Why am I not enjoying Stieg Larsson?

I have JUST finished the 3rd one after reading all three. Found the first one quite good, 2nd one not as good and the third hard going. As others have said lots of waffle and repetition and confusing names.... There are so many characters in the 3rd I kept forgetting which one was which and couldn't even figure out if they were male or female! Still he covers some interesting issues and I like the overall story if not a bit unbelieveable. I think Salanders character is excellent.

"Also didn't like the way all the female characters fell helplessly in love with the main bloke, the journalist." Yes, yes, yes, Definite projection by Larsson there.

Read the first one, thought it was bit meh tbh.

Someone once said to me, "a good indicator of how unenjoyable a book is going to be is if there's a family tree or a map at the start".

Also didn't like the way all the female characters fell helplessly in love with the main bloke, the journalist.

I thought the first one was decent, the second one so so and I can't even read the 3rd one.

I find Salander to be the most unsympathetic female character I have ever read.

i quite liked the first one but did find the graphic detail in bits pretty hard going. I found it verylong winded as well. To be honest the preamble for the second one has pretty much put me off already.

Currently finishing the second bourne trilogy which is much better imo

A literate translation of the Swedish title is Men who hate women, and that is an ongoing theme. There are strong women in the book though and the writer isn't condoning the violence. I did find some scenes difficult though, especially when listening to the audiobook.

sfxmum, have a look here
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_with_the_Dragon_Tattoo_%28film%29

Noomi Rapace who plays Lisbeth is really good in the part I think.

Yes the book is horrific to women was really shocked with one particular scene, made me feel a bit sick, so on that note was not enjoyable. Is it true all the statistics at the beginning of each chapter on women being sexually assaualted and attacked?

Must admit when I started reading the 1st book was wondering what all the fuss was about but then once all the thrilling stuff kicked in was hooked and really was shocked when found out who the 'Baddie' was. Will be interesting to see how the film turns out!?

Oh thank god!! Thought I was the only one not liking Girl with Dragon Tattoo! Tedious, overly wordy, too much description, not enough action. Life's too short to read a book that hasnt gripped you by chapter 4. And I love crime fiction. And am not daunted by 1100 page novels (can read those in a weekend if motivated by a good plot). Jog on, Mr Larsson (oh wait, he already did )

I thought they were a fun read and a cut above most thrillers, bonus for learning about Swedish politics

regarding the films, did not know there was more than one, want to watch it but not the Hollywood version

They are a bit crap, not very well written, with rather 1-D wish fulfillment characters, and some of the WORST sex scenes I've ever read (he makes it sound BORING FFS).

BUT they are well plotted and very exciting, but you have to plough through the first 1/2-2/3 before it gets unputdownable.

You do need to read them in order.

I absolutely loved them. Being swedish I could read them in the original language though and I've been told that the translation is somewhat clumsy.

I really enjoyed the three films as well although I shudder to think what Hollywood will do with them.

I have read all 3. The first was extremely slow I didn't ge into it for ages and only perservered because of the hype. Loved the 2nd one best of the 3 IMO. You could read that without the 1st I think the 3rd is a very long winded continuation of the 2nd. It definitely could have been written it half the pages. Overall would say they were good but not worthy of the praise and promotion they received. I think a lot had to do with the fact that the author had died. Have definitely read better books with none of the hype these 3 had.

I've just started the first and finding it a bit hard going...

No I didn't get them either. I read just about anything and everything but I just couldn't connect with any characters in the book. I struggled through all of the first book, gave up on the second and haven't bothered at all with the third.

not read the other posts yet, but I am currently listening to 'girl who played with fire' as an audio book. Apart from the slightly monotone voice of the reader, its pretty good, as I already have an idea in my head of who she is, and its now being read for me! The first book was great, the first book i have read for a while that has not bored me so much i put it down. It did have boring areas where he goes on a bit and i skipped/scan read those bits.

Just finished the third. Lots of people with similar names that I kept losing track of - Neidermann and Niemnen (?), Jonas and Jonasson and Ekstrom and Edkinth (?) to name but a few. I preferred it to the second which had too much detail about rape and torture. Agree about the lack of editing. The translation sometimes didn't make sense and was too wordy in places. Overall though I enjoyed them. Shame there won't be any more.

Loved them!

First time I've come across anyone who didn't like them on this thread!

DH watched the film/tv series and was blown away by it (not enough to actually read though).

They are very popular here in France and were translated into French long before English - I wonder if the French translation is better?

You are not enjoying it, because it's like a re heated soup of all that's been already written in this genre.
You are much better off with a vintage key scarpetta, imho

Goodness I am suprised that so many people dislike this series of books ?

I loved it, I read both of the first two in about 10 days and then held out for the third in paperback. I have really really enjoyed them, and everyone I know who has read them from work collegues to my friends and parents and in-laws have also found them a riviting read.

Please some-one else say they liked them

annh - why are you not enjoying it? cos it's dull, turgid and badly translated will that do for starters?