The Girl with
the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in the Millennium series. The book is
staged against Sweden and it gained prominence for depicting the rather dark
and gloomy side of the country that persists within its citizens may be
incoherently. According to the author, all within the novel it has been put
forward: an ugly state of the human nature of the countrymen with the matters
like ill treatment of women by men, sadism, sex trade, and domestic violence,
suicide, deplorable and depressing state of people.
Despite the
title, the lead character, in many ways, is Mikael Blomkvist. He runs an
investigative cum political magazine called Millennium where he often publishes
the scandals and enjoys tarnishing the public image of heavy figures. But this
time, the tables have turned on him, he has been charged with a written
defamation case against a billionaire industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström.
Blomkvist not only pays the hefty amount as a fine but also serves in the
prison for three months.
Next, another
ageing billionaire industrialist Henrik Vanger hires Blomkvist to get the
details of a long lost case that happened around forty years ago. Before the
meet-up, Henrik pulls up all details of Blomkvist, this surprises him. The case
dates back to around forty years when Henrik’s great-niece, Harriet, goes
missing from their private island. Henrik wants to know what all happened to
her, if she was murdered then who was that? Henrik has a hunch that someone
from his family has done away with her. Henrik promises him a reward of 2.4
million kronor if he succeeded in solving the case.
To get on the
case like a tiger, Blomkvist teams up with Lisbeth Salander, a 24-year-old lady
with very unusual and complex nature. She has a photographic memory and
computer hacking is just another game for her. Inside or outside the plot, this
strict yet docile lady always lingers with readers and they are likely to take
her with them forever. As the title suggests that the book is about a girl but
that girl is not Harriet but Lisbeth herself. As the investigation advances
inch by inch, the pace and plot of the book becomes tight and gripping. Well,
readers will have bit tough time in sorting out the Vanger family tree to
understand the plot and mini climaxes, as there seem many cousins and nephews.
As they both
delve deeper to bring out the Harriet’s disappearance, they already formed into
intimacy, realize that they aren’t on any cold case. The book is a translated
version but still it became a bestseller, also it was published posthumously,
and the character Blomkvist has resemblance of what the author himself used to
do in his journalistic career. A racy novel and at times the scenes of
debauchery, intimacy and gore make it a compelling read.
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