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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon TattooAuthor: Stieg Larsson
Publisher: Quercus
Category: Book

List Price: £7.99
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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars reviews
Sales Rank: 8

Media: Paperback
Pages: 542
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.5

ISBN: 1847245455
EAN: 9781847245458
ASIN: 1847245455

Publication Date: July 24, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Features:
  • New
  • Mint Condition
  • Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
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Also Available In:

  • Kindle Edition - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • Audio Download - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: The Millennium Trilogy, Volume 1
  • Audio Download - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Unabridged)
  • Paperback - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • Audio CD - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (unabridged audio book)
  • Paperback - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • Audio CD - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • Paperback - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage)
  • Mass Market Paperback - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
  • Paperback - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Random House Large Print)
  • Hardcover - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • Paperback - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • Paperback - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
  • Audio CD - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Abridged Version)
  • Audio CD - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • Hardcover - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • Hardcover - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family.

Customer Reviews:
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5 out of 5 stars The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo   December 28, 2009
Mrs. Jean Ross (WA, Australia)
171 out of 185 found this review helpful

I have just finished reading this book which was recommended to me by a friend. As someone who is not usually a crime fiction fan (I certainly never buy them), I was not very enthusiastic about it but had some curiousity because of the rave reviews it was getting in other areas also. I found the beginning of the book a bit tedious and was starting to think it was not for me, but, all of a sudden, it got a grip and I found that I was most reluctant to put it down! I have now had the satisfaction of finishing it this morning after a record reading time. I found the book most entertaining, evoking many differing emotions - suspense, disgust, intrigue, and some laughs also. The location being in Sweden was interesting and the translation certainly did not affect the impact of the storytelling. The two main characters were likeable and I grew fond of them and found myself caring about them. The author certainly can reach the reader and at the end, my main emotion was one of satisfaction. I certainly intend to the read his other two books.
Jean Ross


5 out of 5 stars Intelligent tense thriller with a conscience   August 14, 2008
J. Cronin (Ireland)
536 out of 586 found this review helpful

Some incredible thrillers are coming from Scandinavian countries these days. Anyone who is a fan of the Kurt Wallander series of books by Henning Mankell will know what I mean. Now we have a new addition to the shelf, courtesy of deceased author, Stieg Larsson.

This is the first volume in the Millenium trilogy and after finishing this first book, I am very much looking forward to the next two volumes. Larssson died in 2004 soon after delivering the manuscripts for 3 crime novels to his publisher. It's a pity that this gifted author isn't around for a long time to come.

The tale is split between the shady secrets of a wealthy family and the murky dealings of a famous businessman. Mikael Blomkvist, a recently convicted journalist, is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of his niece almost 40 years ago. Vanger promises Blomkvist the means to clear his good name as part of the payment and Blomkvist accepts.

The author manages to maintain an excellent pace throughout, but still delivers a strong social lesson while providing the thrills. It is an intelligent thriller with a conscience. Probably one of the best of its kind in recent years.


2 out of 5 stars Intriguing but flawed (review contains plot spoilers)   August 3, 2009
Chris2505 (London, UK)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

This book is atmospheric and contained just enough tension to keep me reading. The isolated location and bleak Swedish winter are nicely conveyed. However there are a few weaknesses. It seems mean to pick on these given that the author died shortly after submitting the manuscript but actually they neatly encapsulate the book's shortcomings: it feels like a unfinished draft in need of a final edit.

For a start, there are too many contrived and feeble plot turns. For example, Blomkvist's daughter is plonked in purely to provide the biblical quotation clue, and the main climax is disappointingly weak, with the mad serial killer conveniently dispatched in a fatal car crash as soon as he's unmasked. There are long stretches, particularly in the first half, when nothing much happens. The story also ignores one of the basic tenets of fiction: when you come to the end, stop. Instead it meanders on for another 100 pages with the tedious corporate fraud sub-plot, long after the main mystery (what happened to Harriet Vander?) has been resolved.

Finally, the Salander character just didn't work at all for me. I can understand the author wanting to create someone a bit different from the usual fictional heroine, but turning her into a borderline sociopath not only makes her hard to warm to, it isn't even that original (see Carol O'Connell's Mallory books, for example). Too much time is devoted to her background, personal problems, etc (presumably developing her character for the later books), and this brings the forward motion of the plot to a grinding halt. Salander herself veers wildly between abused victim of Sweden's rigid social care system, feminist avenger, misanthropic social misfit, uninhibited seductress, technical wizard/hacker extraordinaire, and international woman of mystery/master of disguise - sorry, but I found her completely unbelievable.

Overall not a bad read but definitely over-hyped. I won't be reading the sequels.


4 out of 5 stars Four because it is a good page turner   April 15, 2010
H. Lacroix (France)
37 out of 44 found this review helpful

There are so many reviews for the novel that I wondered whether I would write anything myself. I had a look at the unfavourable reviews as I was interested in seeing what had irked so many people. I must admit I found quite a few of their comments valid, the book has many flaws, and yet I wasn't at all bothered , while reading, by what had irritated those other readers. The book is a real page turner and I was never bored reading it, quite the contrary in fact! What I don't like about the novel, and it is a problem that concerns many a thriller, is the constant use of tabloid style material 'the rapist, the serial killer, the torturer, the religious fanatic...'It is voyeuristic and degrading. What has happened to good crime writing that it seems to be unable to deal with murderers who simply dispatch their victims (for whatever reason) without displaying incredible cruelty in so doing? Why can't we have books whose interest lies in the clever unraveling of a subtle plot? Why do writers go for cheap sensationalism? Is it that the other type has been done so often that it cannot surprise readers anymore? I don't believe so! I rather think that 'sensational' material sells a lot more easily. But what does it say about us if publishers think readers need to be titillated in this way? The scene when Lisbeth is raped by her guardian made me uncomfortable.Didn't we read at the start of each chapter info about the violence Swedish women are subjected to? Well, if the book aims at raising people's awareness of the sickly way that some men treat women and if it wants to stigmatise and condemn it, then I think the last thing to do is to write scenes that could 'entertain' those with those same sick penchants. And was it necessary to go to such lengths in the end and create such monstrous people and acts of barbarity so depraved? I rather thought they diminished the novel and the good opinion I had had of it at the beginning.

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