The Girl Who Played With Fire Book Review

by Stieg Larsson

First off, let me say how proud I am of myself for finishing The Girl Who Played With Fire in a timely fashion. I started reading this book not long after I read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo way back in 2012. After reading about 40 pages over the course of a few months, I shelved the old broad. I picked it up again at the beginning of July and read the whole damn thing in about a week and a half. This has never happened to me before.

I figure one of the following things occurred:

a) The Girl who Played With Fire was faster paced than The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
b) I understand/appreciate the style of Stieg Larsson better this time around.
c) I stopped being such a weenie about reading books.
d) All of the above.

I'm leaning toward d). The story feels tighter, with a more immediate danger pushing it along. Stieg does not abandon his Dickensian descriptions and character backstories to achieve this. While it would seem that a detailed breakdown of the name of each piece of IKEA furniture protagonist Lisbeth Salander purchases would be a tool to characterize her meticulous nature, it's just not so. Every character receives the same treatment. It works because it fills out the world in a plain, "police procedural drama" type way, allowing the reader to fill in the nuance. It also works because these books are mystery novels; details are important if you want to try and figure it all out before the author reveals everything. 

I'm also happy to say that I figured out quickly (*BIG Spoiler*) that Zala was the man that Lisbeth had set on fire as a kid, although it took me longer to piece together that he was also her father. (*End BIG Spoiler*) I enjoy a good mystery story, but I like it more when I can figure it out myself because it makes me feel smart. I'm also just now realizing that Salander quite literally "played with fire" in the opening scene of the book therefore birthing the name of the book, so I'm not feeling so smart anymore. 

Overall, The Girl Who Played With Fire was a satisfying, easy read. Like Dragon Tattoo, it takes a little bit to get over the hump into page-turner territory, but once you're there it's quick work. 

Criticisms? I have a few:

1. The story starts out with an obvious lie because Lisbeth Salander would never get a boob job.
2. Salander and Blomkvist have such little interaction that I worry about their burgeoning romance. I also worry that I won't be there to witness it.
3. I was super disappointed that the blonde hulk was not a cyborg like Drago from Rocky IV.
4. I've been told that Drago from Rocky IV was not a cyborg either.
5. I was super disappointed that the "creature in the woods" was not some kind of demon. This book could have been insane.
6. Not a criticism, but how Swedish is this:

So now I get to wait for the American sequel to come out. I know, I know. The Swedish Films, but I'm in love with Rooney Mara guys. I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to her. I had it in my head that I would read the first book, watch the 2011 Mara/Craig/Fincher film, read the second book, watch the sequel, then read the third book and watch the final film. I'd then watch all three Swedish films in one day and appreciate Noomi Rapace's cheekbones.

Unfortunately, US filmmaking is more cumbersome and godawful than Swedish filmmaking. US's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo did not do as well as the studio had hoped, so the budget for the sequel was cut. Because all three players (Mara/Craig/Fincher) have gotten even more popular in recent years, scheduling has been an issue. Also the script is apparently being re-written by the dude that wrote Se7en. All this means that The Girl Who Played with Fire it hasn't even moved into pre-production yet, even though it was initially slated for a 2013 release.

Mara has stated that she absolutely still wants to make these films. She also said that Daniel Craig absolutely will be in them (there was a rumor that he might be cut because of the budget, but it's apparently a load of hooey). Fincher is the biggest variable, but it seems the whole darned project is up in the air at this point. Who wants to start a petition?*

Okay, okay. This is a book review, right? I'll wrap this up.

Optimal Reading Situation: Via candlelight, in a cabin, in the woods, off the grid, no you can't tell anyone you're going there you idiot.
Optimal Reading Snack: Billy's Pan Pizza
Optimal Reading Followup: Hack the planet.

--

*Oh, what? You already started one?**
**Oh, what? You only have, like, 1000 signatures? My student loan petition has more signatures than that.***
***No, it's not my student loan petition. I'm pretty sure that if I tried to start my own petition, Change.org would legally own me.


This review is from my Summer Book Club series. 

Next up: Carrie by Stephen King