[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I read the whole thing and couldn't believe that it was a bestseller. Don't misunderstand me, the creation of Lisbeth Salander (sp?) was brilliant. Loved that part. Didn't care for the protagonist that much, who felt more like a leaf being carried down a stream than a hard-charging investigative journalist. (Also thought that the "every woman he met jumped into bed with him" part was too much anthropomorphizing for his avatar, {yawn}).

Spoiler:

The big "triumph" at the end, over the "evil" industrialist? Never did figure out what on earth they were talking about, if indeed it was a big deal. It seemed pretty minor to me.

The murder mystery?

Spoiler:

And the deal with how the son had tons of women coming up to the "Big House," and they never left? In a small town? With ONE road, going in and out? Anyone ever live in a small town like that? I do. Everybody knows everybody else's comings and goings. Nobody noticed? Pah. Not to mention, I figured out it was him less than half-way through.

AND the BS with the near-identical THREE girls? Not two, but THREE? And the part with the passport? How X falls on her sword, and never gets hers renewed, so the "dead" victim can go to AUS? What's up with that nonsense? Why not get it renewed 1-2 years later, when the chances of AUS and GB ever, ever figuring it out were non-existent?

I just felt it was grossly overrated. No doubt due to Lisbeth's creation, which, again, I thought was fabulous. But the rest just felt turgid. The coincidences were one too many, the solution was forced. The big "reveal" at the end for the "evil capitalist" was deader'n Julius Caesar for me. {shrug}.

Wasn't my cuppa. It was "okay," I suppose, but I never bothered to read the next two.

Hitch

I am with you. I didn't actually finish. Maybe 2/3. I had to keep going back to try and make sense and it didn't seem to work. Still this was a book given to me by a friend who loved it, so each to their own.

Helen