The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – some lighthearted springtime reading! If you like commitment-free sex and violence (in your reading, not your personal life), this book’s for you.

Seriously, I was warned that the book would take some time to get into, and I found that to be true. Once I got into the flow of the book, however, I found it to be a gripping mystery with a snazzy surprise ending.

I say ending, but I’m really talking about the ending of the murder mystery part. I felt that the book went on too long once the mystery was solved. It gave me closure and pleased me that Wennerstrom got “his” in the end (or did he since he actually escaped incarceration), but my feeling is that the settling of the Wennerstrom matter went on a bit too long.

Some questions I want to pose for my fellow readers:

Did the conclusion surprise you? From the get-go, I felt that it was possible that Harriet wasn’t dead. I’ve read enough murder mysteries to know that if you don’t find a body, stay tuned. But I have to admit, I had been lulled into believing she was dead, and when Martin said he didn’t do it, I was astounded. I immediately suspected Cecelia, because she was so elusive and weird throughout the book. So when he went to Australia, found the woman, and said “Hello Harriet,” I was totally taken by surprise.

Give me your thoughts about our friend Lisbeth Salander. I’m going to withhold my thoughts because I want to hear all of yours first.

What do you think we would learn about Salander if we were to read the next book? Larsson wrote a follow-up, “The Girl Who Played With Fire” which supposedly tells us more about her. What are your predictions?

Were any of you bothered by the aforementioned sex and violence? The book really was one of the more graphic murder mysteries I’ve ever read. While they didn’t describe the murders detail-by-detail, Martin and his father were two of the sickest characters I ever came across in any book. And, being old and prudish, I was somewhat troubled by Mikael’s tendency to jump into bed with anyone interested. I, for one, wish he had not succumbed to Lisbeth.

Favorite characters? Kind of a hard one when you’re dealing with a despicable family like the Vangers. I guess I liked Henrik, though I distrusted him throughout the book. I was fearful he was going to be revealed to be the murderer, though I couldn’t begin to think why he would have hired Mikael. Speaking of Mikael, I liked his journalistic ethics. But what was up with Cecelia?

Talk to me about your reactions to how Lisbeth handled her guardian, the extraordinarily despicable Bjurman. Wasn’t he one of the most horrific characters in any book you’ve ever read?

Did any of you think the book was too long? As I mentioned, I felt the wrapping up of the Wennerstrom stuff went on too long.

Any other thoughts?

Our next book choices

From Josey:

Ok, here are my picks...very random as most came recommended by friends...

The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Alex Awards (Awards)) by Jeannette Walls
The History of Love: A Novel by Nicole Krauss
These is my Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 (P.S.) by Nancy E. Turner
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner

These are quite varied, as I was trying to find selections that would appeal to everyone...do we dare take a risk? I dunno...

Vote by Sunday, February 7. Enjoy!

The Art of Racing in the Rain

A book using auto racing as a metaphor for life, narrated by a dog, might not seem too promising. But, I really enjoyed this book, and I hope everyone else did, too. It was a fast read because of its simplicity, but I thought there were some grains of truth that bore thinking about. It seemed a good choice to read during the busy holiday season and then those first dreary days of January.

We know from the beginning that Enzo is old, ill, and at the end of his life. But as this faithful dog looks back over his life, he recalls that it was rich and full. Anyone who knows and loves dogs understands that they are unbelievably loyal and, they always seem to know what you're thinking. Of course, Enzo almost always did understand even the nuances of the lives being lived around him. But, oh, how he longed for opposable thumbs!

Enzo is a great chracter. Somehow, the author managed to capture both his "dogness" and his ability to think and especially feel like a human. Enzo makes the case that the highest form of animal, the animal most like humans, is the dog. As he watched over Denny, then Eve, then Zoe, I believed that to be true. He knew what they needed, and he gave it to them.

I also enjoyed Denny's character. As Enzo was living out his last life as a dog before becoming human, Denny was a wonderful role model for him. Denny went through a long and very dark time, but he didn't give into it. He nearly always took the high road. Although he made mistakes, he never compounded them, which is where the racing metaphors come in, of course.

"That which you manifest is before you." "Your car goes where your eyes go." "You are responsible for where you are and what you are doing there." I can't help but think these are words to live by...or at least to consider. Attitude is all. Denny and Enzo (and apparently all good racers) understand that when we look ahead, we are, in a way, determining what will happen. If we see good things happening, that's more likely to be the case than if we forecast the worst case scenario. Granted, that's a little simplistic. There is always the possibility of the Evil Demon Zebra! However, Enzo eventually concludes that "The zebra is the worst part of us when we are face-t0-face with our worst times. The demon is us."

I don't believe that we always make our own troubles. Some things are truly out of our control. But, like Enzo, I do think that how we react to those troubles -- whether it's taking a turn too fast or an oil-slick on the track -- often determines how things will turn out. There are Evil Twins out there, and we just have to deal with them. I'd like to think that we will all have happy endings, like Denny and Enzo.

Enough philosophy! My favorite chapter was the one in which Enzo gets his ride on the race track. Enzo had a zest for life; he always barked twice. May we all bark twice in our race through the rainy tracks of our lives! - Beckie

Best Books of 2009

Here is the link to the New York Times' selection of the best 100 books of 2009. Firefly Lane wasn't among them.

Book Number 2

This time, Bec is our hostess. So, from her:

Hi, Ladies

For our next read, I am proposing four books. They are:
Gods in Alabama, by Joshilyn Jackson
Ladies of Liberty, by Cokie Roberts
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larson
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

There is no theme working here--a couple of these books I own and haven't gotten around to reading, and the other two just looked interesting. Please vote for the book you would like to read, via comment, by Friday, December 4th. We will plan our next "meeting" to begin on January 17th.

Firefly Lane: Review

I HATE sad books. In particular, I hate books that are sad because an important character – one you have grown to like – dies at the end of the book. I read, in part, to escape the difficulties that I face in my everyday life. If I want to cry, I’ll go work in the cancer ward of Children’s Hospital, thank you very much.

Having said this, I thought Firefly Lane was a relatively satisfactory read. I tried reading it once before, and gave up fairly early in the book. At that point, I didn’t know that a main character would die at the end of the book, though I admit that I suspected it. You could almost smell imminent sadness. (I thought it would be Kate’s mom, who was lighting up a cigarette every time she was mentioned.) At that time, I was dissatisfied with the writing style. It seemed too simple – almost like reading a teen romance novel. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that Miss Brooke!) Believe me, I am a cheap date when it comes to books. I am not very judgmental when it comes to what I read. It doesn’t have to be Hemingway. I never hesitate, however, to give up on a book I dislike. My motto is “Life is too short to read a bad book.”

This time, I was determined to finish the book no matter what, since it was our first Ethereal Reader book. As I plodded along, I guess I grew accustomed to the writing style. In fact, I almost felt that the writer’s style changed as the book went along. It seemed that Hannah wrote according to the age of Kate and Tully. As they grew up, her writing matured as well. Perhaps I just grew accustomed to the style.

One of my favorite things about the book was the sense of place and time. I think that Hannah did a great job of providing the feel for the decade in which the book was taking place. Having grown up in the 70s, it tickled me to be reminded about music and magazines and pop stars and fashions popular in the 70s and 80s. I read the same magazines as Kate and worried about the same things in high school as did she and Tully. I was parenting in the 80s, and being reminded about big hair and peg-legged pants and shoulder pads literally made me laugh out loud. Jen and Bec, remember when our kids “pegged” their pants?

Hannah chose to go back and forth, from Kate to Tully, throughout the book. I found this to be effective, particularly after Kate was married. It allowed me to really see the dichotomy between these two friends’ lives. Different choices and different ambitions led to completely different lives.

As the plot built, I thought Hannah did a good job of letting us see the ups and downs of Kate’s and Tully’s lives. Both characters were living the life of which they had dreamed. Both were rewarded, but each of them struggled with the down sides of their lives. Kate more or less lost her identity as she became more engrossed in her life as a mother. Tully found fame and fortune, but was always lonely. I never found myself wishing I had either one of their lives.

I don’t know that I believe that it’s reasonable to think that these two women could have maintained such a close friendship as their lives grew more and more separate, but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief in my hope that such a thing could happen. Having suspended that disbelief, however, made me feel even more betrayed that Hannah chose to have Kate die in the end. Hannah’s postscript at the end of the book indicated she wanted to use this book to educate women about this rare form of breast cancer. Couldn’t she have done that without killing her off? Argh. Besides, the cancer sort of seemed to come out of nowhere, sort of contrived.

And such a death. Oy vey! Did it really have to go on that long? Seriously folks. It really was so sad. I know Hannah wanted reconciliation between Kate and her daughter. Still. My heavens. Waaaay too long a death scene.

In my other book club, there is a woman who LOVES sad books. (It’s beyond me.) She would really enjoy this book. As for me, I would only recommend this book with the caveat that the reader knows she will cry her eyes out. I’ll take a happy ending any day.


Book rating: On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being I loved it and 1 being I hated it), I would give this book an overall rating of 6.5.

Favorite character: Mrs. Mularkey. She unequivocally loved her children and Tully. She was practical and unsentimental. She didn’t die at the end.

Hosting Order

Jen and I decided that the best way to determine the order in which we will host (moderate) the book discussion is by birthday. So, next up will be Bec. Here is the order:

Bec
Sami
Josey
Jen
Brooke
Maggie
Kris

I'm looking forward to our discussion about Firefly Lane. Keep reading Ethereal Readers!