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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005)

by Stieg Larsson

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Millennium (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
41,117170941 (4.02)1 / 958
The disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, gnaws at her octogenarian uncle, Henrik Vanger. He is determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder. He hires crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist, recently at the wrong end of a libel case, to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance. Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old, pierced, tattooed genius hacker, possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age--and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness--assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, an astonishing corruption at the highest echelon of Swedish industrialism--and a surprising connection between themselves.--From publisher description.… (more)
  1. 322
    Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg (taz_)
    taz_: Charm school drop-outs Lisbeth Salander of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and Smilla Qaaviqaaq Jaspersen of "Smilla's Sense of Snow" strike me as unconventional soul sisters of the detective mystery. Each haunted by demons of the past, fiercely independent, armored in cynicism and misanthropy, they share a certain psychic landscape and brilliant, icy resourcefulness. If you love one, I predict you'll love the other.… (more)
  2. 92
    Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (Ronoc, Ronoc)
  3. 93
    Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason (ansate, ANeumann)
  4. 60
    Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell (kraaivrouw)
    kraaivrouw: I think Lisbeth and Mallory have a lot in common.
  5. 40
    The Informationist by Taylor Stevens (aliklein)
  6. 51
    The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason (ansate)
  7. 51
    1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (BillPilgrim)
    BillPilgrim: Another kick-ass female heroine
  8. 40
    The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid (kraaivrouw)
    kraaivrouw: It's mentioned in the book and it's another great thriller.
  9. 31
    A Place of Execution by Val McDermid (adithyajones)
  10. 20
    Blue Belle by Andrew Vachss (birder4106)
    birder4106: Burke (Vacchs) und Salander (Larsson) haben sehr viel gemeinsam.
  11. 53
    Child of the Hive by Jessica Meats (EllieM)
    EllieM: Are you wondering 'what next?' after reading the The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo? I recommend that you try Child of The Hive by Jessica Meats. Both books are plot driven action packed thrillers with a rather unexpected heroine. Like Lisbeth Salander, Child of the Hive's Sophie is a highly intelligent computer geek. Someone you would not necessarily choose as a best friend but you grow fond of her as the story progresses. Stieg Larsson's blockbuster is a more traditional 'whodunnit' and the main plot puzzle is the identity of the murderer. Jessica Meats writes in a slightly a different genre, Child of The Hive is a speculative thriller on the borders of science fiction, and as such it presents different puzzles. For example a moral one, exactly which sub group should I classify as 'the bad guys'? As for guessing the ending, most people will not see where the book is going. I failed. But the surprising nature of the story is much of its fun. With the benefit of hindsight you can see that the climax of 'Child' is tidy and satisfactory. Certainly not one of those annoying thrillers with a plot balanced on one very unlikely clue which has been carefully draped in numerous red herrings. Both books should appeal to a wide range of readers, but I suggest Child of the Hive is also more suitable for a slightly younger group than The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which is distinctly adult in places. Child of The Hive is a really ‘good read’, I give it 5 stars out of five… (more)
  12. 10
    The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy (5hrdrive)
  13. 1110
    Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (MyriadBooks, mcenroeucsb)
    mcenroeucsb: Let the Right One In is a Swedish novel about a child vampire who just wants to be a normal kid, the pedophile who is obsessed with her, and the neighbor boy who wants to befriend her.
  14. 21
    The Crow Road by Iain Banks (Anonymous user)
  15. 21
    Sun Storm by Åsa Larsson (amberwitch)
    amberwitch: Wellwritten crimestories set in Sweden with female protagonists.
  16. 32
    The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell (Ronoc)
  17. 65
    The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg (Patangel)
  18. 00
    Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand (JuliaMaria)
  19. 00
    Purity by Jonathan Franzen (kristina25)
  20. 00
    Fiela's Child by Dalene Matthee (charlie68)
    charlie68: Also a good mystery about someone that disappears.

(see all 48 recommendations)

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» See also 958 mentions

English (1,539)  Dutch (35)  Spanish (33)  French (14)  German (14)  Italian (13)  Swedish (12)  Danish (11)  Catalan (11)  Portuguese (Brazil) (6)  Portuguese (Portugal) (3)  Finnish (2)  Norwegian (2)  Hebrew (1)  All languages (1,696)
Showing 1-5 of 1539 (next | show all)
Unpopular opinion, But I think I had built this book up too much. It took me over halfway to really get into it. Mikael and Lisbath is an interesting dynamic. They were able to crack a cold case that ended up being a wild conclusion. ( )
  GeauxGetLit | May 27, 2023 |
After turning the last page of this book, I was a bit dumbfounded -- not by the ending, but by the hype surrounding it. The writing is not particularly compelling, although that may be a function of translation. The characters are believable yet only somewhat likable, as most of them remain at an emotional distance from the reader and from each other. The plot drags on for most of the book, and plods along to an ultimately unsatisfying resolution. Had I not already purchased the second book in the series, I would not continue. ( )
  cygnoir | May 19, 2023 |
About 50 pages too long. ( )
  mportley | May 10, 2023 |
It was entertaining enough while I was reading it, but at the end I found that I was not under Larson's spell so much that I felt compelled to read the sequels. It's just a thriller, in the end. ( )
  bookwrapt | Mar 31, 2023 |
Started a little slow but progressively improved until it became a very enjoyable read. ( )
  philipcristiano | Mar 29, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 1539 (next | show all)
added by grimm | editRomans et Lectures, Calepin (Sep 9, 2009)
 
[Richman reviews several Scandinavian novels, including Larsson's.]

Why have readers taken to these writers? The novels are not formally innovative: With a few exceptions, these are straightforward whodunits, hewing closely to conventional models from the English tradition. Nor does their appeal depend on a "relentlessly bleak view of the world," as a writer for the London Times has put it. Bleak worldviews are not particularly hard to come by in crime novels, no matter what country they come from.

What distinguishes these books is not some element of Nordic grimness but their evocation of an almost sublime tranquility. When a crime occurs, it is shocking exactly because it disrupts a world that, at least to an American reader, seems utopian in its peacefulness, happiness, and orderliness.
added by elenchus | editSlate.com, Nathanial Rich (Jul 8, 2009)
 
It’s Mr. Larsson’s two protagonists — Carl Mikael Blomkvist, a reporter filling the role of detective, and his sidekick, Lisbeth Salander, a k a the girl with the dragon tattoo — who make this novel more than your run-of-the-mill mystery: they’re both compelling, conflicted, complicated people, idiosyncratic in the extreme, and interesting enough to compensate for the plot mechanics, which seize up as the book nears its unsatisfying conclusion.
 
The novel offers a thoroughly ugly view of human nature, especially when it comes to the way Swedish men treat Swedish women. In Larsson’s world, sadism, murder and suicide are commonplace — as is lots of casual sex. (Sweden isn’t all bad.)
 
The first-time author's excitement at his creation is palpable, strangely, in the book's sometimes amateurish construction. There are frequent long digressions in this big book (more than 500 pages) in which he laboriously fills in back-story details. Then there is the Vanger family; what might have seemed like a bit of fun gets out of hand as easily more than 20 people with the surname Vanger are mixed into the story. To his credit, though, he always regains control and restores momentum.
added by Shortride | editThe Age, Jeff Glorfeld (Mar 17, 2008)
 

» Add other authors (78 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Larsson, Stiegprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bjørnson, ElisabethTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Brynolfsson, ReineNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Colom, Núria VivesTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Giorgetti Cima, CarmenTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gombau i Arnau, AlexandreTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jorissen-Wedzinga, TinekeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Keeland, RegTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kuhn, WibkeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kyrö, MarjaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mendelsund, PeterCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ortega Román, Juan JoséTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Reichlin, SaulNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vance, SimonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wenner, MartinNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Det hade blivit en årligen återkommande händelse.
It happened every year, was almost a ritual.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Män som hatar kvinnor ("Men who Hate Women"), 2005. English translation by Reg Keeland under the title The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, January 2008.
ISBN 0307269752 is for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Publisher's editors
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Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

The disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, gnaws at her octogenarian uncle, Henrik Vanger. He is determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder. He hires crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist, recently at the wrong end of a libel case, to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance. Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old, pierced, tattooed genius hacker, possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age--and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness--assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, an astonishing corruption at the highest echelon of Swedish industrialism--and a surprising connection between themselves.--From publisher description.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Synopsis for the Dutch edition: 
"Twee tegenpolen, Mikael Blomkvist en Lisbeth Salander. Hij is een charmante man en een kritische journalist van middelbare leeftijd, uitgever van het tijdschrift Millennium. Zij is een jonge, gecompliceerde, uiterst intelligente vrouw met zwartgeverfd haar, piercings en tatoeages, én een uitermate goede hacker. Samen vormen ze een ongewoon, maar sterk team.

Mikael wordt benaderd door oud-zakenman Henrik Vanger. Veertig jaar geleden is de zestienjarige Harriët Vanger op mysterieuze wijze verdwenen en vermoedelijk vermoord. De zaak is echter nooit opgelost en inmiddels verjaard. Toch wil Henrik Vanger graag dat Mikael zich hier nog eens op stort."

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. 
Haiku summary
Journalist solves type
of locked-room murder with help
of the tattooed girl.
(passion4reading)
Author's premature
death, good PR spark massive
sales phenomenon.
(passion4reading)

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