The Millennium Trilogy 1, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

The Millennium Trilogy 1, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

By Steig Larsson, narrated by Simon Vance.

Armageddon Was Yesterday. Today We Have a Serious Problem

This book, originally written in Swedish, gives a different slant on the mystery novel. A lot of time is spent developing the characters and unveiling the story. The main characters do not get underway until about a third of the way through. These are not criticisms, but illustrate some of the distinctions of this book. Because of the gradual development in the early stages the characters are given time to be well developed. One wonders how much this translation into English differs from the original Swedish? There are many American idioms used that must be quite firrerent in Swedish. I would have preferred the translator to have tried to preserve the European quality of the scene, but even with those concerns this is an engaging story with believable characters. The title character is not the main subject of the story nut her personality quirks do tend to stand out from the crowd whenever she is in a scene.

There are three European movies made from this trilogy and one American version of this first book. I am holding off on viewing them until I have listened to all three.

Simon Vance is quite good as the narrator for this book. He has a rapid delivery and excellent diction. The only fault is that he sometimes does not plan ahead and will occasionally begin a conversation with the wrong character’s voice. But he gives excellent accents, although everyone sounds British, which is just as well since giving everyone a Swedish accent would soon become a farce.