OneMetal.com REVIEW:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Earlier this year, the tragic story of Stieg Larsson hit the mainstream press. Larsson was an influential anti-fascist campaigner who founded the Swedish Expo Foundation (an organisation similar to ‘Searchlight‘ exposing extreme right-wing and racist groups) and was the editor of the organisation’s main publication. He died of a massive heart attack leaving the manuscripts of three novels that would later form the ‘Millennium’ trilogy. Since his death, the ‘Millennium’ trilogy has become a resounding success, selling over 25 million copies, making the transition to film, as well as highlighting a growing Scandinavian pedigree in the crime thriller genre.

‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ is the first book in the series and starts with Mikael Blomvist, part owner of the ‘Millennium’ magazine, losing a libel case to the Swedish Wennerstrom Group. Facing a massive payout, short criminal sentence and a magazine on the brink of collapse, the disgraced Blomvist is approached by Henrik Vanger, former CEO of the Vanger Group. Vanger offers Blomvist a simple arrangement: take a year out and write his memoir, while Vanger finances the ailing magazine, paying Blomvist handsomely for his services. Furthermore, Vanger promises to provide evidence to clear Blomvist’s name and validate his attack on the corrupt Wennerstrom group.

However, Vanger doesn’t just want Blomvist to write his memoir – that is simply cover for his main task. Forty years earlier, Vanger’s 16-year-old niece, Harriett, disappeared from the family’s island in a good old-fashioned Cluedo-esque ‘locked-room’ scenario with a host of suspects trapped on the island. Running in parallel is the story of Lisbeth Salander – the title character – a private investigator and hacker who eventually teams up with Blomvist to solve the sordid and disturbing past of the Vanger family and uncover the mystery of Harriett’s disappearance.

Now admittedly, it may sound rather staid compared to the material you might find in other crime thrillers, but ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ is a satisfying book that plays to convention. Of course, the success of a good thriller is not necessarily the crescendo of intrigue that builds to the finale, but the journey that leads to the crescendo, establishing empathy for the characters. And it is here that I have mixed feelings…

For instance, the underlying tone against misogyny (note: the book’s original title translated into English is ‘Men Who Hate Women’) is somewhat tempered by some of the graphic and violent sexual scenes within the book – Blomvist as some kind of the middle aged fanny-magnet and Salander’s obsession with the size of her pert breasts. Are these moments simply titillation or an author’s indulgence – are parallels between Blomvist and the author too easily drawn?

Throughout the book, it is hard not to feel some affection for the slight and victimised Salander, a mixed-up puppy and the product of a mis-managed and misunderstanding state; but when dealing with these scenarios there is no kind of social commentary about the circumstances that saw Salander serially abused throughout her teens. Salander certainly becomes a personification of female strength, but without the author’s insights on the society that lets her down it feels like a missed opportunity. It is a bit like the Pope stating that the Hilter Youth made him the Catholic he is today without knowing anything about the Second World War.

Admittedly, it can take some time to get going. The plotlines of the two protagonists do take some time to come together, and while Blomvist and Salander are an unlikely duo, with some indulgent writing that rather makes you scratch your head, this is simply nitpicking on what is an enjoyable thriller. Whether this book translates to film and holds its own is probably another matter…

Bottom Line

An enjoyable thriller that, like most good examples of the genre, takes some time to get going and has some flaws considering the hype surrounding it. But that shouldn't stop anyone grabbing a copy for a mildly edgy summer read.