The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Discussion

[pontalba]

Originally Posted by Lenore

Those who have read the trilogy might appreciate this article about Larsson and about the books: http://tinyurl.com/24863pv.

Thanks for the link, saving it to read later.

[LindaE]

Originally Posted by tangential1

I kind of got the feeling that Lisbeth was kind of intending to start a fling and got a little more attached to Mikael than she had meant to.

I have to agree with you here, Erin. I think that one thing about Mikael that draws Lisbeth in is that he doesn't always react the way she expects. She expects people to treat her like she's freak and he doesn't. For example, pp. 432-433, "She had never had an outsider to have this sort of conversation with, and she enjoyed ...that he seemed impressed with her talents." "...he did not react when she left so abruptly." Over the course of a week, he didn't flirt with her, which seemed to irritate her. He worked with her, asked her opinion, etc. "Dammit, he had treated her like a human being." Treating someone. who has spent their life feeling marginalized, like a human being, letting them see that their opinion counts, can be powerful stuff to that person. So I think she definitely hadn't intended on getting attached to him with such intensity. I can't escape the feeling that she was already attracted to him before she joined him on the case because of his earlier work on Wennerstrom. Mikael intrigued her and surprised her by more than living up to any expectations she might have had as far as his work was concerned.

[pontalba]

Originally Posted by LindaE

I can't escape the feeling that she was already attracted to him before she joined him on the case because of his earlier work on Wennerstrom. Mikael intrigued her and surprised her by more than living up to any expectations she might have had as far as his work was concerned.

I like this train of thought, and fully agree. IIRC she'd followed the case even before being hired to investigate, yes?

Lenore,
I loved the article, thanks again for posting the link. This small quote about Lisbeth from the New Yorker article is absolutely wonderful..... http://tinyurl.com/24863pv.

She operates outside society but not outside morality. She is an outlaw, or a sprite—a punk fairy.

[LindaE]

Originally Posted by pontalba

I like this train of thought, and fully agree. IIRC she'd followed the case even before being hired to investigate, yes?

Lenore,
I loved the article, thanks again for posting the link. This small quote about Lisbeth from the New Yorker article is absolutely wonderful..... http://tinyurl.com/24863pv.

Yes, it had to do with Wennerstrom. After she had looked into him, her sleeze alarm was going off. The fact that it was clear that Makael also believed Wennerstrom was corrupt made him interesting to her. Lisbeth has a low tolerance for sleezeballs. Bless her.

[SCWillson]

Well, I finally watched the third film, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, on Netflix last night. The last two films were not as good as the first, but overall it's an excellent trilogy.

Anyone else here seen this film? There was a detail in the courtroom scenes which struck me: The courtroom was very dark, with lighting essentially only on the principals - prosecution, judges, defendant. It almost made it feel conspiratorial and very different from brightly lit American courtrooms. Does anyone know if this is how real courtrooms are in Sweden, or was this just for dramatic cinematography?

[pontalba]

We should be receiving the DVD soon, I believe Amazon sent me a notice it had been mailed. I can say that the second film was not as interesting to me as the first though.

[The Grey Badger]

I just finished watching the second film in the series. Is anyone here familiar with Andrew Vachss's novels about Burke? Like Lisbeth, he works the dark side, and like her, he's a victim of the system, in this case, the U.S. foster care/reform school/prison system. And like her, he avenges crimes against women and children, and does rescues where he can. His view is darker than hers.

[Lenore]

Originally Posted by The Grey Badger

Is anyone here familiar with Andrew Vachss's novels about Burke? . . . His view is darker than hers.

I've read a couple. He's VERY dark. I found I wasn't enjoying his books, so I haven't read any in awhile.