millennium

i took a little break from the blog. went to oslo. did something i haven't done for years: read three books in a row. in one week.

stieg larsson's millenium trilogy had been lying around for a few months and i decided i wanted to read them now. when i was a teenager i had a period when i read a lot of classic crime novels. agatha christie. g.k. chesterton. arthur conan doyle. i also had a period when i read a lot of political thrillers. grisham and company, you know. then i thought i'd try out swedish crime, wallander, and that was it. i just stopped. didn't like it. wallander wasn't my thing. instead i started reading romances.

so, i started reading the first book, män som hatar kvinnor, and got hooked. the man was a genius. he starts his stories at different points and with different protagonists and different plotlines. then slowly but steadily he gives you information. a bit here, a bit there, pushing the plotlines towards each other. he gives you just enough info at a time to stay interested. and he always leaves you begging for more. i just didn't want the book to end.

it did end but there were two more novels. plus the movie.



(i also checked the german trailer. it's bad. watch the original if you can.)

there is lisbeth salander. stieg larsson once said that she is some kind of modern pippi longstocking, and i'd say he's probably right. she is fascinating. misunderstood. independent. strong. there is mikael blomkvist. a modern day detective. journalist. easy going. likeable. there is harriet, the mystery. and there are men who hate women. they all are realistic, even though a little overdrawn. and then, it's a complex story. it really is. this is not a small universe of its own. everything takes place within society. that means, a lot of people, difficult situations. complex. interesting. exciting. critical. perfect.

the first part of the trilogy is a story with a beginning and an end. the second one kind of ends in the middle of everything, and the third part finishes the second. so one could actually say that it's only a duo, but the second book got so long he decided to cut it in half. smart. also, the first one is more of a detective novel, while the second and third are more of a thriller, but both genres are interwoven in a way. fascinating.

it's sad the author had to die so early. apparently he had planned a series of 10 books. only three got finished. i recommend them. i also recommend the film. i've seen the first one and liked it a lot. a great piece of swedish literature and cinema.