Tuesday 19 January 2010

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Steig Larsson

I have just finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and wow, it has to be the best novel is have read this year, or maybe that should read last year, if you know what I mean.


Image from Amazon

From the off it was gripping stuff, a journalistic whodunnit which moved along as a teriffic rate and led me off in completely the wrong direction. I didn't know how it was going to pan out till the very end, and even then I needed the epilogue to make sense of it.

The novel is the first of a trilogy written by Steig Larsson, set in his native Sweeden and translated into English. Sadly, Larsson died in 2004, just after he has delivered his three novels to his publisher and before they were published. He therefore never lived to see the success of his creation.

Because the book is set in the world of corporate Sweeden and then translated, some of the places and peoples names are a bit clunky on the tongue. But that does little to detract from an excellent work. The plot is every bit as good as the characters he creates.

If you like crime stories, and only have time for a single book in 2010, get a copy of this one. It's a gem.

For film buffs, a celluloid version does exist, but is was made and shot in Sweedish and, to the best of my knowledge, has never been screened in the UK. There are rumours of  a Hollywood remake, but that is speculation.

Now, where did I put the Amazon voucher - there is a copy of the sequel, "The Girl who Played with Fire" out there waiting for me....

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