It took me a long time to get through this book. It began to be exciting half way through. I understand there was a lot of character development but still. Some excitement at the beginning can't be a bad thing. Anyways it was a "meh" read. Since I bought all three books i continued on. I'll tell you now, the next 2 books are very different from the first in terms of how intense it is.

I loved it. I can't say I have ever read a book that would be classed as a thriller and as I began reading it, I wasn't aware of what I was in for. It was at times disturbing but it all applied to the story. It wasn't just a shoot em up and then goes nowhere. There are twists and turns and times where you smile to yourself and times where you gasp!
Looking forward to reading Girl that Played with Fire.
Wish Mr Larsson was around to enjoy the success of his novels!

Like the Da Vinci Code I expected nothing more out of this extremely popular series than a quick and entertaining read. Well, that is exactly what the series delivered. It was surprisingly sophisticated and kept me up until 4:00 am almost every night. These are the perfect books for the cottage or a relaxing vacation.

«The Girl With The Dragon Tatto» is a charming novel. Lisbet Salander is an endearing caracter, strong and unique that feminists will adore! The book has two stories and both got an unexpected end. I wasn't able to stop reading from the middle of the book! Nonetheless, I think the translation wasn't very good.

I really enjoyed this book. There were enough twists and turns to keep it interesting and enough character plots to not bore you. It is full of scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat and it leaves you wanting to read more about the main characters. Can't wait to read the next two!!

I've heard and read many complaints about Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:

1. It's misogynistic.
2. It's packed with cliché.
3. It's too convoluted.
4. It's too disturbing.
5. Lisbeth wasn't autistic enough or was foolishly autistic.
6. There were too many red herrings, and the damn Nazi red herring didn't have the usual payoff.
7. Too/Two many plots.
8. Too hard on Leviticus.

I will answer these in a moment, but first I must declare that I am an unrepentant fan of this book. This is one of the rare times when I long for Chapters/Indigo to have half grades, because I would love to give this 4.5. I can't give it a full 5, though, because I sense Mr. Larsson's series is going to grow in his last two books.

And now...back to the top eight complaints:

1. Perhaps, but how can a book whose original Swedish title is "Men Who Hate Women" avoid misogyny? It can't. But at least the misogyny present is a comment on misogyny. Larsson isn't being misogynist. He's attacking misogyny.

Moreover, our hero, Mikael Blomkvist, is not one of the men who hate women. He is a pretty good guy, actually; in fact, he's one of the rare guys I would actually categorize as a "good guy" in most modern literature. Sure...he's a bad Dad. Sure...he has a failed marriage and many sexual relationships. Sure...he makes some decisions that challenge his ethics. But he remains a "good guy." He tries to do well in an ugly world. He never succumbs to cynicism. And he genuinely cares about all the people in his life. Male and female.

And it's not like Berger and Salander are weak women -- far from it. There may be misogyny in Men Who Hate Women, but it is wholly the characters' misogyny -- those who have it -- and not the author's.

2. Cliché, smiché! Yes there's some cliché -- maybe plenty of cliché -- but who cares?! Seriously? We're not talking about Proust here. We're talking about a mystery novel, a serial killer who-dunnit. Complaining about cliché in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is like complaining about "pinko sympathies" in The Communist Manifesto.

There's communism in Marx? Really? You think!?

3 & 7. Yep. There's a couple of distinct plots here, but there's a level of verisimilitude to that. Have even our banal lives ever had anything important happen without something else important occurring at the same time? Not mine, and to have multiple incidents happening simultaneously makes sense to me. The search for Harriet Vanger wasn't hampered at all by the Wennerström drama, and vice versa. And to be honest, I loved having a pair of mysteries solved in the same novel.

4. Too disturbing compared to what? It's nowhere near as disturbing as American Psycho, and it's about average as far as the serial killer genre goes. Plus, I think there is power in the graphic moments of this novel, particularly Lisbeth's vengeance on her guardian. I am not on her side when it comes to this vengeance, but I understand it, and the drive to take vengeance in such a way -- such a human way -- fascinates me. Who'd have thought that the Swedes have it in them?

5. Perhaps this is true, but at this point I have only read one of the trilogy, and the only person who suggested that Lisbeth was autistic was Mikael, and while he thought she was suffering from Asberger's his guess was only in passing. I can cut the book some slack here. (suspend my disbelief, suspend my disbelief).

6. I was stoked that, for once, the Nazis were a red herring rather than the ultimate, degenerated evil. We all expect the Nazis to be the worst of the worst, so it is refreshing to see them as a deflection instead.

8. Can anyone really be too hard on Leviticus? Ummmmm...nope.

Now, I admit that I might love this novel simply because it is set in Sweden. After all, I do love ABBA, Fredrik Ljungberg, IKEA (my apologies), glögg, Stellan Skarsgård, Max von Sydow, Ingmar Bergman, and Mats Sundin. I looked into emigrating to Sweden but had no excuse, being a resident of Canada with no skills the Swedes were looking for, and I am a fan of Norse Mythology, but I do love Sweden, and I was jazzed by the setting of [author:Larsson]'s book.

All that aside, however, I think The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a compelling, entertaining and unabashedly thrilling read.

If you can overlook the eight complaints, or consider them in a different light, you'll like this book too. I promise.

Loved the characters and the story.....

Mikael Blomkvist is a disgraced journalist convicted of libel. He is hired by Henrik Vanger, a retired CEO in his eighty’s to investigate the disappearance of his great-niece Harriet who vanished from the secluded island owned by the Vanger family forty years ago. After scouring the island several times, Henrik is convinced that Harriet has been murdered and believes that the murder is someone is his large and dysfunctional family. After Blomkvist finds new evidence, the investigation gets dangerous and 24 year old Lisbeth Salander, a violent, asocial, genius hacker is enlisted to help with the investigation. This has to be one of the most suspenseful stories I have ever read. I didn’t think it was possible to make the world of financial journalism so interesting but Larsson pulls it off. The characters are fascinating and the story enthralling. Blomkvist and Salander both have their own stories which merge in the middle of the book and their opposing personalities just mesh so well together. That concept is kind of clichéd, but Larsson seems to make it his own. Overall I found this book thrilling and I couldn’t put it down. The plot takes several unexpected turns and keeps you hooked to the end. I loved this book and I can’t wait for the next one. I hope it’s as exciting and gripping as this one.

Mikael Blomkvist is a financial journalist that specializes in uncovering the truth about companies. He is partial owner of a magazine called Millenium, but is sued for libel when he goes after a Swedish business tycoon and cannot prove some of his claims. With his career in ruins, Blomkvist gets a strange offer from another CEO of a large company, Henrik Vanger. Blomkvist heads to the middle of nowhere Sweden to be asked to solve a 40 year old murder mystery. Vanger's niece disappeared 40 years ago during a family function and Henrik wants Blomkvist to find out which one of his family members murdered his niece.

Solving the mystery introduces Blomkvist to the incredibly large, quite odd Vanger family. The family has many skeletons in their closet and not all family members are happy that Blomkvist is there.

We also learn about Lisbeth Salander, a troubled young woman with an extraordinary mind. She is a great investigator and incredibly details oriented, yet is not entrusted to her own finances or her own legal representation. She's brought in to the investigation and an unlikely friendship is created.

After getting over the confusion of the number of characters in this book and trying to keep the entire Vanger family straight, I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit of a chance of pace where the person investigating the mystery was not a cop and approached the crime differently. Also, since the crime happened so long ago, this also added a layer of complexity. This becomes quite the page turner.

There are two more books in the series, which I suppose is why the ending wasn't all that satisfying. While the mysteries were solved, the relationships between the characters were left quite open and left me wondering what was going to happen. I will be looking out for the next two books in the series as I'm interested to see how the characters continue on.

I thought it was a fantastic! Maybe a little to technical sometimes, with specific models of computers etc but personally I didn't mind other than such things tend to date books. It's a complex story, with a family mystery at the centre and therefore many characters with the same last name. But they're all interesting. The plot is progressively more and more sinister and there are certainly some surprises!

This is one hell of a thriller! Absolutely phenomenal book. At first I thought it was going to be one of those depressing books (like with some Scandinavian books) and in that, I may have to think of flowers and cheerful scenery that you see in O Magazine but I was completely engrossed by the book from the moment I open the book and I could not put down, no matter how I tried...and believe me I tried on three attempts before giving up. The characters are incredible, even visioning actors and actresses playing the characters (if it turns into a series at the cinema or on television). The trips down memory lane for some of the characters is well written and I enjoyed every moment of the mysterious and political thriller.

I am sadden that the author Stieg Larsson is not with us, his death is just as sensational as the books and articles that he written.It may not be a long series of books but they say it comes in threes and it's a good number for series.

However, I won't be disappointed if someone else does pick up where Larsson left off but be aware (and even I'm judging this by one book) they will be sizable shoes to fill.

I am looking forward to getting my hands on the second one!

I was very sad to find out I'd have to wait for the next two books to be translated into English. Stieg Larsson managed to create some of the best characters I've seen in a long time, I want to know more! NOW! :) This is a very well written novel!

The beginning had a lot of potential, but somehow I didn't feel like the author managed to deliver everything he promised. It felt as if half way through, he somehow got bored and ended-up with a so-so denouement.

I am just finishing this book. It is fantastic. I agree with the other review - there are dark characters, but it all fits together. The story is unique and well thought out without being complicated. I too cannot wait until his other books are translated.

An intricate story line with dark characters makes for an engrossing read. One of the best mysteries I have read in years (and I can hardly wait for the second and third novels to be translated.)