Girl with attitude...

 

 

Antihero: Lisbeth Salander

Genre: Adult Fiction / Crime / Thriller

Citation: Larsson, Stieg & Keeland, Reg (translated). The girl with the dragon tattoo, London : MacLehose Press, 2008.

 

 

 

Annotation:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s original title in Sweden was “Män som hatar kvinnor” which literally translates to “men who hate women”. This only brushes the surface of the dark subject matter that is at the heart of this novels gripping plot. What is contained in this well thought out novel is an at times confronting thriller.

Written by the late Swedish Journalist Stieg Larssoon, The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo is the first book in the Millennium series trilogy. The series was published posthumously in 2005 and has since exploded across the world winning countless awards and topping best-seller lists.

The plot follows the story of Mikael Blomkvist, a publisher at the Swedish political magazine Millennium. The story begins with Mikael losing a libel case after publishing an expose on billionaire industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström that was ends up being a set up. Mikael is sentenced to three months in prison and ordered to pay damages and costs that will basically ruin him. Soon afterward the verdict is handed down he is contacted by Henrik Vanger, an extremely well off retired CEO, who would like him to investigate what happened to his great-niece Harriet who disappeared 36 years ago. A request Mikael originally refuses.

However Mikael is unaware that Henrik has had him thoroughly investigated by a young woman by the name of Lisbeth Salander.  Henrik uses the information that Lisbeth has found to essentially blackmail Mikael into assisting him. Henrik promises that if Mikael gets to the bottom of what happened to his great-niece he will give him information that will clear his name and lead to the destruction of Wennerström.

The author then further introduces us to Lisbeth Salandar. Lisbeth is a world class computer hacker who works under that code name “Wasp”.  She is described in the novel as “a pale, skinny you woman who had hair as short as a fuse”. Her hair is dyed black; she has multiple piercings and tattoos and is often dressed aggressively in short skirts and boots. Everything about Lisbeth shouts girl with attitude. She has a photographic memory and a remarkably high IQ.

An interesting fact is when asked about how the character of Lisbeth came about author Stig Larsson has been quoted as saying that “I picked up Pippi Longstocking. What would she be like today? What would she be like as an adult? What would she be called? Sociopath? DAMP-child? She has a different view of society than others. […] I made her into Lisbeth Salander, 25 years old, with a feeling of being a total outsider.”

Lisbeth is a character you can’t help but feel a connection with. Her loner attitude and rough personality are only the surface of an extremely complex character. Throughout the novel Lisbeth continually breaks the law and can at times be extremely violent but she does these things in order in order to live. She seems to view herself as outside of the realms of the law and will do what every she feels is necessary to protect herself or to protect the few people she is able to develop a connection to. Lisbeth has suffered terribly at the hands of others . This has helped develop her into an angry young woman cut off from the world.

Lisbeth has been declared legally incapable of looking after herself. She has been placed under the care of a legal guardian, Holger Palmgren, one of the few men she trusts. Unfortunately in the novel he suffers a stroke and is replaced by Nils Bjurman. Nils is a cruel man who uses his position to exploit and blackmail Lisbeth. He ruthlessly physically and sexually abuses her.

Lisbeth is not the kind of character to sit back and allow herself to be hurt. She takes revenge on Nils in a violent and brutal way that leaves him unable to ever hurt anyone the same way again. She allows him to live but completely destroys his life.

Meanwhile during the course of Mikael’s investigation realises he will require research assistance as the task given to him turns more and more complex with each day. Henrik introduces him to Lisbeth. The two develop a connection with one another.

What follows is a complex storyline and with a dark subject matter. This novel grips readers until the very last page.