Author: Steig Larsson
Format: AudioBook
Reader: Simon Vance
4 of 5 stars
This book definitely seems to be getting a lot of press these days, and after reading it, I think much of it is well deserved. Normally I am a little gunshy of translations, because if I like or dislike the work there tends to be a nagging question in the back of my mind as to whether it was a success or failing of the actual work or of the translation. That quibble has been tempered greatly in recent years as my book consumption has almost completely shifted into the realm of the AudioBook. It is very clear that the same premise holds; the skill of the reader has a direct bearing on the judgement of the book. Having said all of that, I did find this book to be very entertaining.
As I have mentioned before, I harbor a soft spot for tales wrought with intrigue. Sometimes I think my predilection for the spy thriller comes from my exposure to Ian Fleming at an early age. Revisiting the genre cannot help but evoke fond childhood memories. There is still only so much one can do with the mystery genre, and it has to come down to whether you can relate to and care about the characters. Larsson does a great job at balancing the development of the individual characters while keeping the plot moving along. It is obvious that the character of Lisbeth Salander is important to the plot at an early stage, but Larsson keeps the details of why she is important well hidden for a good deal of the tale, detailing out her back story and letting the reader get to know the character. The same detail is taken with the other major characters, and at the appropriate times their paths are intertwined together as needed by the plot. Like most good mysteries, this book has an ending where the loose ends get all tied up in a nice bow. And like all good mysteries, even though the story has completed, the reader is left wanting to know what will happen next with the characters they have been introduced to and followed through their respective trials and tribulations. I intentionally put off jumping into the next book in Larsson's series, and am still anxious to read it.
Concerning the audio book, Simon Vance does an excellent job in bringing voice to all the characters. I cannot help but wonder a little about how different my take on the story would be if I had experienced it without the assistance both of a translator and reader. In any event, both filters seemed to work exceedingly well from this reader's perspective.
I only want to say a very little bit about the movie, especially since I still haven't made it all the way through. It is probably a very enjoyable movie, unless you have read the book. I can't tell if this is a new phenomena amongst movies based off of novels or if I'm just now noticing, but it seems the prevailing technique for transition is to scour a novel for its salient plot points and most memorable scenes. That information then becomes the storyboard, and filming begins. The end result ends up being a film that can claim "stays true to the book", while also being completely devoid of character development or depth. I think the actors in the movie do a good job, and individual scenes seem to work well, but essential components of empathy are missing. I don't have a problem with a movie modifying a book, extracting the essence of the story to be reworked into the film format. A great example of this working well is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Kubrick strayed wildly from the actual plot line of Stephen King's novel, but still captured and conveyed the visceral elements of fear, isolation and madness found in the book. I would prefer to see movie treatments like that instead of this regurgitation of plot points that seems to have become the vogue.
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