Certain Tattoo's are just a bad idea when you don't want to be noticed

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist that made it big by chance, has been offered the job of a lifetime after being convicted of a crime he committed against one of the power names of Sweden. During this project he is introduced to Lisbeth Salander, an introverted researcher, whose part of the story is only beginning to unfold. With aspects in the story changing and constantly moving, there is a dangerous turn of events and crazy things happen than can only be read in the book itself.

While reading the first part of this trilogy, I couldn’t believe how crazy graphic it was. I’m not one to turn from a novel with some well written… um, scenes… but this book went a little further. It was something that wouldn’t shock you to be in a movie, but to read it with one’s own imagination, I couldn’t get over it. Now saying that, I also completely know that it was necessary to put graphic scenes in this book so that further into the series you read, you understand exactly what is going on and why the characters react to certain situations.

Lisbeth Salander is the girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She is introverted and we learn little about her throughout the book. She bases her morals on her own standards and what she thinks is right and wrong. She is described as a woman of 23, but most people see her and think she is fifteen. She has multiple tattoos on her body and she has been diagnosed by the courts to be incompetent to take care of herself. For this reason she is under guardianship. What used to be a come see your guardian whenever you need him, turns south when said guardian is discovered to have had a stroke and it would more than likely kill him. A new guardian is designated for Salander and she is left searching for answers. Salander is a well written character that only gets more interesting as the story goes along. I wanted to get to know her, but felt that she wouldn’t let me in. She was a mystery not only to the other characters, but the audience as well. Very interesting writing.

Mikael Blomkvist, a reporter that seems to always make the headlines himself. He has the craziest relationships and interpersonal relationships that I have ever read. He has had a 20 year relationship with Erika Berger and the relationship didn’t stop for college, love, or even their marriages to other people. It is old news that they have an ongoing affair that even Berger’s husband knows about and condones. He also meets Vanger and another affair begins. He is definitely a male whore.

This book was a very hard read for me. The first 100 pages or so, I couldn’t get into the story, I didn’t understand what was going on or what the book was even talking about with all of the legal jargon and my lack of knowledge in Swedish history and judicial processes. I knew that I had to keep reading because I had already bought the second book. I finally got to the point of no return within the book and had to keep going, I had invested too much time. It got great at the exciting part of the book and I knew that I wanted to finish it. I can’t remember how long it took me to read this particular book, but it took me 5 months to read the entire series. It usually takes me a week or so to read a book. I even took a break in between book 2 and 3 in order to rest my brain. At the end I was glad that I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and it is just the beginning of a great story and series. Read on my friends, read on. If you have begun, keep reading!