Read Them, Read Them, Read Them!

Last updated on: May 10, 2010 at 12:49 am by J. Ryan Parker

Read Them, Read Them, Read Them! 2010-05-10T00:49:39-07:00 J. Ryan Parker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Due to the volcanic ash cloud’s disruption of my wife’s arrival to the UK, I had some extra time on my hands and decided to start Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, composed of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Having read a few pop-crime novels in my day, I can safely say that these are in a class all by themselves. Unfortunately, Larsson didn’t live to see the success of his novels nor to create more brilliant, deeply engrossing works like these.

In the Millennium trilogy (slight spoiler only if you refuse to read the synopses on the back of each book!), we have two main characters Mikael Blomkvist, an accomplished journalist, and Lisbeth Salander, a socially complicated, legendary genius of a hacker. On a job to uncover the murderer of an industrial tycoon’s niece, Blomkvist hires Salander to do some research for him. As if Larsson has not provided us with enough material to digest in the first novel, he explodes what seems to be a series of crimes limited to one deranged family into a political scandal that involves the most secret echelons of political power. As the trilogy progresses, he takes us deeper into a world of political and law-enforcement corruption in Sweden. Along the way, while Blomkvist takes on new cases, we learn more and more about the tragic upbringing of the troubled Lisbeth Salander.

I hesitate to say anything more about the plot of these novels because doing so to any extent would rob potential readers of the brilliance of Larsson’s writing and the ways in which he literally demands readers to not put down these books. The only things that should stand in the way of anyone reading these books unceasingly are sleep (overrated), threatened divorce (you can always find someone new), the loss of a job (you hate yours any way), and children (really, shouldn’t they be taking care of themselves by now?).

The themes of Larsson’s novels are almost as extensive as their length (somewhere north of 1700 pages altogether). We get embroiled in some serious implications for discussions of good and evil, personal and social morality, nature vs. nurture, journalistic integrity, ethics, government knowledge/responsibility, and the list goes on and on. I have yet to see the film adaptation of the first installment, although I imagine it hardly does the novel justice. Larsson simply has characters too rich and complex, with plots equally or more so, than any film could hope to contain in 3 hours or less. I wonder, however, if it wouldn’t work in a serialized form on HBO (unfortunately, a friend alerted me to the fact that David Fincher has begun working on a 2012 release, a re-make of the Swedish film out now).

Larsson’s writing is at the same time humorous, devastating, and pointed. This isn’t just summer beach reading (although they will more than suffice for that). These are classics of a genre that produces precious few. Clear your schedule and read, read, read!!

Previous Post

May 6, 2010

If You Liked the First One...

Next Post

May 12, 2010 A Review of SAINT 9/11

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Classics DVD Film Music News Pop Culture Events Print Sports Television Uncategorized Video Games

Select a Month March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Miriam?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses' daughter Moses' sister Moses' wife Pharaoh's wife