The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo

[Lynn Hardy]

The book reviews were so black and white that I didn't read the book before seeing the movie. The movie was okay, but graphic and gritty. Has anyone read the book? Should I pick up a copy?

[heledd]

I loved this book, and quickly read all three in the trilogy. Such a shame Stieg Larsson died so early in his career.

[Lynn Hardy]

I loved this book, and quickly read all three in the trilogy. Such a shame Stieg Larsson died so early in his career.

Did you see the movie? Did it follow the books closely?

[heledd]

No not seen the movie. Am in Africa so not easily available

[mainewriter1]

All three novels were made into movies in Sweden long before the American version came out. They were so excellent that I realized that I'd compare the books to them if I read them afterward. So I didn't, but they must be powerful since all three films were. I would highly recommend renting (they're on Netflix) all three.

Harriet

[robbiereader]

I appreciate the posts. Rather new here. I have this book on the Nook, and will get around to it in a week or so. I have NOT seen the movie. Lately, I've taken to seeing the movie FIRST, and THEN reading the book. Just to shake things up a bit.
Thanks.
Robbie

[FictionQuest]

I read the book. I have not seen the movie. I would say that the book is worth reading, but I would not give it the extremely high rating that most seem to. Without giving any spoilers, the story progresses brilliantly until a point where it all becomes a little rushed and routine.

Andrew

[lindad_amato]

I read all three and enjoyed them as popular fiction, not as a literary classic. They are gritty, but the author does have something interesting to say about the modern world which includes dark themes.

[bookstasted]

I read all of the books and found them hard to put down, but didn't particularly like them. I found the writing to be jumpy and the characters to be over the top. The main character is like a superhero hacker with mild autism, and the villains are out of this world evil.

Additionally, the sexual assaults in the book made me queasy with the graphic nature and over the top weirdness. Supposedly Steig Larsson was trying to point a finger at misogyny in society, but I felt like it was the same shock and titillation techniques used by shows like Law & Order SVU, where violence against women is used to entertain.

Even though I found the books hard to put down and I read all three in quick succession, I still mostly panned this novel on my blog.

The movie was okay, but graphic and gritty.

I think you'll find the books to be the same.

[knottymel]

I read all three books and I watched two of the Swedish movies and the American version. I really liked the book series but the first book was far from an easy read. There is a lot of repetition and history given in the first portion of the book and things don't start to really pick up until 300 pages in. The 2nd book is a lot more intense and the third one felt like the first one. I found myself wishing for a fourth book.