Book 23 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

A couple of months ago I took my mother out computer shopping. She has had a computer for a few years but didn't use it much, as it had an old CRT monitor that she could not position such that it was comfortable for her to use. We went out and got her a brand new laptop, and I have been spending some time showing her how to use it beyond balancing her checkbook, so naturally I directed her to this blog in hopes of doubling its readership. A day or two later, I received a message on my answering machine (rather than email; I know I'm trying) that she had read one of the entries and that it contains a typo. At first I was simply annoyed that this was the only thing she had to say about it, and I didn't even bother to fix it. Well, the other day I was going back through some older entries, and as it turns out, I have many typos. I realize that I'm not always going to write perfectly, but some of these things were really bad. I might have to try and go back through and fix the ones that I can see. I'm not planning on altering the posts substantially. I'm just planning on fixing some of the glaring errors.

So why am I making mistakes that I would never have made in the past? Has a steady diet of bad emails, blog posts and text messages deteriorated my skills? Is it an increased over-reliance on automated spelling and grammar check? Is it a sign of early onset Alzheimer's? I just don't know.

Book 23 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

In keeping with my summertime trend of reading some popular titles, I decided to tackle the first in one of the most popular crime fiction series in a while. I am referring to Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This riveting novel is one of three books that the author delivered to his publisher simultaneously. Upon delivery, he returned home, ran up 7 flights of stairs and died of a heart attack.

The story takes place in Sweden, and centers around an investigative journalist and magazine editor/publisher named Mikael Blomkvist, and an enigmatic young female computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist has recently been convicted of libeling Hans-Erik Wennerstrom, an extremely wealthy businessman. Despite the fact that it was a setup, Blomkvist does not put up a battle in court, and elects to simply accept the verdict and do his time. Lisbeth Salander is an emotionally distant and somewhat imbalanced computer hacker, with piercings, an attitude, and of course a dragon tattoo. A ward of the state due to her emotional problems, she has found employment with security company that has an investigative service. Here she demonstrates an an incredible ability to gather and organize information on individuals, to the degree that her boss is willing to ignore her methods and the fact that she doesn't play well with others, and basically lets her freelance on a permanent basis.

Blomkvist, disgraced by his ordeal and facing a brief prison sentence for his libel conviction, is lured by an offer by another wealthy businessman, Henrik Vanger, ostensibly to write a family history, but in reality to investigate the mysterious disappearance some 40 years prior of Harriet Vanger, Henrik's grand niece. Henrik has never let go of his search to find what has become of her, and has utilized his wealth to track down any lead, but with no luck. Blomkvist is reluctant to take the assignment, but is enticed by Henrik's offer to turn over evidence which will take down Wennerstrom and restore Blomkvist's reputation.

Blomkvist, who is impressed by the level of detail in a background check she performed on him, engages Lisbeth as a research assistant. and the two start to uncover the Vanger family history. It is a sordid one, filled with spousal abuse, molestation, and Nazi collaboration, and serial sexual sadism and murder. As they get closer to the truth, things get more dangerous, and Blomkvist and Lisbeth's develop a strange relationship that is probably the closest thing to love with a man that she has ever experienced.

The Swedish version of the movie (with subtitles) is currently available for immediate download on Netflix. I just watched it this morning and while remains fairly true to the book, there are some substantial changes. In the book, Blomkvist is mainly motivated to take the assignment, at least at first, by the chance to get the information that Henrik claims to have on Wennerstrom. The movie removes this motivating factor entirely, and seems to focus on the idea that Harriet babysat Blomkvist as a child, frequently flashing to an image of her playing with little boy Blomkvist. There also seemed to be a needless collapsing of the family tree, where Harriet becomes Henrik's niece as opposed to grand-niece. The movie also downplays Blomkvist's "sex machine" status, choosing to ignore the affairs he has with his co-publisher and one of the Cecilia Vanger. Lisbeth's interactions with her first "guardian" and her employer are left out, but the movie provides some additional back-story on her which I'm guessing is revealed in the second book. All-in-all, the movie was quite good though. They did a great job casting Lisbeth, which is something that I'm concerned Hollywood may fall short on when they make the American version. This is not a role for Meghan Fox.

For those who live in the DC area, the movie is also currently showing at the AMC Loew's Shirlington 7, along with the second Swedish movie The Girl Who Played with Fire (separate admission). Also, I just read an recent article regarding the possibility that a forty year old rape that Larsson witnessed but failed to report might have figured into the writing of the Millenium Trilogy, as the three-book series is collectively known. You can find the article here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20012770-10391698.html