Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Book 15: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
Ok- another extremely nice book - worth the read and comes highly recomended. I am getting a little tied of writing what I think - the pressure to read my 50 books is getting to me. The pressure to have something to write about is even greater :-)
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Book 14: The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson
I couldn't stay away from this book and picked it up right as soon as I finished the first part- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
So there are two school of thoughts- my mom's and mine. My mom thinks that it doesn't matter if you read this one first while I completely disagree. I think if you haven't already formed a bond with the leading characters in the first book, the second will make less sense and might also be not so interesting.
This book is more about Lisbeth Salander than the first one. While I am fascinated by the character, I am not really sure I feel all that charitable towards her. I think I am a little tired of the idea that a terrible childhood exculpates bad manners. I am also a bit tired of all the strong super-women characters who are so gifted.
Now you are expecting me to say that the book was not good right? Wrong! I really liked it - and found it a fascinating page turner. Definitely not as awesome as book 1 but definitely very very good.
So there are two school of thoughts- my mom's and mine. My mom thinks that it doesn't matter if you read this one first while I completely disagree. I think if you haven't already formed a bond with the leading characters in the first book, the second will make less sense and might also be not so interesting.
This book is more about Lisbeth Salander than the first one. While I am fascinated by the character, I am not really sure I feel all that charitable towards her. I think I am a little tired of the idea that a terrible childhood exculpates bad manners. I am also a bit tired of all the strong super-women characters who are so gifted.
Now you are expecting me to say that the book was not good right? Wrong! I really liked it - and found it a fascinating page turner. Definitely not as awesome as book 1 but definitely very very good.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Book 13: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
I started reading this book after I saw the Swedish movie based on the novel. I loved the movie but was debating about reading the book, for one thing because it was not part of my original list of books and another because I thought that the book might be too graphic for me. I am so glad I ignored both these ideas and read the book.
The story is about Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist whose reputation is in shambles because of a smartly played libel trap and Lisbeth Salander - the much tattooed social pariah, computer genius, hacker, and private investigator. The story has multiple threads all deftly woven. We have Mikael's fight to clear his name, Lisbeth's fight against tyranny by her court appointed guardian and in the midst of all these the two protagonists coming together to solve a decades old mystery.
The book is a poster child for all that I love about the world of fiction - it is gripping, transports you through time and space, and most of all has these three dimensional characters that you grow to know, love, despise, commiserate, fear... In short, one is vested in the outcome of the events, waiting to see what happens to the central characters and that wonderful sense of fulfillment and longing when the tale finally comes to an end.
A must read.
The story is about Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist whose reputation is in shambles because of a smartly played libel trap and Lisbeth Salander - the much tattooed social pariah, computer genius, hacker, and private investigator. The story has multiple threads all deftly woven. We have Mikael's fight to clear his name, Lisbeth's fight against tyranny by her court appointed guardian and in the midst of all these the two protagonists coming together to solve a decades old mystery.
The book is a poster child for all that I love about the world of fiction - it is gripping, transports you through time and space, and most of all has these three dimensional characters that you grow to know, love, despise, commiserate, fear... In short, one is vested in the outcome of the events, waiting to see what happens to the central characters and that wonderful sense of fulfillment and longing when the tale finally comes to an end.
A must read.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Book 12: The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
There is probably no need to get into the plot of this book- everyone probably knows all about this particular case of Sam Spade's.
I picked up this book thinking this is probably going to be a easy read and great to carry on an airplane. And, as usual, I was right. I haven't really seen the entire movie, but know enough of the plot for it to not be a nail biter. The book lived up to its image- a really good dark, smart talking, highly irregular super-man of a detective and his crazy case. What did surprise me is that the characters - the booze,the drugs, the women, the men, and most of all an easy reference to some of their sexual orientation. I guess I expected it to be more like Agatha Christie with maybe faint undertones but not really this easy matter of fact inclusion. Overall, a good book - maybe 3 stars but definitely not my favorite whodunit.
I picked up this book thinking this is probably going to be a easy read and great to carry on an airplane. And, as usual, I was right. I haven't really seen the entire movie, but know enough of the plot for it to not be a nail biter. The book lived up to its image- a really good dark, smart talking, highly irregular super-man of a detective and his crazy case. What did surprise me is that the characters - the booze,the drugs, the women, the men, and most of all an easy reference to some of their sexual orientation. I guess I expected it to be more like Agatha Christie with maybe faint undertones but not really this easy matter of fact inclusion. Overall, a good book - maybe 3 stars but definitely not my favorite whodunit.
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