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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the novel. For other uses, seeThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (disambiguation).
"Men Who Hate Women" redirects here. For the English-language book by Laura Bates, seeMen Who Hate Women (Bates book).

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Swedish first edition cover
AuthorStieg Larsson
Original titleMän som hatar kvinnor
TranslatorReg Keeland, pseudonym ofSteven T. Murray
LanguageSwedish
SeriesMillennium
GenreCrime,mystery,thriller
PublisherNorstedts Förlag(Swedish)
Publication date
August 2005
Publication placeSweden
Published in English
January 2008
Media typePrint (paperback,hardback)
Pages544 (paperback)
ISBN978-91-1-301408-1(Swedish)
ISBN978-1-84724-253-2(English)
OCLC186764078
Followed byThe Girl Who Played with Fire

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(original title inSwedish:Män som hatar kvinnor,lit. 'Men who hate women') is apsychological thriller novelby Swedish authorStieg Larsson.It was published posthumously in 2005, translated into English in 2008, and became aninternational bestseller.[1]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoois the first book of theMillenniumseries.Originally a trilogy by Larsson, the series has since been expanded, as the publishers with the rights have contracted with other authors.

Background

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Larsson spoke of an incident which he said occurred when he was 15: he stood by as three mengang rapedan acquaintance of his named Lisbeth. Days later, wracked with guilt for having done nothing to help her, he begged her forgiveness—which she refused to grant. The incident, he said, haunted him for years afterward and in part inspired him to create a character named Lisbeth who was also a rape victim.[2]The veracity of this story has been questioned since Larsson's death, after a colleague fromExpomagazine reported toRolling Stonethat Larsson had told him he had heard the story secondhand and retold it as his own.[3]Themurder of Catrine da Costawas also an inspiration when he wrote the book.[4]

With the exception of the fictional Hedestad,[5]the novel takes place in actual Swedish towns. The magazineMillenniumin the books has characteristics similar to that of Larsson's magazine,Expo,such as its leftist socio-political leanings, its exposés on Swedish Nazism and financial corruption and its financial difficulties.[6]

Both Larsson's longtime partnerEva Gabrielssonand English translatorSteven T. Murrayhave said thatChristopher MacLehose(who works for British publisherQuercus) "needlessly prettified" the English translation; as such, Murray requested he be credited under the pseudonym "Reg Keeland".[7]The English release also changed the title, even though Larsson specifically refused to allow the Swedish publisher to do so, and the size of Salander's dragon tattoo; from a large piece covering her entire back, to a small shoulder tattoo.[8]

Plot

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Middle-aged journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who publishes the magazineMillenniuminStockholm,has lost alibelcase involving damaging allegations about billionaire Swedish industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström, and is sentenced to three months in prison. Facing jail time and professional disgrace, Blomkvist steps down from his position on the magazine's board of directors, despite strong objections from Erika Berger, Blomkvist's longtime friend, occasional lover, and business partner. At the same time, he is offered an unlikely freelance assignment by Henrik Vanger, the elderly former CEO of Vanger Enterprises. Blomkvist accepts the assignment, unaware that Vanger commissioned giftedprivate investigatorLisbeth Salanderto comprehensively investigate Blomkvist's personal and professional history.

Blomkvist visits Vanger at his estate on the tiny island of Hedeby, several hours from Stockholm. The old man convinces Blomkvist to do the assignment, by promising not only financial reward but also solid evidence that Wennerström is truly the scoundrel Blomkvist suspects him to be. On this basis, Blomkvist agrees to spend a year writing the Vanger family history as a cover for the real assignment: solving the "cold case"of the disappearance of Vanger's great niece Harriet some 40 years earlier. Vanger expresses his suspicion that Harriet was murdered by a member of the vast Vanger family, many of whom were present in Hedeby on the day of her disappearance. Each year on his birthday Harriet gave Henrik a present ofpressed flowers.Since her murder, each year on his birthday, the murderer torments him with a present of pressed flowers, explains Vanger.

Blomkvist begins to analyze the volumes of information that Vanger has obsessively compiled over 40 years about the circumstances of Harriet's disappearance. Hedeby is home to several generations of Vangers, all part-owners in Vanger Enterprises. Under the pretext of researching the family history, and because the island is small, Blomkvist soon becomes acquainted with the members of the extended family who are variously mad, uninterested, concerned, hostile, or aloof.

Blomkvist immerses himself in the case. Eventually Lisbeth Salander is brought in, now to assist him with research by using her skills as a computer hacker. Ultimately the two discover that Harriet's brother Martin, now CEO of Vanger Industries, has been systematically abusing and killing women for years. Moreover, the behavior was indoctrinated in him by his late father Gottfried who sexually abused Martin and Harriet as well. Blomkvist tries to confront Martin, but is captured and taken to a torture chamber hidden in Martin's house. Martin reveals that he is not responsible for Harriet's disappearance. Moments before Martin can kill Blomkvist, Lisbeth bursts in and frees him. Martin escapes but commits suicide by crashing his car into a truck on the highway.

Blomkvist and Lisbeth realize that Harriet was not murdered, but ran away to escape from her sadistic brother. They track her inAustraliawhere she runs a sheep farming company. Confronted, she confirms their account of the case, and reveals that she was responsible for the presumed accidental death of her father. She returns toSwedenwhere she is happily reunited with Vanger and begins to take a leading role in the newly leaderless family company.

The evidence about Wennerström, which Vanger's promised, turns out to be weak, and the promises turn out to have been mostly a lure for Blomkvist. But Lisbeth breaks into Wennerström's computer and discovers that his crimes go beyond what Blomkvist had published. Using this evidence, Blomkvist publishes an article and a book which destroy Wennerström and raise Blomkvist andMillenniumto national prominence.

Characters

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  • Mikael Blomkvist– journalist, publisher and part-owner of the monthly political magazine,Millennium
  • Lisbeth Salander– freelance surveillance agent and researcher specializing in investigating people on behalf of Milton Security
  • Erika Berger – editor-in-chief/majority owner ofMillenniumand Blomkvist's long-standing lover
  • Henrik Vanger – retired industrialist and former CEO of Vanger Corporation
  • Harriet Vanger – Henrik's grandniece who disappeared without trace in 1966
  • Martin Vanger – Harriet's brother and CEO of Vanger Corporation
  • Gottfried Vanger – Henrik's nephew, and Martin and Harriet's deceased father
  • Isabella Vanger – Gottfried Vanger's widow, and Martin and Harriet's mother
  • Cecilia Vanger – daughter of Harald Vanger and one of Henrik's nieces
  • Anita Vanger – daughter of Harald Vanger and one of Henrik's nieces, currently living in London
  • Birger Vanger – Harald Vanger' son; one of Henrik's nephews
  • Harald Vanger – Henrik's elder brother, a member of the SwedishNazi Party
  • Hans-Erik Wennerström – corrupt billionaire financier
  • Robert Lindberg – a banker, Blomkvist's source for the libelous story on Wennerström
  • William Borg – a former journalist and Blomkvist's nemesis
  • Monica Abrahamsson – Blomkvist's ex-wife whom he married in 1986 and divorced in 1991
  • Pernilla Abrahamsson – their daughter who was born in 1986
  • Greger Beckman – Erika Berger's husband
  • Holger Palmgren – Salander's legal guardian and lawyer who becomes disabled by a stroke
  • Nils Bjurman – Salander's legal guardian and lawyer after Palmgren
  • Dirch Frode – former lawyer for Vanger Corporation, now a lawyer with only one client: Henrik Vanger
  • Dragan Armanskij – CEO and COO of Milton Security, Lisbeth's employer
  • Plague – computer hacker/genius
  • Eva – Martin Vanger's girlfriend
  • Christer Malm – director, art designer and part-owner ofMillennium
  • Janne Dahlman – managing editor ofMillennium
  • Gustaf Morell – retired Detective Superintendent who investigated Harriet's disappearance
  • Anna Nygren – Henrik Vanger's housekeeper
  • Gunnar Nilsson – caretaker of Henrik Vanger's domain in Hedeby

Major themes

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Larsson refers to several classic forerunners in the same genre and comments on contemporary Swedish society.[9]ReviewerRobert Dessaixwrites, "His favourite targets are violence against women, the incompetence and cowardice of investigative journalists, the moral bankruptcy of big capital and the virulent strain of Nazism still festering... in Swedish society."[1]Cecilia Ovesdotter Alm and Anna Westerstahl Stenport write that the novel "reflects—implicitly and explicitly—gaps between rhetoric and practice in Swedish policy and public discourse about complex relations betweenwelfare stateretrenchment,neoliberalcorporate and economic practices, and politicised gender construction. According to one article, the novel endorses a pragmatic acceptance of a neoliberal world order that is delocalized, dehumanized andmisogynistic."[10]

Alm and Stenport add, "What most international (and Swedish) reviewers overlook is that the financial and moral corruptibility at the heart ofThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoois so profound as to indict most attributes associated with contemporary Sweden as democratic and gender-equal. The novel is in fact far from what American criticMaureen Corrigancalls an "unflinching... commonsense feminist social commentary".[11][10]

Larsson further enters the debate as to how responsible criminals are for their crimes, and how much is blamed on upbringing or society.[1]For instance, Salander has a strong will and assumes that everyone else does, too. She is portrayed as having suffered every kind of abuse in her young life, including an unnecessary commitment to apsychiatric clinicand subsequent instances ofsexual assaultsuffered at the hands of her court-appointed guardian.

Maria de Lurdes Sampaio, in the journalCross-Cultural Communication,asserts that, "Blomkvist, a modernTheseus,leads us to the labyrinth of the globalized world, while the series' protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, modeled on theAmazon,is an example of the empowerment of women in crime fiction by playing the role of the 'tough guy' detective, while also personifying the popular roles of the victim, the outcast and the avenger. "In this context, she discusses" Dialogues withGreek tragedy... namely Salander's struggles with strong father figures. "Sampaio also argues,

Then, like so many other writers and moviemakers, Larsson plays with people's universal fascination for religious mysteries, Enigma s andhermeneutics,while highlighting the way the Bible and other religious books have inspired hideous serial criminals throughout history. There are many passages dedicated to theHebrew Bible,to theApocryphaand to the controversies surrounding different Church's branches. The transcription of Latin expressions (e.g., "sola fide" or "claritas scripturae" ) together with the biblical passages, which provide the clues to unveil the secular mysteries, proves that Larsson was well acquainted withUmberto Eco's bestsellers and with similar plots. There are many signs of bothThe Name of the Roseand ofFoucault's Pendulumin theMillenniumseries, and in some sense these two works are contained in the first novel.[12]

Reception and awards

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The novel was released to great acclaim in Sweden and later, on its publication in many other European countries. In the original language, it won Sweden'sGlass Key Awardin 2006 for best crime novel of the year. It also won the 2008Boeke Prize,and in 2009 the GalaxyBritish Book Awards[13]for Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year, and the prestigious Anthony Award[14][15]for Best First Novel.The GuardianrankedThe Girl with the Dragon Tattooat 98 in its list of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.[16]Larsson was awarded theITV3Crime Thriller Award for International Author of the Year in 2008.[17]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattooreceived mixed reviews from American critics. According toBook Marks,the book received "positive" reviews based on 15 critic reviews with 6 being "rave" and 8 being "positive" and 1 being "mixed".[18]The book received a 79% fromThe Lit Reviewbased on 27 critic reviews and the consensus of the reviews being, "A dark, multi-layered crime story driven by its decidedly unconventional pair of sleuths and the late author’s political conscience."[19]OnBookmarks MagazineNov/Dec 2008 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a(3.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews with the critical summary saying, "Critics’ responses varied to the late Stieg Larsson’s debut novel".[20]Globally, it was generally well received withComplete Reviewsaying on the consensus "Some rough edges, but generally very impressed".[21][22]

It debuted at number four onThe New York TimesBest Seller list.[10]Alex Berensonwrote inThe New York Times,"The novel offers a thoroughly ugly view of human nature"; while it "opens with an intriguing mystery" and the "middle section ofGirlis a treat, the rest of the novel doesn't quite measure up. The book's original Swedish title wasMen Who Hate Women,a label that just about captures the subtlety of the novel's sexual politics. "[23]TheLos Angeles Timessaid "the book takes off, in the fourth chapter: From there, it becomes classic parlor crime fiction with many modern twists....The writing is not beautiful, clipped at times (though that could be the translation by Reg Keeland) and with a few too many falsely dramatic endings to sections or chapters. But it is a compelling, well-woven tale that succeeds in transporting the reader to rural Sweden for a good crime story."[24]Several months later,Matt Selmansaid the book "rings false with piles of easy super-victories and far-fetched one-in-a-million clue-findings."[25]Richard Alleva, in the Catholic journal,Commonweal,wrote that the novel is marred by "its inept backstory, banal characterizations, flavorless prose, surfeit of themes (Swedish Nazism, uncaring bureaucracy, corporate malfeasance, abuse of women, etc.), and—worst of all—author Larsson's penchant for always telling us exactly what we should be feeling."[26]

On the other hand, Dr.Abdallah Daar,writing forNature,said, "The events surrounding the great-niece's disappearance are meticulously and ingeniously pieced together, with plenty of scientific insight."[27]ThePittsburgh Post-Gazettewrote, "It's a big, intricately plotted, darkly humorous work, rich with ironies, quirky but believable characters and a literary playfulness that only a master of the genre and its history could bring off."[28]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoosold more than 30 million copies by 2010.[29]In the United States, it sold more than 3.4 million copies in hardcover or ebook formats, and 15 million total by June 2011.[30]

Book of essays

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Wiley published a collection of essays, edited by Eric Bronson, titledThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy(2011).[31]

Film adaptations

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Main articles:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009 film)andThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film)
  • The Swedish film production companyYellow Birdcreated film versions of the first threeMillenniumbooks, all three films released in 2009, beginning withThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,directed by Danish filmmakerNiels Arden Oplev.The protagonists were played byMichael NyqvistandNoomi Rapace.
  • AHollywood film adaptation of the book,directed byDavid Fincher,was released in December 2011. The main characters were portrayed byDaniel Craig[32]andRooney Mara.[33]
  • Millennium,a Swedish six-part television miniseries based on the film adaptations of Stieg Larsson's series of the same name, was broadcast on SVT1 from 20 March 2010 to 24 April 2010. The series was produced by Yellow Bird in cooperation with several production companies, including SVT, Nordisk Film, Film i Västm, and ZDF Enterprises.
  • Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Editionis the title of the TV miniseries release on DVD, Blu-ray, and video on demand in the US. This version of the miniseries comprises nine hours of story content, including more than two hours of additional footage not seen in the theatrical versions of the original Swedish films. The four-disc set includes:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Extended Edition,The Girl Who Played with Fire – Extended Edition,The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest – Extended Edition,and a bonus disc including two hours of special features.[34]

Parodies

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References

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  1. ^abcDessaix, Robert (22 February 2008)."The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved27 June2009.
  2. ^Penny, Laurie (5 September 2010)."Girls, tattoos and men who hate women".New Statesman.Retrieved19 October2010.
  3. ^PRich, Nathaniel (5 January 2011)."The Mystery of the Dragon Tattoo: Stieg Larsson, the World's Bestselling — and Most Enigmatic — Author".Rolling Stone.Retrieved24 December2012.
  4. ^"The real-life Swedish murder that inspired Stieg Larsson".Telegraph.co.uk.30 November 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2022.Retrieved15 July2015.
  5. ^"Where is Hedestad really located?".The web resource for information about Sweden.Go-to-Sweden. Archived fromthe originalon 6 April 2018.Retrieved29 July2014.
  6. ^Pettersson, Jan-Erik (11 March 2011)."The other side of Stieg Larsson".Financial Times.ISSN0307-1766.Retrieved5 May2016.
  7. ^McGrath, Charles (23 May 2010)."The Afterlife of Stieg Larsson".The New York Times Magazine.
  8. ^"Sequel announced to Stieg Larsson's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy".The Guardian.4 October 2011.Retrieved29 November2014.
  9. ^ MacDougal, Ian (27 February 2010)."The Man Who Blew Up the Welfare State".n+1.Retrieved25 September2012.
  10. ^abcAlm, Cecilia Ovesdotter; Stenport, Anna Westerstahl (Summer 2009). "Corporations, Crime, and Gender Construction in Stieg Larsson'sThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:Exploring Twenty-First Century Neoliberalism in Swedish Culture ".Scandinavian Studies.81(2): 157.
  11. ^Corrigan, Maureen(23 September 2008). "Super-Smart Noir With a Feminist Jolt".National Public Radio.
  12. ^Sampaio, Maria de Lurdes (30 June 2011). "Millennium Trilogy:Eye for Eye and the Utopia of Order in Modern Waste Lands ".Cross-Cultural Communication.7(2): 73.
  13. ^"2009 Galaxy British Book Awards. Winners. Shortlists. 1991 to present".Literaryawards.co.uk. Archived fromthe originalon 28 September 2010.Retrieved19 October2010.
  14. ^"Bouchercon World Mystery Convention: Anthony Awards and History".Bouchercon.info.Retrieved11 August2010.
  15. ^"The Anthony Awards".Bookreporter. Archived fromthe originalon 2 January 2010.Retrieved11 August2010.
  16. ^"100 Best Books of the 21st Century".TheGuardian.21 September 2019.Retrieved8 December2019.
  17. ^Allen, Katie (6 October 2008)."Rankin and P D James pick up ITV3 awards".News.The Bookseller.Archived fromthe originalon 9 April 2009.Retrieved9 July2011.
  18. ^"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".Book Marks.Retrieved12 July2024.
  19. ^"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson".The Lit Review.Archived fromthe originalon 17 January 2012.Retrieved12 July2024.
  20. ^"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo By Stieg Larsson".Bookmarks Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon 5 September 2015.Retrieved14 January2023.
  21. ^"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".Complete Review.4 October 2023.Retrieved4 October2023.
  22. ^"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".Critics(in Greek). Archived fromthe originalon 10 May 2013.Retrieved1 March2015.
  23. ^Berenson, Alex(11 September 2008)."Stieg Larsson'sThe Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".The New York Times.Retrieved9 July2011.
  24. ^Miller, Marjorie (17 September 2008)."Thawing a cold case in Scandinavia".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved9 July2011.
  25. ^Selman, Matt(20 February 2009)."Cold Noir".Time.Retrieved9 July2011.
  26. ^Alleva, Richard (7 May 2010). "Off the page:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo&Kick-Ass".Commonweal.137(9). New York City: Commonweal Foundation: 26.
  27. ^Daar, Abdallah(29 July 2010)."The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".Nature.466(7306): 566.doi:10.1038/466563a.
  28. ^Helfand, Michael (21 September 2008). "Posthumous Swedish Mystery One of Genre's Best".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.p. E-6.
  29. ^Winnipeg Free PressArchived2010-05-13 at theWayback MachineonThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:"The first book sold 30 million copies and is available in 44 languages." (15 April 2010)
  30. ^"Stieg Larsson Stats: By the Numbers".In the Bookroom.3 June 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 5 June 2011.Retrieved12 June2011.
  31. ^Bronson, Eric, ed. (2011).The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.ISBN978-0470947586.
  32. ^"James Bond to star in US Dragon Tattoo remake".BBC News.27 July 2010.Retrieved28 July2010.
  33. ^Barrett, Annie (16 August 2010)."'Dragon Tattoo' casts its Lisbeth Salander: Have you seen Rooney Mara in previous roles? ".Popwatch.ew.Retrieved19 October2010.
  34. ^Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Edition.Archived fromthe originalon 21 May 2016.Retrieved8 June2016.
  35. ^Ephron, Nora(5 July 2010)."The Girl who Fixed the Umlaut".The New Yorker.Retrieved20 November2011.
  36. ^"The Girl With The Tramp Stamp Tattoo".Funny or Die.7 December 2011.Retrieved3 October2024.
  37. ^"The Book Title With the 91 Imitators".vulture.26 January 2014.Retrieved21 January2019.
  38. ^Maslin, Janet (26 May 2011)."Summer's Beach Books Get a Makeover".The New York Times.Retrieved21 January2019.

Publication details

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