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Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Review of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
THE MOST COMPELLING MYSTERY IS HOW THIS BECAME A BESTSELLER
I am part Swedish. When I heard all the buzz about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson, I was enthusiastically rooting for its posthumous literary success. However, as I made my way through the crime novel, I felt as if a crime were in progress--my own murder! The prose is so egregious, the characters so cardboard-cutout and humorless, and the plot so weighed down by exposition, that it left me baffled as to all the positive blurbs that adorn the deckle edged work. Did these reviewers even read the book, or were they paid off by the marketing machine? Who knows? Who cares? Who will dare to unravel the mystery?
I must give kudos to the publisher and the rest of the team who have made this and the other books in the series international bestsellers, especially after the unfortunate death of the author. To catapult any fiction to the top of the charts is quite an accomplishment. But when the original writer is no longer working behind the scenes, it makes it that much more astonishing.
That said, I must get on with my honest review, and the stunning fact that this vapid text could be dressed up and hyped up so much so as to get people to fork over their hard-earned money and be happy that they did so. Like others have already stated, at first I thought the problem might be the translation. However, there are serious errors that go beyond the Swedish to English rendering. The narrative is laden with a constant bombardment of trivial information that detracts from the story. For instance, there is the odd repetition of mundane, technical references:
"After discussion with her mother they had agreed to give Pernilla an iPod, an MP3 player hardly bigger than a matchbox which could store her huge CD collection" (74).
"Malm had worked in PhotoShop, and it took a moment to notice that the building was floating in air" (101).
"At lunchtime Salander booted up her iBook and opened Eudora to write an email...To be on the safe side, she ran the message through her PGP encryption programme" (104).
"He wanted to know whether the connection could handle ADSL and was told that it would be possible by way of a relay in Hedeby, and that it would take several days" (139).
"The family was so extensive that he was forced to create a database in his iBook. He used the NotePad programme [...], one of those full-value products that two men at the Royal Technical College had created and distributed as shareware for a pittance on the Internet" (168).
I appreciate technology as much as the next person. But if it doesn't add to the narrative, the characters, or enhance the reading experience in some way, it becomes mud. I realize the heroine, Lisbeth Salander, is a fantastic hacker, but still... these trivial references are unnecessary.
The story also degenerates into frequent reports on the weather (as if one's in a terribly boring conversation and this is all that's left to discuss--did Larsson have the soothing Weather Channel on in the background while writing these sections?):
"The thermometer outside the window said 5 degrees F, and he couldn't remember ever feeling so cold as after that walk..." (138).
"The temperature had dropped to -1 degrees F" (140).
"He had several miserable days in the middle of the month when the termperature dropped to -35 degrees F" (184).
"Then the weather changed and the temperature rose steadily to a balmy 14 degrees F" (185).
"The thermometer showed 6 below zero" (141).
Now, to be fair, I have only managed to muck my way to page 202. Perhaps the rise and fall in temperature will have some vital link to the plot. Perhaps the characters will come alive. I will be sure to let you know if I manage to survive until the end of the book. I am hoping that somehow, miraculously, the novel will redeem itself. If it does, that would be the most astonishing thing of all.
FOLLOW UP--I SURVIVED THE ATTEMPTED MURDER!
Just recently, at a social event, I heard people talking about how great the Swedish movie version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is (I haven't seen it), and how the book is "supposed to be even better." I thought of entering the conversation, but decided it better not to. It is very odd, how marketing and the consequent bandwagon following can make a book that should have been re-edited or relegated to the slushpile a blockbuster. I think it would make a very intriguing sociological study--just how did the Swedish publisher get the ball rolling on this one? I'll admit that the plot got a bit better (I did finish the book), and I did like the character of Lisbeth Salander. The writing, however, did not improve as the mystery unfolded. In the end, this story strikes me as a typical crime thriller that you would find on cable TV. There is no real depth to it, and at the end one wonders: "why did I waste my time with that?"
I hear Hollywood has caught the Larsson fever--I wonder what they will do with the series. To be sure, they will be megahits, as long as they market them like crazy, which they will. The build-up has already begun. Just today, as I was shopping at Costco, strolling towards checkout, I saw them: the familiar, bright, shiny, eye-catching, and admittedly--very cool covers. And while Costco couldn't sell them in a 24-pack, they sure did try--inundating the innocent bystanders with stacks and stacks of Larsson's trilogy, tempting shoppers to take them home with their sundry bulk purchases.
I passed, guilty of the crime of not speaking up.
I am part Swedish. When I heard all the buzz about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson, I was enthusiastically rooting for its posthumous literary success. However, as I made my way through the crime novel, I felt as if a crime were in progress--my own murder! The prose is so egregious, the characters so cardboard-cutout and humorless, and the plot so weighed down by exposition, that it left me baffled as to all the positive blurbs that adorn the deckle edged work. Did these reviewers even read the book, or were they paid off by the marketing machine? Who knows? Who cares? Who will dare to unravel the mystery?
I must give kudos to the publisher and the rest of the team who have made this and the other books in the series international bestsellers, especially after the unfortunate death of the author. To catapult any fiction to the top of the charts is quite an accomplishment. But when the original writer is no longer working behind the scenes, it makes it that much more astonishing.
That said, I must get on with my honest review, and the stunning fact that this vapid text could be dressed up and hyped up so much so as to get people to fork over their hard-earned money and be happy that they did so. Like others have already stated, at first I thought the problem might be the translation. However, there are serious errors that go beyond the Swedish to English rendering. The narrative is laden with a constant bombardment of trivial information that detracts from the story. For instance, there is the odd repetition of mundane, technical references:
"After discussion with her mother they had agreed to give Pernilla an iPod, an MP3 player hardly bigger than a matchbox which could store her huge CD collection" (74).
"Malm had worked in PhotoShop, and it took a moment to notice that the building was floating in air" (101).
"At lunchtime Salander booted up her iBook and opened Eudora to write an email...To be on the safe side, she ran the message through her PGP encryption programme" (104).
"He wanted to know whether the connection could handle ADSL and was told that it would be possible by way of a relay in Hedeby, and that it would take several days" (139).
"The family was so extensive that he was forced to create a database in his iBook. He used the NotePad programme [...], one of those full-value products that two men at the Royal Technical College had created and distributed as shareware for a pittance on the Internet" (168).
I appreciate technology as much as the next person. But if it doesn't add to the narrative, the characters, or enhance the reading experience in some way, it becomes mud. I realize the heroine, Lisbeth Salander, is a fantastic hacker, but still... these trivial references are unnecessary.
The story also degenerates into frequent reports on the weather (as if one's in a terribly boring conversation and this is all that's left to discuss--did Larsson have the soothing Weather Channel on in the background while writing these sections?):
"The thermometer outside the window said 5 degrees F, and he couldn't remember ever feeling so cold as after that walk..." (138).
"The temperature had dropped to -1 degrees F" (140).
"He had several miserable days in the middle of the month when the termperature dropped to -35 degrees F" (184).
"Then the weather changed and the temperature rose steadily to a balmy 14 degrees F" (185).
"The thermometer showed 6 below zero" (141).
Now, to be fair, I have only managed to muck my way to page 202. Perhaps the rise and fall in temperature will have some vital link to the plot. Perhaps the characters will come alive. I will be sure to let you know if I manage to survive until the end of the book. I am hoping that somehow, miraculously, the novel will redeem itself. If it does, that would be the most astonishing thing of all.
FOLLOW UP--I SURVIVED THE ATTEMPTED MURDER!
Just recently, at a social event, I heard people talking about how great the Swedish movie version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is (I haven't seen it), and how the book is "supposed to be even better." I thought of entering the conversation, but decided it better not to. It is very odd, how marketing and the consequent bandwagon following can make a book that should have been re-edited or relegated to the slushpile a blockbuster. I think it would make a very intriguing sociological study--just how did the Swedish publisher get the ball rolling on this one? I'll admit that the plot got a bit better (I did finish the book), and I did like the character of Lisbeth Salander. The writing, however, did not improve as the mystery unfolded. In the end, this story strikes me as a typical crime thriller that you would find on cable TV. There is no real depth to it, and at the end one wonders: "why did I waste my time with that?"
I hear Hollywood has caught the Larsson fever--I wonder what they will do with the series. To be sure, they will be megahits, as long as they market them like crazy, which they will. The build-up has already begun. Just today, as I was shopping at Costco, strolling towards checkout, I saw them: the familiar, bright, shiny, eye-catching, and admittedly--very cool covers. And while Costco couldn't sell them in a 24-pack, they sure did try--inundating the innocent bystanders with stacks and stacks of Larsson's trilogy, tempting shoppers to take them home with their sundry bulk purchases.
I passed, guilty of the crime of not speaking up.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Free eBook!
June 11, 2010: Available for free for a limited time as an eBook (through Kobo). Enjoy it on your iPad or other computing device!
http://tiny.cc/o5vlk
http://tiny.cc/o5vlk
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Rock Star's Rainbow Will Soon Be Available on the iPad!
For those interested, the novel will soon be available on Apple's hip new device!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
New Novel Outline, Feedback Appreciated
Hi All!
Here is the tentative road map. Very tentative.
Chapter I--The Vampire. An old vampire haunts the Irish countryside, unaware that he too is being haunted.
Chapter 2--The Banshee. A forlorn, beautiful banshee, unable to maintain human love, sets her sights on the aging yet debonair vampire.
Chapter 3--The Woman. A young American inherits a bed and breakfast and moves to Ireland; she reminds the vampire of a long lost love.
Chapter 4--The Leprechaun. The woman discovers a leprechaun living in an old wine cellar behind her B & B--under Ben Bulben.
Chapter 5--The Mountain. Chasing the leprechaun up Ben Bulben, the woman stumbles upon a limestone door--leading to a terrifying Faeryland.
Chapter 6--The Horseman. An unearthly rider finally escapes from his surreal prison with the help of unexpected visitors.
Chapter 7--The Goddess. An ancient deity named Danu suddenly appears from out of the bay with something on her mind.
Chapter 8--The Giant. Upon the goddess' arrival, an old enemy awakes; he goes to slay her, but blind, must first find his eye in the lake.
Chapter 9--The Man. The American's old boyfriend shows up at the B & B; he laughs at her tales of leprechauns & fairies and eats like a pig.
Chapter 10--The King. An old man named Lugh hobbles into Sligo Town Hall, insisting it is time for him to set things right; everyone laughs.
Chapter 11--The Hopeless Romance. The banshee desperately does her utmost to woo the ever-stylish vampire, but his tastes are very different.
Chapter 12--The Bed & Breakfast. The woman and old boyfriend fix up the old place. Their first guest insists on blood sausage for breakfast.
Chapter 13--The Love Quadrangle. As the vampire courts the owner with panache, a beautiful, unearthly guest arrives, flirting, then wailing.
Chapter 14--The Ancient Past. As all hell breaks loose, the leprechaun returns, offering a somber recollection of the old Irish myths, and their revival.
Chapter 15--The Charge. As if on cue, the horseman appears at the end of the leprechaun's story, awakening the old Irish heroes from sleep.
Chapter 16--The Eye. The giant finds his evil eye in the lake. Awakening from a long sleep, he focuses his rage against the goddess.
Chapter 17--The Four Treasures. The ancient magical treasures of Ireland are rediscovered and put to use against the evil giant Balor.
Chapter 18--The Cycles. The old king and the other ancients find modern Irish and world advancements a confusing game and wish to pursue a different way forward.
Chapter 19--The Ghosts. Three writers from the past, Blake, Yeats, and Joyce, haunt Sligo, carousing and collaborating on one last story.
Chapter 20--The Volcano. The ghosts of Blake, Yeats, & Joyce are forced to cancel their appearances at the London Book Fair.
Chapter 21--Postscript. The editor encounters a leprechaun at the couple's B & B in Sligo; he vanishes, leaving behind one shoe and a strange gothic tale told by the ghosts of Blake, Yeats, and Joyce.
Here is the tentative road map. Very tentative.
Chapter I--The Vampire. An old vampire haunts the Irish countryside, unaware that he too is being haunted.
Chapter 2--The Banshee. A forlorn, beautiful banshee, unable to maintain human love, sets her sights on the aging yet debonair vampire.
Chapter 3--The Woman. A young American inherits a bed and breakfast and moves to Ireland; she reminds the vampire of a long lost love.
Chapter 4--The Leprechaun. The woman discovers a leprechaun living in an old wine cellar behind her B & B--under Ben Bulben.
Chapter 5--The Mountain. Chasing the leprechaun up Ben Bulben, the woman stumbles upon a limestone door--leading to a terrifying Faeryland.
Chapter 6--The Horseman. An unearthly rider finally escapes from his surreal prison with the help of unexpected visitors.
Chapter 7--The Goddess. An ancient deity named Danu suddenly appears from out of the bay with something on her mind.
Chapter 8--The Giant. Upon the goddess' arrival, an old enemy awakes; he goes to slay her, but blind, must first find his eye in the lake.
Chapter 9--The Man. The American's old boyfriend shows up at the B & B; he laughs at her tales of leprechauns & fairies and eats like a pig.
Chapter 10--The King. An old man named Lugh hobbles into Sligo Town Hall, insisting it is time for him to set things right; everyone laughs.
Chapter 11--The Hopeless Romance. The banshee desperately does her utmost to woo the ever-stylish vampire, but his tastes are very different.
Chapter 12--The Bed & Breakfast. The woman and old boyfriend fix up the old place. Their first guest insists on blood sausage for breakfast.
Chapter 13--The Love Quadrangle. As the vampire courts the owner with panache, a beautiful, unearthly guest arrives, flirting, then wailing.
Chapter 14--The Ancient Past. As all hell breaks loose, the leprechaun returns, offering a somber recollection of the old Irish myths, and their revival.
Chapter 15--The Charge. As if on cue, the horseman appears at the end of the leprechaun's story, awakening the old Irish heroes from sleep.
Chapter 16--The Eye. The giant finds his evil eye in the lake. Awakening from a long sleep, he focuses his rage against the goddess.
Chapter 17--The Four Treasures. The ancient magical treasures of Ireland are rediscovered and put to use against the evil giant Balor.
Chapter 18--The Cycles. The old king and the other ancients find modern Irish and world advancements a confusing game and wish to pursue a different way forward.
Chapter 19--The Ghosts. Three writers from the past, Blake, Yeats, and Joyce, haunt Sligo, carousing and collaborating on one last story.
Chapter 20--The Volcano. The ghosts of Blake, Yeats, & Joyce are forced to cancel their appearances at the London Book Fair.
Chapter 21--Postscript. The editor encounters a leprechaun at the couple's B & B in Sligo; he vanishes, leaving behind one shoe and a strange gothic tale told by the ghosts of Blake, Yeats, and Joyce.
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