no idea if Swedish culture is such, i can understand why it can be exasperating if its way out of line.
I'm not going to get into the plot summaries and reviews of prose on a translated book. I will just sum this up as a book everyone must read. This is like watching a good suspense thriller like.. say Se7en. If i open a genre in my collection for simple crime thrillers, these books go right at the top. These books will definitely figure in my top 10 recommendations for a young reader for they have message too, delivered in a dark package.
Please do give it a read. Remember, this a dark crime thriller.
Did the book measure up to the hype? Does it belong right there with the greatest of the great books? Is it one of the books that makes you want to read it over and over, again and again?
To begin with, i must find a nice log of wood, just squat and a feet long, to clobber the idiot who named the books. The names are so cliched that they might as well belong in a 80s chinese movie. That apart, they dont give a clue as to their place in the sequel. I ended up reading part 3 first.. . *gasp*.. I told ya. The worst is yet to come. I realized that only after I finished reading it. *gasp*.. i told ya already.. if that makes me an airhead, so be it. But I will stick to my complaint.. silly names for the book. They might have as well been named Millenium Trilogy -1,2 and 3. I hear that their swedish books have appropriate names.. Anyway.. lets move past names.
Stieg Larsson is a master writer and there is no doubt about it. To write a book that spans a 1000 pages over three volumes and write it in such detail that it might as well be used as a script in a movie and keep the reader glued to the three books and that too in a genre that is not Fantasy or War or High voltage spy games is a stupendous feat. Stieg Larsson has weaved a plot that must involve about hundred characters (i have not kept count) and all around just two central figures, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. While all the three books involve the two central characters, they are episodic in nature. The first book has two stories. One about the missing prodigal daughter of the Vanger family. She's been missing for 40 years and Blomkvist is called upon to dig up the reasons behind her disappearence/murder. The second one is about a financial powerhouse run by Wennerstorm and how Blomkvist must attempt a second time to uncover the dirty scoundrels behind the empire.
The second and the third books (no, i wont name them.. you go figure that out yourself) are two parts of the same story. The history and future of Lisbeth Salander.
While the one line synopsis may not sound much to go on, Stieg Larsson builds the plot with a touch of a veteran writer (this was his debut and his only series before he died tragically). He weaves the characters in books to almost a life like form. Their raw nature keeps you intrigued till the very end. He does justice by keeping their characters true to their original form till the very end. In other words, a socially introverted and a untrusting woman as Salander is, suddenly does not become emotional or soft as the series closes.
So how does the books work? Part one is pure adventure and its easy to see how that works. The second and third part seem to work so well due to sheer realism. The opinion of realism is obviously subjective and is based one what one believes could happen and that one finds it too much to happen in reality. The plot is such that it could happen if one is willing to overlook a few fundamental flaws.
I cannot review this book without referring to its weakness, casual sex. The books are peppered with it. Nothing detailed or shedonesque. But just that Blomkvist takes women to bed more than he takes them out for coffee and they all seem to be ready to jump into his bed. Someone wrote that these books have drubbed an already drubbed Swedish society. I can see why. While I have no idea if Swedish culture is such, i can understand why it can be exasperating if its way out of line.
I'm not going to get into the plot summaries and reviews of prose on a translated book. I will just sum this up as a book everyone must read. This is like watching a good suspense thriller like.. say Se7en. If i open a genre in my collection for simple crime thrillers, these books go right at the top. These books will definitely figure in my top 10 recommendations for a young reader for they have message too, delivered in a dark package.
Please do give it a read. Remember, this a dark crime thriller.
