The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Is it necessary to read them in order?

Essential. It's a trilogy, not three independent books.

[dannylee]

I have heard of that book. But haven't buy one and read it yet.

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by Mercury

I really enjoyed the trilogy, but would agree the hype is out of proportion.

I suspect that's the only way the mass-market marketeers know how to play the game, currently. I note that as the Harry Potter wavecrest passed, the publishing companies started talking about finding "the one" who could be promoted as "the next JK Rowling". Only teachers - poor, overworked, under-resourced teachers - talked about how to use the craze to encourage their kids to keep an interest in reading. (No, I'm not a teacher, but I do acknowledge them for what they strive towards.)

So now, everything that the publishers think is going to "hit" gets hyped to buggery. I'm a bit perverse in this, perhaps, but for me that makes me less likely to buy the book.

Originally Posted by cassidym

Plus don't see why Hollywood is making their own version

But isn't that what Hollywood generally does? Or, at least, what the domestic US market wants?

A mate of mine in the business side of movies in the US says it's almost impossible to get distribution deals for foreign movies - both the cinemas and audiences respond far more willingly to American English versions, preferably relocated so the story is now set in the US, or at least specifically involves American characters.

Who created the expectation first, I wonder - the studios, the cinema chains, or the audiences?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by cassidym

What I liked about the film is that it was shot on the same locations most of the book took place on. Consequently, I could compare what my mental image of the various locations was with what they actually looked like on the screen.

I've been to Sweden a time or two but not to most the locations in the the book. Truth is, one of the reasons I went was to check out Malmo where the Inspector Wallander novels took place.

Wallander is in Ystad (60 km from Malmö).

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Ea

Perhaps it's more complicated. I liked the story and plot enough to finish the first book, but the writing was bad - especially the dialogue was toe-curling. The journalist was too obviously a hero version of Larsson. A few, but large, chunks of info-dumps... I read it in a Danish translation from Swedish - don't know whether that might matter - perhaps the translation in English reads better. But even if I can understand the fascination, I don't understand the hype. It doesn't feel so much different from other (Scandinavian) crime fiction I've read..

Actually, I think it is a lot different from other Scandinavian crime fiction. I think it was written more in the British tradition. Also the crime authors read in the books was not Swedish and I think he place authors that was influential in the book.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Is it necessary to read them in order?

Yes it is.

[suecsi]

I'm just starting on 'The Girl Who Played with Fire' - the second in the trilogy - and am really enjoying them. Maybe it is because I am a goth girl with a few tattoos of my own .......

[Leep]

I have just finished the series and although the first book was my least favorite, thought the writing and pacing of the book was very good. I very much enjoyed the second and third books and would definitely recommend them to anyone who likes crime fiction.

You would certainly want to read them in order.

cheers

[bear4hunter]

That reminds me of telling you, german BestSeller Lists also include some books from other scandinavian writers, like Jussi Adler-Olsen and Jo Nesboe - might gonna read them too

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by tompe

Wallander is in Ystad (60 km from Malmö).

Correct. I got as close as I could. I just wanted to get a feel for the environment. Always makes a book more interesting.

[JeremyZ]

Originally Posted by emonti8384

I was thinking about checking that out. Is that your normal reading genre?

I'm not sure I have a normal reading genre. I like fantasy, sci-fi, general fiction, and some non-fiction. Sherlock Holmes got me interested in mystery. I really love Holmes stories. I tried Agatha Christie; it was good, but I'm not sure I'll go and read all of them. It is a bit stuffy. I actually prefer the PBS TV shows to the books.

[JeremyZ]

Originally Posted by cassidym

What I liked about the film is that it was shot on the same locations most of the book took place on. Consequently, I could compare what my mental image of the various locations was with what they actually looked like on the screen.

Thanks for this tip! I wouldn't normally be excited about a movie version of a book I really liked. When a book refers to American cities that I'm familiar with, it adds to the mood. So it will be interesting to see these cities.

[JeremyZ]

Originally Posted by suecsi

I'm just starting on 'The Girl Who Played with Fire' - the second in the trilogy - and am really enjoying them.

I finished this last night. One thing I really liked is that the author bothered to really finish the story. Not just leave us hanging and leave it all to our imagination. Call me boring, but I like to read the author's idea of how things wind up.

I'm going to download the other two books soon, but I changed gears and am re-reading the Dragonlance Chronicles again now.

[JeremyZ]

Originally Posted by Leep

I have just finished the series and although the first book was my least favorite, thought the writing and pacing of the book was very good. I very much enjoyed the second and third books and would definitely recommend them to anyone who likes crime fiction.

This reminds me, to the folks who have read the first book and considered it only good, you may want to keep reading. There are a lot of Amazon reviews on these books, enough to have a good statistical sampling. The 2nd and 3rd books are rated higher than the first. 4.5 stars instead of 4.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JeremyZ

This reminds me, to the folks who have read the first book and considered it only good, you may want to keep reading. There are a lot of Amazon reviews on these books, enough to have a good statistical sampling. The 2nd and 3rd books are rated higher than the first. 4.5 stars instead of 4.

But you would expect that, because only those people who enjoyed the first book would carry on to read the second, therefore it's logical that its average feedback rating should be higher.