girl with the dragon tattoo...worth sticking with?

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what do you think?

this is the second time i have started, but just cant get into it.

Thoroughly enjoyed all three books and both films though you probably need to have read the books before seeing the films I think.
I guess different things draw in different people - I can't get into Patricia Cornwell but The Millenium Trilogy kept me reading until the small hours.
I thought Lisbeth Salander an unusual but compelling character and the way the plots were woven together kept me turning the pages. The third book gets quite complicated and all those Swedish names started to sound the same to me but it was definatley worth the peserverance.
What a shame there will be no more work from Stieg Larsson.

Posted on this thread a couple of weeks ago about how difficult it was to get into The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I'm almost at the end and surprised myself by thoroughly enjoying the latter half of this book. You start to forgive the overly detailed writing style once you get sucked into the plot. Officially won over. Going to read the next one.

Loved Patricia Cornwell.

Just read it on holiday and loved it. Admittedly the computers specs were a bit over-detailed and read like the Argos catalogue and there was a lot of coffee mentioned, but overall it was great. I don't really do crime/thrillers but would recommend it.

Excellent book, and the nice thing is that he builds on this so that Girl who played with fire and the hornets nest expands the canvass, with familiar characters fighting on a much bigger scale.

Pity he had Salander and Blomqvist have sex - just didn't work and a bit of sexual tension would have been much better.

struggled to get into the first one, but once I had I couldn't put it down and raced through the others too, loved them

I thoroughly enjoyed all three. Keep going!

I was going to start this thread a few weeks ago, but I stuck it out and loved it

I think it was all the place names and names, and business talk

flew through 2nd book, taking me a bit longer to get into 3rd

Love Patricia Cornwell but she lost her way for 2 or 3 books then found it again, actualy must google she normally has a book out every christmas!

I am loving it!
it has all the ingredients of a good crime thriller. But I agree that Lisbeth Salander is not the highlight

I loved them all!

I read the first one last week. After you get used to 100 characters all called similar things (who the fuck is Berger? and two sentences later who the fuck is Birger?) it is compelling. It had an interesting morality to it I thought.

About 1/4 way through the 2nd book and GOD it's turgid. I read a description of Lisbeth going into Ikea, 'she bought a Yhnuuk sofa, and then decided to buy a malp to go with it, she then boight a large wardrobe for her bedroom' oh for crying out loud shuddup.

I hope someone gets stabbed soon.

yes - worth sticking with.

Didnt like it that much to start with but really enjoyed last third of the book, loved second book and really loving third book so far (1/3 of way through)

actually think 1st book is the weakest of the 3

The books remind me of Harry Potter, where it is written in a turgid way, but you just ploygh through the clunking prose to find out what happened.

Equivalent of stuffing your face with a cheap cheese sandwich and a bag of haribos - will fill you up, but won't satisfy.

Ah but GetorfMoiland I'm a speed reader so just speed read through those shopping list/historical info etc. bits - last third of the second book is so much faster paced.

I enjoyed them all - and the Scandinavians do have a SERIOUS coffee habit. In Iceland, all the offices have fancy bean-to-cup machines and I seem to recall the same in Denmark (but it's a long time since I was there).

I read quite fast, so I tend to just skim over bits that are overly descriptive.

I don't think that the books were misogynistic - in fact, I think they are the exact opposite - they are having a go at society/men who are misgoynistic.

Apparently as a young teenager he witnessed a (gang?) rape and never forgave himself for not having intervened (so my dad tells me, who read an article about him recently).

I was wondering if anyone has seen the films and think they're worth it? I'm going to wait til I've read books 2 and 3 before renting them if they're any good. Am having a breather, reading something else, before venturing into book 2.

I have only read the "Fire" one but really enjoyed it. I have the other two on order.

I thought the shopping descriptions etc were quite amusing - she does something mundane like furnishing her house from Ikea, then the next minute she's off breaking and entering or offing a would-be wife killer.

Seaturtle- I had to have a breather after book 1 too. But sailed through book 2 and 3 with no break.

If you have read the book then you might find this funny

www.newyorker.com/humor/2010/07/05/100705sh_shouts_ephron

I'd say you have to set aside a good two or three hours to really get into these books and immerse yourself in the Swede-fest, 'o's with lines through them, '-ssons' and local geographical references. No point fiddling about with 20 minutes here and there because you'll just about be able to pronounce the first tongue-twisting Stockholm street name and have to put it away again. Yes, the plots are daft, it's not Shakespeare and the unlikely heroine makes Lady Gaga seem understated and well-balanced... but everything rattles along with a few surprise twists and, for a thriller, you can't say fairer than that.

Thank goodness it's not just me. Am really struggling to get into this set as lent to me by my Uncle, who swears they are awesome.

And I have struggled through some bloody boring books in my time!