Halfway There

This is the first in what will be a monthly tackling of each of our book club selections from the perspective of being half finished with the book. I’ll give some random thoughts on the book, discuss what works and what doesn’t, where I think the book is heading, and anything else I want to talk about. Without further ado…

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

TALKING POINTS MEMO

I was a little daunted by the size of this book at the start (almost 600 pages.) After just finishing Dickens’ meaty “Mutual Friend”, I was hoping for something a little brisker. But after chunking through 800+ pages of Victorian High Society, I thought a page turning thriller would be just what the doctor ordered. That is why the start of this book was such a disappointment. I though the first 30 pages or so were a real drag. When you are reading a book categorized a “thriller” you expect it to open with a gruff private eye and a blonde, sexy, grieving heroine, a stormy night, missing diamonds. Instead, we get pages of financial mumbo-jumbo, trial bally-hoo, and character descriptions. It isn’t, in fact, until almost page 100 that the author gets around to mentioning the “murder” part of this murder mystery. But, the good news is that by then I was hooked. Once this book picks up steam, it really gets cooking. By page 300 or so (halfway) I would say this book has officially reached “can’t put down” status.

“I’M JUST ASKING QUESTIONS.”

Outside of Henrik, Martin Vanger is the only person in the Vanger family who is presented sympathetically. So, clearly he must be the criminal. However, there seem to be enough screwed up people in this family to account for a conspiracy of the creepy/sexual kind, so I’m wagering that there is more than one villain in the family. I suspect (or I think we are led to suspect) that the crazy Nazi Uncle Harald has to have something to do with it as well. As for the crime itself – I suspect Harriet is actually still alive. She escaped her crazy attacker(s) and rather than face exposing them, and challenge the Vanger machine, chose to disappear. Cecelia seems to know more than she is saying, as, I suspect does Henrik. There is a bigger mystery under the mystery, or again, I think there is one that is hinted at. A great job so far by the author to make insinuations, spin, and then change course. Which is the job of a good mystery writer - I hope the conclusion lives up to the buildup.

THE SPIN ZONE

Because there is always a political angle... It’s no surprise that Larsson would include references throughout this book to extremist and racial politics, Nazism, and political and financial corruption. These are all issues he was passionate about in real life, which were manifested in his founding of his own political magazine, EXPO (much like his fictional hero, Blomkvist). In addition, he makes repeated reference to sex issues, gender, and power. In fact, each section of the book begins with pretty hairy statistics like “46% of the women in Sweden have been subjected to some form of violence by men”.

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

I received Elmore Leonard’s new one “Road Dogs” and the Atwood “Handmaids Tale” for Christmas. I bought the wife two non-fiction things, Mortenson’s new book “Rocks into Schools” and the Hmong refugee memoir “The Latehomecomer”. I am considering holding off on the Leonard and putting it on the book list for when I host in March/April. What books did everyone else ask Santa for this Christmas? Good luck finishing “Dragon Tattoo”.