If mystery and suspense are your genres of choice, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is a must-read. A tense, unpredictable novel with frightening characters and a crafty plot, this book has become an international sensation. Originally published in Sweden under the title Män som hatar kvinnor, meaning Men Who Hate Women, the book has been translated and published worldwide, followed by its two sequels, film adaptations in both Swedish and English and a graphic novel adaptation, published by DC Comics. Although critics’ reviews have been somewhat mixed, the novel’s sheer popularity speaks to its power to capture an audience.
The story opens with Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist hired by retired CEO Henrik Vanger to look into the cold case of his grandniece Harriet’s disappearance. Henrik believes Harriet was murdered by a family member. After uncovering new evidence which puts him on the trail of the killer, Blomkvist requests assistance with his research and is joined by Lisbeth Salander, the eponymous girl with the dragon tattoo. She is an exceptional computer hacker, extremely anti-social and, when need arises, unapologetically violent. Since she was declared legally incompetent as a child, she has a legal guardian – placing her in a position of dependency which she resents.
What ensues is a familiar mystery story full of unexpected twists and turns. Larsson successfully takes tropes that appear in dozens of novels – such as the “locked room” mystery set-up – and keeps them exciting, making the ending unpredictable. He achieves the perfect balance of the mystery novel by giving you just enough information that you feel like you should be able to figure it out, while obscuring enough to make sure you’re still surprised when the twist happens. As with any good mystery, Blomkvist and Salander discover there are far more skeletons in the closet than just Harriet’s ¬ both proverbial and literal ones. As they delve deeper into the history and secrets of the Vanger family, they discover murders spanning decades as well as danger in the present.
As good as the suspense and mystery is, stay away from this book if you do not do well with violence in media. Larsson does not shy away from revealing the ugliest side of human nature. His characters are intelligent and enjoyably complex, but many of them are also incredibly vicious and have no qualms about causing physical harm. The story takes many dark and unpleasant turns and leaves behind bloodied corpses in the process - other characters move forward with a horrifying lack of remorse. Larsson’s graphic descriptions of kidnapping, murder, rape and torture sometimes make Game of Thrones look positively tame. It creates a definite atmosphere for the book, making the characters gritty and self-sufficient, while dragging the ugliest realities into the spotlight. Just don’t read it if you aren’t prepared to hear a story where savagery and retribution are everywhere.
Despite all the violence, the book is not devoid of emotion or happiness. In fact, without spoiling too much, I can say that part of the ending seems almost too happy, slightly out of place in a book with so much darkness. Still, the relationship between Blomkvist and Salander remains intriguing: they are definitely the most developed and most interesting characters in the book and thus their partnership creates many of the novel’s high-points. The pair have some genuinely touching moments that feel like gasps of air of human goodness, although they certainly clash against one another from time to time as well. Through and through, they challenge each other and are both better for it.
Although the announced mystery is Harriet Vanger’s disappearance, the character of Lisbeth Salander is the true enigma of this novel. From her first entrance, Larsson raises a number of questions about her backstory. What could have led to her current personality? Why does an apparently brilliant though anti-social woman need a legal guardian? How much of a criminal is she? The hints we are given are murky at best and often raise more questions than they answer. Blomkvist is more often the reader’s point of view character and typically we follow his revelations and deductions more than Salander’s – yet Salander is the character who captures more interest and imagination. Larsson does ultimately reveal more of her backstory in his sequels, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, but for this book, Salander remains mostly indecipherable.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may not be for everyone, but if you’re looking for an intense, scary, enigmatic ride, this is the novel to get. It will puzzle you, disturb you and ultimately leave you breathless and dying to know what happens next.
Booking It: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
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