The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson
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Book Reviews of The Girl Who Played with Fire
Book Review: My Hair Was on Fire! Good Read ....
Summary: 4 Stars
I just finished the second book in "The Girl" series by Steig Larsson, "The Girl Who Played with Fire."
Resurrecting the two main characters from the previous book, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, this suspense novel centers around the death of an investigative journalist and his partner.
He was writing about exposing high-ranking officials who were participating in white slavery while his partner was writing her Ph.D. dissertation on the same topic. Blomkvist's magazine, The Millenium, agrees to publish the book and has retained the journalist on staff.
Interestingly, and a sadly prophetic turn of events, Blomkvist comes to a point in the novel where he must decide whether he will continue to publish the novel despite the deaths of the researcher and author.
In the mean time, Lisbeth is making a new life for herself after Blomkvist broke her hard little heart. Turning 25 and wealthy after hacking into a corrupt corporate mogul's overseas bank accounts, she has stifled her sadistic court-appointed guaridan and has taken to traveling the world over the next year.
But when she returns to Sweden she finds that the court-appointed guardian seems to now be seeking revenge.
I found this book to be far superior to the first one.
First, the translation was better and not so stilted as the first one, making for a more fluid novel. Also, Lisbeth is far more sympathetic in this novel. In the previous novel, she comes off as a bit of an android. Which, is typical if you have Asperger's Syndrome, as she does. In this one, her character starts to losen up and Larsson seems to have found his inner female voice.
In this novel Larsson starts to dissect her personality and delve into her character, all which become pivotal to the mystery.
Brilliantly plotted, I did not have an inkling to the solution until about 3/4's of the way through and then I still was not quite sure how it was all going to end.
This is the second novel in a 6-series set. However, Larrson passed away after finishing the 3rd novel so that all that we have of the remaining 3 are plot outlines.
The remains of his estate and the profits from the novels do not got to his partner of over 10 years since they were not married and he did not leave a will. All of the proceeds from the award-winning novels and the ensuing movies are going to his father and brother, who have felt no compunction to give her anything.
Larrson was a political activist in Sweden, fighting the right-wing extremism and Nazi organizations. An expert in his field, he often lectured around Europe, including Scotland Yard. And avid writer, these books were his first foray into fiction.
Book Review: Salander Returns, Better & More Lethal Than Ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read Larsson's second book in one day as well. It is summer time and it is a fabulous book to have poolside.
Larsson goes even further with his heroine Salander this time and uncovers more in Swedish sex crimes. Although the victims often end up murdered too, it is the depravity of the sex crimes in modern Sweden which is truly awful and thus the linchpin of Larsson's interest.
Salander is once again the girl in the title. It is she who literally put someone on fire. But it is also a metaphor because Salander cannot walk away from anyone who is being victimized and most especially women who are being victimized. She risks everything every time she takes up the gauntlet but she can't even begin to stop herself from doing so. In this book we find out why this is so.
Blomkvist returns too and it is his magazine MILLENIUM which sets the story in motion. He has a young male journalist working for him who is just about to publish a searing article and book with MILLENIUM on the sex trade in Sweden. His girlfriend is a criminologist from the university who has provided him with all of the technical expertise. Just before he can finish both works, he and his girlfriend are gunned down. It turns out that Salander's guardian is executed the same night. Worst of all, the same gun is used on all three victims and Salander's prints are on the gun.
One would think therefore that this book is all about clearing Salander and finding the real murderer. Well, the book does go about doing that. However, it is so well layered and developed that we find out so much more. The best part of all is that we find out about the entire childhood of Salander which led her to becoming who she is today. This also fits perfectly with the case she must solve.
There is an interesting thing that Larsson does in this book and the prior one. Blomkvist at 45 has led a sexually open existence. He does not abuse anyone nor is he part of the sex trade. However, he and his female partners are so casual, open and tolerant in their affairs that it is fairly eye popping to Americans. For one, he continues to have an on and off again affair for over twenty years with his editor in chief even though she is happily and long term married. Her husband knows of the affair and is ok with it. What I find so fascinating about this is that I would not expect to find this level of sexual depravity and sexual crime in a culture which is otherwise so open and tolerant about sexuality.
In some ways I am sad there are only three books and the next will be my last. If all three are this good though, maybe it is best to go out on the highest note possible.
Book Review: Excellent, even better than the first
Summary: 5 Stars
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
After reading last year's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I could not wait for Larsson's second in the millenium trilogy. I think I liked this one even better. We again meet with journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, one of the greatest new characters in fiction. She has a photographic memory, serious computer skills, and her own version of morality.
It is a year later and we start with Lisbeth travelling around the world and Blomkvist meeting with a journalist to publish a series of explosive articles and a book on the sex trade in Sweden, one that will expose many high profile people involved. When Lisbeth returns to Sweden, though she isn't speaking to Blomkvist, as she is upset at the end of an affair they had, she keeps track of what he's up to by hacking into his computer. She reads the research that has been done on the sex trade and recognizes a name. She contacts the journalist and his girlfriend, who's graduate thesis started the investigations, and then they turn up murdered. Lisbeth's prints are on the murder weapon, she is the prime suspect and her life is played out on the front pages of every newspaper.
In The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the story was mostly Blomkvist's, though we met and got to know a bit about Lisbeth Salander. But The Girl Who Played With Fire is most definitely Salander's story. Things we learn about Lisbeth in the first book, her psychiatric history, mysterious past, her expert computer hacking skills, and her barely existent social skills, are front and center in this sequel. Salander's slimy legal guadian from the first novel is back and wants revenge against her. Salander frequently refers to a period in her past as "All the Evil " which is not explained until near the end. Many questions raised in the first book about Salander are answered in this one. Blomkvist is determined to help Salander and she is determined to do things on her own.
Larsson crafts a great plot, though I felt the middle slowed a bit, when it is focused on the investigation by the police and Salander is absent from the story during this period. But then it picks up fast, as we follow the seperate investigations, one by the police, another by Blomkvist and other allies of Salanders, and the one by Lisbeth herself. The intricate story keeps the reader intrigued until the very end when they all merge together. This book was well worth what seemed to be an incredibly long wait, and now I am again waiting, this time for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I highly recommend this book but you need to have read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to fully appreciate this sequel. Enjoy!
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Book Review: Impossibly better than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!
Summary: 5 Stars
First things first. If you haven't read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, don't even think about buying this book. Don't even read the reviews. One small bit of information will ruin the entire plot for you. If have read the first novel, then prepare yourself because The Girl Who Played with Fire will blow you away.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo focused on the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, but this novel focuses on Lisbeth Salander. Who she is. Where she came from, and more importantly why she was declared incompetent and placed in a mental institution.
The novel picks up a year after the Vanger events. Lisbeth decided to travel around the world for a while. Mikael Blomkvist tries to contact her, but it's like Lisbeth has fallen off the face of the earth. So it seems!
Meanwhile, Mikael is back at Millennium when a scoop that involves corruption at the highest levels of government is offered to him. However, before Mikael can publish a book exposing a sex scandal that involves, police officers, judges, lawyers, and goverment officials, two shocking murders take place. The main suspect is Lisbeth Salander. The Girl with Dragon Tattoo becomes the most wanted woman in Sweden. Her fingerprints were found on the weapon, and everyone believes she is guilty of murder, except for Mikael.
I read The Girl who Played with Fire with bated breath. I expected to be slightly disappointed because I didn't think it was possible for a sequel to top The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I was wrong! I actually think this novel is slightly better than the previous novel. In the first book, I had a strong suspicion about what happened to Harriet Vanger. In this novel, I didn't have the slightest clue how or why Lisbeth Salander was mixed up the double murders.
As in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there are many characters in this book. This is usually a strike against a book. Too many characters usually takes away from the main storyline, but Stieg Larsson made it work his first novel and did it again in The Girl who Played with Fire. Prepare to meet many police officers, detectives, journalists, and criminals.
The author's untimely death is so tragic. He was a gifted writer and would have become one of my favorite authors of all time. If you haven't already, you must read both books written by this author. I understand that there is a third book called The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Unfortunately, it has not been translated into English yet. I plan to purchase it the day it is released. Amazing author and amazing books!
Book Review: Five Smiles, One Laugh
Summary: 3 Stars
Who likes reading about sex, violent crime, and wealthy people with important sounding jobs-who wouldn't? The second book in Larsson's `Millennium' series delivers another bouquet of reminders as to why we'll never stop enjoying crime fiction. There's the domineering women and their ambivalent trophy husbands, a taser-happy protagonist looking to zap `the evil' out of those caught disrespecting women, and a healthy quota of lustily severed body parts. Who knew Sweden could be so much fun?
Infact, somewhere between Millennium Magazine's big story/expose on the illegal Eastern-European sex slave-trade and parallel investigations into the execution-style murders which ensue, I began to wonder, why am I the only one who seems to be enjoying themselves?
These are the people who are living the good lives, after all, the glamorous and the glorious, you know the drill: Devoted cops, loaded skinheads, sexy hackers, impudent journalists. You'd think they'd be having the time of their lives out there humping each other in the streets of Stockholm. Why is that everyone in Larsson's world acts as if their cat just died? Don't believe me? In 569 pages this book contains only five smiles and one instance of laughter-yes I took a tally.
What ever happened to the joy of ferociously tattooing lurid graffiti across the abdomen of the man who assaulted and raped you? The thrill of lying dazed while a prize-fighting boxer dukes it out with a painless ex-Soviet trained German behemoth? When did these people forget the sheer humor of newspapers labeling your rock band from college a `lesbian Satanist cult,' or taking some guy out for friendly drinks after confessing your repeated and ongoing couplings with his wife?
This presents slightly more serious problems for our leading lady, Lisbeth Salander. Right away we feel bad for her-a terrifying childhood, a lonely disposition. Her social bewilderment and apparent hatred for nearly everything is crystal clear but ignored in terms of her massively neglected emotional life-despair taking on the form of narrative languor. How are we to tell the difference?
The fact is, while Larsson certainly takes us for a wild ride I came away from this book feeling mildly depressed. Has Stockholm's desire for a clearly defined sense of social propriety become so intense that they can't stop for half a second and laugh at their weird lives or maybe just cry a bit when they feel like it? I hope not-it could just be the book.