So, I read 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

And I didn't rate it. At all. Am I missing something? Why is is amazing?

I have to find something I can feel empathy with. And I didn't. Him being good at his job didn't make me care whether he was killed or not. I did care about Lisbeth.

Ah, "feel a character is real" is not the same thing as "like him" or even "have a connection with him".

Of course, I agree that characters should feel real. I think Blomkvist felt real. If anything, Lisbeth was a stretch - martial arts expert, computer genius, and bisexual. As a whole, though, these books were believable.

What set these books apart from other crime novels was the realism. It starts out as a murder investigation and solves a completely different crime. It starts with a hundred characters and suspects, and clues are very slowly gathered, some of which turn out to be false. All felt authentic, and not as some author spinning a tale where things fall in place at the right time, bad guy gets caught and guy gets girl etc.

I don't believe I said that you had to 'like' the character - if you are picking me up on my comments about Room, I said like in relation to the book.

I still feel that my connection comment is valid, certainly for me. That's the beauty of books, you can take what you want from them and your relationship with a book is never the same as another reader's.

So you don't read serial killer books then chickens?

No, Beatrice. I do have to find something I can relate to in a character, otherwise it doesn't grab me and pull me in to the story. With Blomkvist, when he was in mortal peril, I was a bit 'meh'. When Lisbeth was in trouble, I wanted her to get away and then get some vengeance

Not you, Beatrice but Chickens said: "I just found it very hard to like the main male character".

Surely the suspense is there whether the character in mortal danger is the killer or the policeman. I don't get this need to like characters at all.

It is the plot and narration skills of the author that make you care about what happens next in a book. Not whether or not the main character resembles you, I would think.

The only bit I found interesting about the books was the crime figures at the start of each chapter. Women in Sweeden have it rough . Read all three in one go and agree much of it was repeatative and could have been chopped.

Do you think that if you like the character, then they resemble you Cote?

They don't have to resemble me, but I do have to care enough about them/their situation to want to invest the time in finding out what happens to them. I like lots of people who don't resemble me in any way, but I find something about them appealing. I didn't feel suspense at the point where Blomkvist was against the killer, because I would have needed to care which one would survive. And I didn't.

I completely understand chickens. I did much prefer Lisbeth. I just didn't get that lady who shred Blomkvist with her DH either.

shared oops.

I couldnt get into it. tried twice, gave up. Lifes too short

Cyb, I wish I was you. I have this really annoying thing where I have to finish a book I've started, even if it's pure shite. It's like a self imposed punishment. I have been known to launch rubbish books across the room when I've finished them. I didn't launch this one, because I was reading it on my Kindle.

It's called afraid of missing something. I have apparently suffered from this nosiness condition from a very young age.

I too wish I could give up sooner, I think I read the subsequent ones hoping they got better.

Beatrice, I did that with the 'Twilight' saga

I am struggling my way through the 3rd in the series

It is so full of exposition and background, it feels so turgid

But like Chickens, I have to finish a book once i have started

turgid.if i dont like by chp3,its goner.dont persevere with books i dont like.life too short too labour a turgid read

Overrated! I was expecting great things, but because of the hype was left feeling disappointed. You can't beat Patricia Highsmith for crime thrillers - or if you like Scandinavian - stick with Henning Mankel....

I thought it was great fun, though Blomkvist is a pita and smug to boot. DH gave me the other two for Xmas so I've done the lot now.

What I like about them is all the stray facts that wander in, about the judicial system and all that sort of thing.

The wealth of detail about completely unimportant things is staggering; do I care what coffee machine so and so has? No. Do I care that Lizbeth is kitting out her new flat with this or that kitchen table and chairs from Ikea? No. I find it absolutely hilarious that these things are included. It makes me wonder whether the author was autistic (no offense meant).

This is a great spoof!

i read it, then i started to read the second one

it was a kind of ' becuase i thought i should' moment

however i was and still am distinctly underimpressed, the book took more than halfway through HALF FUCKING WAY before anything of note started to happen

and i think i did a couple of chapters of the second and declared to myself that i couldn't wait anymore for the story to actually kick in.

I loved these books like I love junk food at the time....
they're pretty trashy but they're good trash, they are classic page turners imho, but fairly forgettable once finished

Jux, I love the spoof

I've just finished the 3rd in the trilogy and really enjoyed all 3, although I think the first 2 are the best. The 3rd is just a continuation of the 2nd and concerns itself with Lisbeth's trial pretty much exclusively. I do enjoy a good thriller and found I didn't guess the ending of these much before it happened, which is unusual.

I learnt some interesting things about Sweden - how they actually do buy stuff from Ikea, it's not just an export! They seem really into their coffee, everyone has a coffee machine, and you get a good idea why the Swedes have such a reputation for sexual liberation - Lisbeth will have sex with anyone, Mikael's only criteria is that the partner has to be female, and Erika dreams of threesomes.

The author does a reasonable job of the female characters, although you can tell it's written by a man by the little things - whenever a female character's clothes are described, they're all dressed pretty much the same on the whole - I find that often happens with male authors.

The 3rd book in particular got a bit confusing with all the different types of Swedish police, and especially so with at least half of the characters having a name ending -sson!

Overall I'd recommend them if anyone's thinking of reading them - pretty easy reading and a rank above most thrillers.

i'm half way through the 2nd book, i think they are great fun, have not come across such a fantastic female character in ages,
lighten up - she's fantasy kick-ass cool