Why couldn't the ENTIRE BOOK have been as exciting as Part 4?
Here come the spoilers!
In Part 4, everything finally gets tied up. We finally learn who Zalachenko is (him being her dad was one of those semi-surprising yet not impressive mystery story twists I mentioned last post) and how he is connected to Nils Bjurman, Dag Svensson, and Mia Johansson. We also learn who murdered the latter three persons--Lisbeth's half brother?? Okay, maybe that one did catch me a bit off guard. And wow--the ending! Suitable that a person as violent as Lisbeth would encounter such a grisly almost-but-not-quite-end. So here's a more organized list of my likes and dislikes from Part 4.
Lisbeth Salander in general: I think it goes without saying that Salander is a total bad ass. I love Katniss Everdeen and Princess Merida, but Lisbeth Salander would make them (and other YA heroines) piss their panties and run away screaming. I love her cocky attitude, and I was happy that she was immediately reintroduced in Part Four. The very first page of Part Four gives us this beautiful quip:
"She was irritated by the passport photograph that appeared everywhere. She looked stupid."
No, she's not upset that she's being hunted for a crime she didn't commit, that her name is being slandered and sullied in the media; she's pissed off about her freaking passport photograph. I find that endearing.
I find that we finally get to see Lisbeth explore her potential in this book. Yes, we know from Dragon Tattoo that she is not to be taken lightly, but that book is focused more on Mikael Blomkvist and how Lisbeth comes to be in his life, and ultimately how she fixes his life. Fire focuses more on Lisbeth; her past, her problems, and the people that sculpted her into her slightly sociopathic, anti-social self. Her back story is infinitely fascinating, and it was wonderful to finally explore her character in depth.
Especially in the scene where she confronts Sandstrom--it's so interesting to see a "normal" person's reaction to her. The beauty of Larsson's writing skill comes in that he makes the audience sympathetic to a very unsympathetic person. He shows the audience the corruption of the judicial and social welfare systems, and shows what it is like to be one of those people that society shoves aside and treats with contempt. The audience sees Salander's motives, her past, her present, most of the actions she makes--the "normal" characters (police officers, other journalists, etc.) never get that advantage. Larsson invites the audience to peek behind the veil that covers the mind of a "crazy" person--and I think most readers will find themselves surprised to be on Lisbeth's side through the whole thing.
Because let's be honest, if some girl with her face painted up barged into your house, Tasered you, strung you up by your neck, and threatened to kill you if you didn't answer her questions to her satisfaction, you probably wouldn't have much sympathy for her, no matter what her childhood was like. Knowing all the details though (Salander's experience with rapists, the fact that Sandstrom is a rapist, the connection between Sandstrom and her violent father) helps clarify the picture. Life is not black and white, kids!
Additionally--another fun Salander-ism: "No security system is a match for a stupid employee." Hee.
All the Evil: Ehhhh. I kind of expected All the Evil to be something...bigger, I guess? I mean I guess it's a pretty big deal that Lisbeth tried to kill her father when she was only 12 years old, but considering all the rape, sadism, corruption, violence and scandal that the audience is introduced to over the course of Dragon Tattoo and Fire, it seems a bit underwhelming. Also, it seems I was mostly wrong about my Prologue/All the Evil assumption. I was right that it was Salander, but it seems that the Prologue was showing when Teleborian had her locked away in isolation at St. Stefan's and she was imagining the joy she got from lighting her father on fire to get her through that torture. ... Yikes.
Bjurman: Don't get me wrong, I hate Bjurman. I'm so glad he was killed. Thank you Larsson, for dispensing merciless justice to at least one rapist asshole. However, I like that he became a fairly important character in the series. I never really saw that coming--after the whole rape fiasco, I assumed Lisbeth had him quite firmly by the balls and he wouldn't be a big issue down the road. Wrong. So very, very wrong. Oh, and speaking of which, Blomkvist finding the rape DVD kind of destroyed my heart. He obviously loves Salander (though these novels are not a love story by any means--I'm in no way expecting a tender kiss and a fairytale ending come Hornet's Nest), and for him to sit there and watch something so abhorrent happen to her, only a few hours after learning about Zala being her father and all the mind-fuckery involved with the Bjorck/Security Police/Bjurman/Zala/Teleborian..um..pentagon?? ...just made me hurt so bad for him.
Action Scenes: Larsson bores me to death with his police/finance/journalism jargon, but my God, when that man writes an action scene, he absolutely kills it. The whole confrontation between Lisbeth, her father (Zala), and her half-brother (Ronald) had me reading at top speed, practically bouncing in my seat as I sped-read through to the end. I definitely did not expect her to get shot up or buried alive. I also really liked Ronald's reaction to her coming back "from the dead"--in fact, I like the way Larsson treated Ronald in general. The poor kid. He's a victim of nature AND nurture. And, despite his terrifying build and bewildering resistance to pain, he's still scared of the dark. Aww.
Also: Roberto boxing with Ronald was just mind blowingly awesome. Period. Poor Miriam, though. I hope she and Salander get to reconcile in the future.
My Rating:
On a scale of 1-5, I give The Girl Who Played With Fire a 3.5
Larsson is an incredible author. He is intelligent, thorough, and imaginative. He has a mission to expose the slimy corruption of institutes most people think they can trust, and he executes it vividly and precisely. However, at times the plot seems to drag. The police investigation is slow going, and the reader must wade through pages and pages of unending character stupidity before being rewarded with Salander's return. Names and places get lost among a mire of similar sounding names and places, and tiny details clutter up and choke the important events.
Thank you for reading! If you have any book recommendations or suggestions on how I can make this blog better, please comment and let me know. :)
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