It is no surprise that I prefer the novel over the film adaptation of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". The pacing was good; dialogues were well crafted; writing style was refined and meticulous yet entertaining, helped in no small way by equally refined English translation; and compared to the film adaptation which is possibly restrained by the conventional length, in the novel the story was better developed with ample amount of depictions on the protagonists and other characters, as well as subplots involving individual protagonists and their relationships with these other characters. As such, the theme was so much more noticeable in the novel.
And to me, that is the most enjoyable aspect of this fantastic piece of written work. That the author spell the theme out in the title he had given to the book and yet it was presented with such suspense that millions of reader, including me, were turning the pages at such rapid pace.
The original swedish title was "Men Who Hate Women"- what a spoiler! However, if the novel were a musical masterpiece, it is but only the first bar in the motif. The entire motif is such (Spoiler Ahead): a philogynist who think of himself as feminist was investigating a murder case of women involving misogynist. He was aided by a misandrist who was herself a sexual victim of a misogynist. Together they nailed the misogynous murderer and the misandrist developed feelings for the philogynist but she could not stand his philogynous behavior and decided she would hate him instead.
Just for fun, if we were to put the above premise in the title's style: The man who loves and respects women was investigating the murders of women killed by an unknown man who hates women. He was helped by a woman who hates man and she was raped by a man who hates women. They found the murderer and the women who hates man fell in love with the man who love women but she hated his loving behavior towards other women and decided to hate him instead.
That the overall motif such as it is was so well wrought into the novel is the reason why I found it such a superb read. As a bonus, there was sparing description of financial crimes in the book and each part of the book was named by the author in financial terms (mergers and acquisitions etc.). And as I started on second of the trilogy (The Girl Who Played with Fire), I note with pleasure that the parts were named after mathematical terms- to an accountant, that is music to my ears.
And to me, that is the most enjoyable aspect of this fantastic piece of written work. That the author spell the theme out in the title he had given to the book and yet it was presented with such suspense that millions of reader, including me, were turning the pages at such rapid pace.
The original swedish title was "Men Who Hate Women"- what a spoiler! However, if the novel were a musical masterpiece, it is but only the first bar in the motif. The entire motif is such (Spoiler Ahead): a philogynist who think of himself as feminist was investigating a murder case of women involving misogynist. He was aided by a misandrist who was herself a sexual victim of a misogynist. Together they nailed the misogynous murderer and the misandrist developed feelings for the philogynist but she could not stand his philogynous behavior and decided she would hate him instead.
Just for fun, if we were to put the above premise in the title's style: The man who loves and respects women was investigating the murders of women killed by an unknown man who hates women. He was helped by a woman who hates man and she was raped by a man who hates women. They found the murderer and the women who hates man fell in love with the man who love women but she hated his loving behavior towards other women and decided to hate him instead.
That the overall motif such as it is was so well wrought into the novel is the reason why I found it such a superb read. As a bonus, there was sparing description of financial crimes in the book and each part of the book was named by the author in financial terms (mergers and acquisitions etc.). And as I started on second of the trilogy (The Girl Who Played with Fire), I note with pleasure that the parts were named after mathematical terms- to an accountant, that is music to my ears.
