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Millennium Trilogy Boxed Set (2010)

by Stieg Larsson(Favorite Author)

4.45 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0857050141 (ISBN13: 9780857050144)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Maclehose

review 1: Fascinating, intelligent, well-written, suspense-filled stories, delving into the dark side of human nature. This series of crime novels was written for his own pleasure and they were published posthumously after his death at the age of 50. The main character, Lisbeth Salander, suffered a very traumatic childhood and has trouble connecting to people and making friends. She is a world class computer hacker, has an eidetic memory, and fighting skills that make her a kick ass and fiercely unconventional antiheroine.In December 2013, it was announced that Swedish writer David Lagercrantz had been contracted to write the fourth novel in the Millennium series. According to the publisher, the book will be a stand-alone sequel based on Larsson's characters. It is scheduled t... moreo be published in August 2015, the ten-year anniversary of the first Millennium novel.
review 2: This was the third time I read the Millenium trilogy. I was traveling, had my Kindle, lots of airport and flying time, there were the books. I was hooked. Midway through the last of the books, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, I sat with my niece, whose work involves counseling abused women and advocating for them. It’s stressful work. Given that these books deal with the very issues she addresses each day, I asked whether she’d read them. She thought she may have read the first (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), but she hadn’t read the other two books. She thinks she saw the movies. I expressed my enthusiasm for the books. She said that in her circles, the books have generated “controversy.” The books’ graphic images of violence towards women—in many forms—make the books suspect. Ditto for the movies. Maybe more so for the movies, which, after all, profit from explicit images. I argued the merits of the books, which include 1. identifying the problems; 2. arguing on behalf of abused women and against the men who either perpetrate the abuse or enable it; and 3. educating the public about the problem. She wasn’t convinced. I doubled down to finish the trilogy. My reading confirmed, for me, that far from marketing in graphic, pornographic scenes of men brutalizing women, the books are largely about the undercover work of journalists and private investigators driven to expose the salacious elements of society, however seemly their exteriors. The books were written by a feminist (Stieg Larsson), whose career in journalism consisted of outing criminals camouflaged in official and officious titles and settings. Like his protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist, Larsson was a meticulous and indefatigable investigator. In print, he battled neo-nazis and hate groups of many sorts. He was merciless toward men who abused women.The books are propelled by plot. The plot is gripping. The central figure, Lizbeth Salander, is inspiring, even though she is anti-social, unaccepting of social morés, and unresponsive to almost everyone. She has cause. She also has brains and a photographic memory. She is a computer hacker of the first order. She is thin (without being anorexic), which happens to conform to modern tastes. There is much to admire in this character, even though she might well spit in our faces, if we tried to befriend her. Once we understand the history that so twisted her, the degree of torment she has suffered, we sympathize. It is also no small matter that she and the male protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist, become friends. He draws people, including us, the readers, into his sphere. We identify with him. If he falls for Salander, so do we. The books are no literary paragons. It is amusing to see how often Larsson has his characters making coffee, ordering coffee, drinking coffee. Ditto for sandwiches. In the last few days, immersed as I’ve been in the books, I’ve eaten more sandwiches than I did in the last three months. Likewise, it is amusing to see that the journalist Blomkvist, who is based on the author himself, is slightly overweight (as was Larsson) yet irresistible to women. He is a tender and considerate friend and lover. He is the polar opposite of the greedy types who, in bed, banks, and titles, seek to profit only themselves. Among the surprises this time, for me, was my reaction to seeing the name Dr. Anders Jonasson. The doctor’s name was originally Dr. Anders Jakobsson, a tribute to Larsson's friend. But Larsson’s father, who had an altercation with this doctor, changed the name before the book was published. That Larsson’s father and brother “inherited” the author’s estate is scandalous. By rights, the estate should have gone to Larsson's 30+ year life partner, Eva Gabrielsson. As far as I understand, the father and brother were estranged from Stieg Larsson. Yet they inherited his posthumous fortune. This is strange. One would think that in Sweden, common law marriage would hold sway. Not so.It is said that the real-life Dr. Jakobsson told the senior Larsson that the literary estate and the fortune that followed should have gone to Gabrielsson. Larsson counter-attacked by changing the doctor's name in the book. Blech. It all makes me wonder whether the evil at the heart of the book, Alexander Zalachenko, is based, however obliquely, on Larsson’s own father!In any case, thanks to my kids, Josh & Lisa, for getting me the Kindle. It made for exciting waits in airports and quick two and three hour flights. I could never have fit all 3 hard-copy books in my backpack. Nor would I have thought to return to these books just now. less

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