Book Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Fantastic book for those who enjoy mature, complicated plotlines. The first couple of chapters are a little confusing and could make you want to give up, but just keep reading. The English translation isn't perfect, but good enough and doesn't deter from the story. There's some difficult content to read (particularly the rape scenes) but the consequences to the characters' actions are very satisfying. Don't expect it to actually be about tattoos - the reference is insignificant but the girl with the tattoo - Lisbeth - is an intriguing character many tattooed people can relate to.

I'll admit that the title is what caught my eye and lured me to read it, but the reference to the tattoo adorning one of the main characters, Lisbeth Salandar, is actually pretty insignificant and not a key point to the story at all. In fact, from what I understand, the original Swedish title of this book was "Men Who Hate Women" which makes a lot more sense, but I can understand why they would have changed it as I never would have given the book a second glance with a title like that.

You can go to almost any website and read a description of the story itself and find out the basis of the mystery, which is quite intriguing. But I think that Lisbeth's character adds special interest to my readers, so I'm writing my review based on that fact. Lisbeth is a quirky girl who shows up for her job as a professional investigator at a security company wearing black lipstick, tall boots, fishnet stockings, and has a handful of tattoos and body piercings. The average reader will perceive her exactly the same way most of the characters in the book perceive her - as strange, scary, and stupid. Here's a few excerpts:

Lisbeth Salandar was a “pale, anorexic young woman who had hair as short as a fuse, and a pierced nose and eyebrows. She had a wasp tattoo about an inch long on her neck, a tattooed loop around the biceps of her left arm and another around her left ankle…she had a dragon tattoo on her left shoulder blade. She was a natural redhead, but she dyed her hair raven black. She looked as though she had just emerged from a week long orgy with a gang of hard rockers.”

“Sometimes she wore black lipstick, and in spite of her tattoos and the pierced nose and eyebrows she was…well…attractive. It was inexplicable.”

“On the other hand, she had a talent for irritating the other employees. She became known as 'the girl with two brain cells'—one for breathing and one for standing up.”

But Lisbeth Salandar manages to surprise a lot of people and you'll find her character extremely endearing. You'll be applauding her when she exacts revenge on a man who violates her and you'll no doubt appreciate how resourceful and intelligent she really is.

If you enjoy research and learning the back information behind a book, you'll get a lot more out of this story. There are several references and innuendos that don't make a lot of sense unless you're Swedish or familiar with Sweden. But you can look them up and learn about them, which adds richness and depth to the story. It's still a very enjoyable read, though, even if you don't delve into the deeper points.

Because this book is just the first installment of the Millennium Trilogy, the book ends on a cliffhanger that will no doubt leave you a little disappointed, at least until you can get your hands on the second book, The Girl Who Played With Fire.

It's really sad that the author, Stieg Larsson, died before his first book was even published. He left quite a legacy behind, which is also an interesting read.