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The Publisher Who Played With Posthumous Publishing
By bukkhead | January 14, 2010
This review appeared previously at Wiffli.com, and is being reproduced here because here is where I’m supposed to put reviews.
BOOK REVIEW: ‘THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE’
by Stiegg Larsson
631 pages
Published by Norstedts Förlag, 2006.
I’ve taken it upon myself to read one book per week this year. So far I’m one-for-one, and looking good for the second one as well! It would be great if I could put my “reviews” of these books here as well. So here’s the first attempt. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson.
In my bloggy, rambling style, I’d like to point out that I probably won’t “review” books as much as “talk about” them, which is to say, I’m sure I’ll end up giving away spoilers. I mean I can try to “recommend” whether one should or should not read a particular book, but really, enjoying a book is such a subjective judgment. I’m sure I would never “recommend” Twilight, but I know good people who loved the book, so for me to have dissuaded them from having read it would have been a horrible disservice.
Which means I’ll have to be objective, right? Yeah, right.
The Girl Who Played with Fire is the sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. A third book in the “Millenium” Trilogy is due in the US this May. I say the US because the book was written in Swedish, and has been translated for us, but for what it’s worth, geographic, historical, and cultural names and references are all kept in the original Swedish. Personally, I found this tough to keep track of, given how complicated the book is, but that’s a failing on my part, and not a condemnation of the writing.
This sequel maintains the same sort of plot-dichotomy as the first book: it begins as a typical detective story, where the “detective” is a journalist. The latter sections of the book are less detective and more “thriller,” or wannabe-thriller, complete with Flawed Heroine, Save-The-Day Sidekick, and Monstrous Villain. Larsson goes for noir, but ends up with more of a comic-book type read (not to denigrate those who enjoy comic books). The story is fraught with convenient coincidences, which make the unveiling of the serpentine plot that much more incredulous. But, if you can willfully suspend your disbelief, Larsson’s style is otherwise consistent enough to be compelling.
The characterization of the main character, (the one who played with fire) is a bit shallow—and yes, I do mean the way she was written, as opposed to the character herself. We’re told that she’s experienced horrors which have shaped her personality, but then that personality is cold, indifferent, unflappable—with a strictly defined moral code. A kind of paradox, which makes it difficult to identify with her, as a reader, leaving us only the plot to provide full immersion into the book. Thus the read works best as a page-turner, a race to find out “whodunit,” without much of a pay off at the end.
If you’re interested, Larsson himself is dead, just before these, his only works of fiction, were published. Allegedly he wrote these books for the pleasure of writing, never pursuing publication as an end-goal. The three in the series were completed before his heart attack at age 50, and there are notes for a few more, with 10 books in total to be written. (Kids: if you have goals like this, don’t drink and smoke like Stieg did.) The ones that have been published have received numerous accolades in Sweden, and have seen acclaim and good sells in English as well.
Okay, so can I recommend these two books? Will I read the third? Um, sure, if you’re in the mood. Better yet, read the free previews on your favorite e-reader, and decide for yourself.
Next week, I’m hoping to have finished Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne. They made a movie out of it, starring Michael Cera. I’m hoping that bit of info doesn’t drive you to prejudice, good or bad.
Topics: Books |