Book Review - The Girl In The Spider's Web & The Girl Who Takes An Eye For An Eye

Prologue:

The girl with the dragon tattoo. 

This book title holds a spine tingling - promise of a legendary fictional character. And once you have read through the first 3 books of the Millennium series by Steig Larsson, you know that the promise has not just been delivered on but has surpassed expectations by gifting to us readers, one of the rare female literary heroes of all times. At a time, when all we find are male heroes being unquestionably worshipped in most of the books, Lisbeth Salander is not just a whiff of fresh air but a power packed hurricane to storm the literary scene. And full points and more to the author for portraying Lisbeth as the lead character and not a side one, hiding in the shadows, only to be brought into spotlight at the convenience of the plot.

Lisbeth Salander, with all her literary faults, has become like a cult figure over the course of the three books. One of the characteristics that sets her apart from other female heros is how her fierceness, aggression and cold practicality come into focus in the backdrop of an almost negatively neutralized femininity. She is portrayed as an anorexic girl with a manly but petite frame, accentuated by short hair and piercings and punk tattoos across her body. One of the world's best hackers with anti social skills that can't save her life and karate skills that can, she is no where close to the ideal "hero" one usually imagines when that word is mentioned.

While I sometimes wonder if the lack of any feminine features added to the aura that she commands, I look at other female leads who come a close second but still don't radiate the intensity that Lisbeth does. For the most part, female leads in books and movies very much have their feminine features (physical and emotional) used to the advantage of the storyline and to appeal to a larger audience and in that context, the Lisbeth character earns a bright albeit lonely victory.

While some might question the character for her feminist inclinations, the literary exaggerations and the impractical plots, I really think the most important take away from the books is for women to stand up for themselves. The "I'll fight my own battles" attitude that struck a chord with its female readers is probably the biggest contribution by the author and also something that needs to be carried forward for years to come.

Book Review:  Now that we have the prologue out of the way, The next two books are written by David Lagercrantz and continue with the story of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist amidst new twists and turns. If you are someone who has already read the first 3 books, you might be in for some disappointment with these two books. There's a noticeable shift in the writing skills between these two sets of books and that may not be good news for many of the fans. While I picked up the books out of pure nostalgia for the characters, I felt something missing in these 2 extensions to the series. I won't go into the actual plot because honestly, I am too disappointed to write about it, but It felt nice to relive some of the heroic memories of the two characters. I wish the second author had spent more time with the lead characters but his focus kept shifting increasingly towards new characters that he kept introducing over the course of the 2 books.

It does help that the author ventures into newer issues like social media, Artificial Intelligence in the 4th book and religious extremists in the 5th, but it lacks the detailed and engaging descriptions that Larsson spent pages on. It also lacked the research and depth that bring out the intensity and fervor of the plot. And for me, that was a big let down. 

Read these 2 books if you, like me are a fan of the characters and would enjoy a walk by the memory lane. Skip it, if you don't want the magic weaved by Stieg Larsson to fade away. 

Happy Reading!
SSB