This came to me highly recommended - as a thrilling mould breaker, plus it seems to be getting a push in the shops at the moment.
A pretty good yarn, but hardly ground breaking.
Salander does make for an interesting character - although her miraculous abilities with the computer stretched believability.
Blomqvist (the other hero) becomes annoying. This middle aged man seems to be a sex magnetof the most cliched kind. That kind of writing so annoys me and does nothing to move forward the plot or make the background more realistic.

Passable.

I'm committed to the second book as I accidentally bought it first - so watch this space. ( )

The late Stieg Larsson (who died in 2004 after publishing the Millennium mystery trilogy in his native Swedish) initially gained his fame as a journalist and magazine edditoy, spending the bulk of his career dredging up information about far-right-wing and neo-Nazi organizations in Sweden. His journalist’s eye for meticulous detail is at the forefront of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the first novel in his critically acclaimed trilogy.

It is 2002, and Mikael Blomkvist, another muckraking Swedish magazine editor, has just been sentenced to three months in prison for libel against a corrupt financier, Wernerstrom. Forced to take leave of his magazine, Blomkvist is hired by the aging patriarch of the Vanger corporation to conduct a private investigation into the 40-year old suspected murder of his beloved great-niece. At stake is valuable information that could bring Wernerstrom to justice, so Blomkvist takes on the case.

He is assisted by, Lisbeth Salander, one of the most original and intriguing detectives in recent memory. Salander is a rebellious and emotionally troubled young woman with a talent for hacking computers. As she and Blomkvist slowly circle in on the long-cold case, they uncover the dysfunctional Vanger family’s horrific secrets which have been carefully hidden for generations, putting their lives in dager at every turn. ( )

A disgraced journalist and a quiet goth punk like girl who is under the Government's welfare - what do they have in common? Threaded across the book is a theme of abuse of trust, position and power, friendship and baseless assumptions, we follow Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist who works his way through his "sabbatical" year "writing a biography"... there is more than meets the eye.

For people who like mysteries and good scares, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is it. I won't go into too much details because alot of it has to be experienced. On the good side, I love it. there's mini cliffhangers throughout the whole book, both mini and big twists and enough questions (raised by you as the reader) to push you along the whole book. It's heart pounding because of the cliffhangers, and plenty of jaw dropping thoughts lined throughout the book.

I absolutely fell in love with it. of course, there are very few books that I have chosen based on their summaries and recommendations that I would dislike, with the massive exception of Ian Irvine whom I still loathe - but I digress.

On the minus side, which isn't a big issue for me, it seems that they have found those books unpublished and just go "woah i see something good in it" and threw it into the publishing without too much editing. Granted that because it is a 3 book series, there should be plenty of descriptives involve so everything is easily fleshed out. At one point though, it did feel like it was information overload. There's also plenty of Apple vs PC references (main characters uses Macs while villians were stupid pc users HAHAHAAH) which I laughed to death about, and adore (as you can see, I am an Apple fangirl). There are many people who did complain about it though and the descriptions, much less the branding, was completely unnecessary. ( )

The first in a trilogy staring Lisbeth Salander. If you like mystery and excitement don't miss this series. I would rate it more than 5 stars if I could. ( )

The fact that this has been getting so much attention put me off a bit, suspicious that it might just be melodrama over the author’s premature death and thus the premature ending of a series. Now having read it, I am sad there will be only three. The mystery itself was good; old family secrets usually are and I liked the way Mikael exercised his journalistic skills to uncover the truth. I did, however, suspect that Harriet was hiding all along, so it wasn’t a shock when he eventually found her in Australia. The second plot line, that of Mikael’s revenge on the man who set him up for a successful libel suit, was a little too untethered at times. It formed the basis of our introduction to Mikael and provided Vanger leverage, but then it sank out of sight only to be revived again once the Harriet situation was under control. It was an odd way of handling it; I mean that surely the author could have figured out another way to get Mikael to acquiesce to Vanger’s request to search for his lost granddaughter.

I didn’t quite understand the irresistibility of Mikael though. Every five minutes he was in bed with some new female, which seemed over the top to me. Portrayed as an everyman, he was a good foil to Lisbeth’s overweening weirdness. At least it wasn’t Lisbeth though, she was enough of a caricature of oddity already (a goth girl? Oh please, not again), to add slut to it would have been too much. The emaciated (of course? Nor mal body weight? In a female lead?? Oh surely you jest.) hacker has very little formal education, but she’s slyly intelligent and stubborn. While I didn’t exactly like her, I did root for her despite her tendency to want everything her own way. Petulant about sums her up. She’s the type that when things don’t go her way takes her ball and goes home. Whiny. The mystery of her orphan state and abuse is pretty good and I guess the next book goes into quite a bit of detail. Given the circumstances that are related in this book, I wonder if she’s a bit too willing a victim though. She seems to not quite understand danger as a concept or as it might apply to her. Asperger’s is probably right.

I liked the setting, too. I don’t often read anything set in Sweden so the perspective was fresh for me. Do they really drink coffee 24 hours a day? How the hell do they sleep? Funny. Also the way journalism is presented is very different from the way it is in America and that was fresh, too. It’s nice to get some distance from the American or English viewpoint and I’m looking forward to the next two books. ( )

In one of the most highly praised novels of recent years, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: gives the reader one of the most enjoyable reading experiences that could be desired.

Mikael Blomkvist has lost a lible suit against Hans-Eric Wennerstrom and is facing prison.

Before beginning his jail sentence, Mikael is offered a job and a promise to be able to clear his name and get evidence against Wennerstrom to prove he has misappropriated funds meant for less fortunate people.
To do this, Mikael must spend a year researching the history of the Vaner family and to research the disappearance of Harriet Vanger.

Harriet is the granddaughter of Henrik Vanger's younger brother and disappeared over forty years ago.

Part of the mystery is that Harriet disappeared from Hedeby Island. At that time there were only about sixty people living on the Island. Many of these people were part of the Vanger family including Harriet's brother, Martin, who is now the CEO of the Vanger family enterprises.

Mikael lives at the guest cottage on the Island and later contacts Lisbeth Salander to be his researcher. Lisbeth is the girl with the dragon tattoo. She's a twenty-four-year old hacker and a person of amazing common sense, perception and possesses a photographic memory. She's been misunderstood throughout her life and has been classified as mentally incompetent. As the story begins, she is under the legal protection of an attorney who attempts to control her by holding back money she is entitled to unless she gratifies his sexual desires.

What Mikael and Lisbeth unearth is a milti-generational pattern of serial rape and murder.

Salander is one of the most enjoyable characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about. She is slim, almost anorexic, she seems like a teen rebel with her piercings and tattoos but is as smart and relentless as anyone I've encountered in literature.

The author had a heart attact and died shortly after bringing his manuscript to the editors.

The novel has won or been nominated for:
Booker Award - winner
Strand Critics Award nominee - Best First Novel
Macavity Award 2009 - Best First Novel
ITV Crime Thriller Award/ International Author of the Year for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Barry Award - Best British Crime Novel
Anthony Award nominee - Best Novel '09
Anthony Award nominee - Best First Novel ( )

I read books the same way I eat, with lots of variety.I read mysteries the same way I eat brownies, quickly with not enough savoring going on. I read long novels the way I eat beef stew, making it last, enjoying all the different flavors and hominess of it. I read chick lit like it's a sorbet, sweet and light, and just right for the moment.

So, when I picked up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, I was expecting a quick mystery read. I ordered it on a whim, when I saw that Stephen King had highly recommended it. Hey, if Uncle Stevie recommends it, I'm game.

At first, I was concerned, it opened up with Mikael Blomkvist on trial for libel. This was a concern on several levels. One, Mikael Blomkvist. I don't do well with translated novels. My brain spends too much time trying to get used to the unusual names to focus on the story. And two, trials for libel are not my kind of mystery. Every once in awhile, I'll get into a courtroom drama, but they're not my favorite. Luckily, I kept reading. Because after a few short pages of trial talk, it started to get better, and better, and better.

As it says on the back of the book, this story combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into a complex and atmospheric novel.

It's a mystery that reads like a favorite dramatic novel. I highly recommend this book. This is book one of a trilogy, and I plan on reading the whole series. Unfortunately, with Stieg Larsson's recent death, there will be no more new books. ( )

This is an interesting story that kept me guessing and had an ending that actually surprised me. The characters, Blomkvist, Berger, Salander, and the many Vangers, are intriguing and I liked that the people who ought to get what they deserved pretty much did. ( )

At first I couldn't see what the fuss was about- a pleasant, standard crime book- disenchanted journalist, unsolved mystery...then BAM! Transformation from do it yourself Ikea to truly original thriller. Lisbeth Salander needs to take some of the credit for this; she's a heroine with serious baggage and no fear. Graphic at times, the last half of the book will find you reading into the early hours of the morning- so keep reading! ( )

Found this to be a pretty engaging page turner. As financial journalist Blomkvist learns the chronology of the Vanger family it can get quite confusing and a little tedious. Lisbeth Salander was a fascinating character and I enjoyed her particular researching skills. The unfolding that began about halfway through was pretty compelling and very dark. Read if you like thrillers. ( )

at times hard to understand/relate to b/c it was translated from swedish, but a very engaging story - a hard book to put down! ( )

Very slow start, but once the book picked up, it was impossible to put down! Not for the faint of heart, as a warning there are some disturbing scenes, but the story as a whole was fantastic! I cannot wait to read the next two! ( )

What I've learned so far:1. Every Swedish conversation includes at least one person stating the obvious.2. Bachelors eat a lot of sandwiches.3. Leviticus is creepy.LATER...Finished this today. Not my favorite mystery. Has a bit of Dan Brown Syndrome... symptoms include an enlarged plot and atrophied characters. ( )

Great mystery and suspense. Got a little hung up on the language. ( )

For the first 400 pages this was a fasinating mystery. Seemed muddled and petered out in the end. ( )

pretty good. i listened to it and couldn't remember the minor characters. ( )

I first heard of this book from my Swedish step-father-in-law. I had asked him who his current favorite author was last August. Stieg Larsson's three books are very popular in Sweden. His second book is due to be published in U.S. this summer. Shortly after handing in the three manuscripts for his mysteries, he died.This was a very cool mystery about a disgraced journalist hired to investigate the disappearance of a young girl in the late sixties. The characters are all fully-realized, interesting individuals and story takes several interesting twists and turns. Curiously, the book's title in Sweden was Man Som Hatar Kvinnor which translates as The Man Who Hates Women. I like the English title better. Recommended for mystery-lovers. (There are a few Swedish words that are left in the text, but you'd guess their meaning from the context. Fröken is one example. It means Miss. And it may help to know that the suffix gatan means street.) ( )

I honestly have no idea why The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is such an international sensation. The mystery was easy to figure out, and there's all this extraneous detail about the investigator that just seemed like boring filler. And the eponymous "girl" is 1) a woman and 2) a standard male fantasy of the perfect heroine. And for some reason, every woman in the book throws herself at the protagonist, who has nothing interesting to recommend him. Yeah, pretty lame all around. ( )

I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson this morning, after ploughing through a huge chunk of it over the weekend whilst on the train to/from my parents’ house.

It was originally written in Swedish, and is the first part of a trilogy. Essentially, it’s a crime mystery, with some thriller aspects thrown in for good measure. Being relatively modern, it relies quite heavily on some technological features, with one of the main characters a hacker of quite extraordinary prowess.

The central mystery is well constructed, with enough twists and surprises to keep you guessing through to the end. Admittedly, there’s a couple of “handily placed” characters and coincidences, but then that’s always the way in any novel or film of this type.

What’s more interesting is the hacker character, who I understand becomes the focus of the second novel. She’s described more than once as anorexic and young-looking, but there’s a real fire to her actions. Larsson describes how she gradually opens herself up to other people, from being a completely aloof and deliberately isolated character at the beginning.

The writing style is pretty solid, frenetic at times but also measured in other places. It’s a real page-turner without being too simple (a la The Da Vinci Code), and certain set pieces are done fantastically well. ( )

I should admit I "listened" to this rather than read it and that I listened to the abridged version which I bought by accident. I liked it. It was perfect for the commute--mostly convincing and compelling plotting and more distinct characters than usual for this kind of book. There's a strong, young female character, though she is, of course, mostly a male fantasy of a strong, young female character. She ends up in love with the older male main character, and she ends up broken-hearted. The end pretty much lost its marbles, as most novels I've read do. It got oversized and unlikely and bloated, which often happens as everything swells toward that defining gesture. ( )

I really liked the book. It's very interesting and well-plotted. The main characters are well-drawn and very "European." ( )

I found myself immersed in this story. It's one of those that you read (or at least I did) at stop lights. It was well written and compelling. It's characters were well drawn, with many shades of gray. Lisbeth Sanders is not someone you want to cross, but you take great delight when she takes justice into her own hands, It may not be how you or I would handle the matter, but she gets the job done and it's hard to argue with her logic, especially when you consider what life has thrown at her so far. Mikael Blomkvist is equally likeable, although I found myself wanting him to get a backbone (which I believe was the author's intent), In addition, Mr. Larsson creates a well rounded cast of supporting characters.
There are two stories that are tangential to one another. The story begins with Mikael's conviction for libel and defamation, but from the outset you know there is more to this story, even as Mikael refuses to defend himself. This conviction allows Mikael to be introduced to the mysterious disapperance of a young woman almost 40 years ago. I believe the true testament of this story is that while I was annoyed with the interuption of Mikael's personal story at the beginning of the book, I actually forgot there was more to the book then the story of the girl's disapperance; I became so engorssed in that part of the story I wondered what the author was going to do with the last 100 pages. I'm looking forward to the next two books in the trio Mr. Larson wrote and can say I am truly sorry he will not be able to write any more for us. ( )

I read this book out of order, after The Girl Who Played With Fire, so I was anticipating the results a bit. But, I sitll found the book most enjoyable. I liked the main characters, especially "The Girl" of the title, Lisbeth Salander. She is a remarkable, at once both hard to like and extremely enchanting, at least from my perspective. ( )

Great first book by deceased author. Locked room mystery on an island filled with full characters; great history. All in all a great read. ( )

Excellent, but a little long