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That girl

I am reading the first in the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm finding it virtually unputdownable. It's that good.

The book was originally published in Larsson's native Sweden in 2005 and the buzz about it started soon thereafter. I've had it on my wish list for reading for quite some time now and finally I'm acting on that wish.

Do you know about Stieg Larsson? He was a Swedish journalist and activist, a crusader against racism and right-wing fanatics. He lived under constant threat of violence and death from those that he opposed. He started writing the Millenium Trilogy mostly for his own amusement and had not attempted to have it published. He finally delivered the three completed novels to the publisher shortly before his death from a massive heart attack in November 2004. He was only 50 years old.

He had mapped out plans for additional books in the series, a total of ten in all. Now, of course, we'll never see the final seven, but we have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the recently released The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. All have been highly acclaimed and the first two have already won several awards, in addition to being international best sellers. It seems likely that the final book of the trilogy will follow that tradition.

Larsson definitely knew how to write. He has created some fascinating characters and the plot, at least of this first book, is tightly constructed. Perhaps his journalistic training taught him to write in this way - with no unnecessary words.

I could say more, but I've wasted enough time here at the keyboard. I need to get back to my book.
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Comments

  1. Susan February 28, 2010 at 8:19 AM

    I love "unputdownable" books! Can't wait to see your review :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dorothy BordersFebruary 28, 2010 at 10:34 AM

    So far, it's definitely a five star book.

    ReplyDelete

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