The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Decide its fate
The record
Time
An eveningA season544 pages, about 11 hours: the length of 1.7 typical books on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climbFour reviewers report a slow start heavy with financial-journalism backstory, one naming the first 10 to 11 chapters.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live byIn 11 reviews from critics and book blogs, 10 credit the plot and 4 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else doesA published reading list pairs it with The Laughing Policeman, on the shelf at 240 pages.
The case for it
on the plot construction
“Larsson’s multi-pieced plot snaps together as neatly as an Ikea bookcase”
Maureen Corrigan · NPR (Fresh Air), 2008 on the pace
“plot picked up pace about 200 pages in, and an inexplicable force kept me gripped”
a book blog on the length
“the length of the book allows for plenty of detail to be given”
five stars · a book blog on the two storylines
“Once the storylines merged the book never slowed down”
four stars · a book blog
The case against
on the opening
“it started slowly. Like cold molasses slow”
one star · a book blog on the first half
“the first half of the book is very slow”
a book blog on Mikael Blomkvist
“wanted to toss him over a balcony railing more than a few times”
a book blog on the first clue
“The first clue to the mystery doesn’t become evident to Blomkvist”
a book blog
