Thought the Fiction readers here might enjoy this review by Thom Hartman of Girl with Dragon Tattoo

[housewolf]

Also some interesting comments at the link:
http://www.truth-out.org/learning-about-reality-fiction-the-girl-with-dragon-tattoo62059



Learning About Reality From Fiction: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

Friday 06 August 2010

by: Thom Hartmann, t r u t h o u t | Book Review

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(Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Chealion, ScottD_Arch, Gordana AM)

Sometimes politics and nonfiction writing can seem altogether too intense and we feel like we need a break. For some, like myself, reading fiction is a guilty pleasure that is re-energizing.

In that respect, the best-selling novel - the first in the acclaimed trilogy, - "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson, is both a brilliant page turner and raises a number of interesting and important issues of our day.

The first among these is the debate over what is news and whether corporations can "own" it. Since the hero of this novel (although, over time, he becomes a secondary character) is the co-owner and editor of a pro-democracy magazine in Sweden, the entire realm of issues having to do with news comes to the fore. Who owns the news? Who controls the news? What is the importance of independent media in a world where giant monoliths and monopolies have become the norm? And, most important, what is the relationship between news, in a free and open society and democracy?

Secondly, there is the issue of both the politics and the reality of what we call mental health, neurological variations from person to person and how society deals with people who don't fit into the neat little category of "normal." I've written seven books on the topic of ADHD and learning disorders and one on psychotherapy, which largely takes on and exposes the history of Freudian psychotherapy ("Walking Your Blues Away"), and having spent nearly a decade in the late 1990s giving workshops, speeches and keynoting conferences on four different continents about learning disabilities and education, I can tell you that this entire realm of mental health, learning disabilities and differences and education is fraught with politics. Not to mention the way society turns a blind and cold eye toward the abuse of women, which often is tied back to mental health issues and social "norms."

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The initially secondary character of this novel, the young woman who is literally the girl with the dragon tattoo, has Asperger's syndrome - it's even explicitly mentioned in the book - and, as in my books and writings on ADHD, her neurological differences define her, challenge her and give her strengths and abilities beyond the realm of ordinary humans. Through this brilliantly-drawn character, this book in a very subtle way confronts head on the whole montage of political and societal issues of neurologic variability.

So, go ahead and read "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and enjoy it with full knowledge that while you're having a wonderful time reading a great page-turner of a book, you're also educating yourself about the culture of Sweden, about the media and the whole spectrum of increasingly controversial issues that we refer to as mental health.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I just finished reading it, and if Hartmann wants to read it as a political treatise...

that's his right. It's a damn fine read, and as all damn fine reads tend to be, it can be interpreted in many ways.

I wasn't terribly interested in the details of Lisbeth Slander's affliction, whatever it really was. I was far more interested in how she was working on mastering her life. It's a constant battle on her part, with small victories to be savored. She is a very sympathetic character, one of the few, and the only one I would like to follow past the book. What is she doing now, and is Blomkvist finally working out as another anchor in her life.

The real psychosis, and the final conflict, is within the Vanger family, of course, although anything else I could say would be a spoiler. I didn't see much analysis of that particular strain of mania-- maybe it's been done to death already, but if you're going to stick a toe in, might as well dive in.

And the journalistic ethics thing was kinda glossed over. I'll try to avoid another spoiler, but neither Blomkvist nor Berger seemed terribly upset about what they had to do and came to a very quick decision.

Maybe that's how it always is in real life. Maybe it's just a damn fine read.

[Demoiselle]

2. I devoured all three books in this series in a weekend.

(The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.) They are wonderful, gripping novels, each one is better than the last, and the heroine is like no other I've ever seen.
I literally couldn't put them down. I've been moping that there aren't more in the series.

[housewolf]

3. You're not alone in mourning the end of the series

Many, many folks are sorry that the author died after only producing the three novels.

[peaches2003]

6. May be a 4th book!

Word is he had planned the series to be 10 novels, but had almost completed the 4th, so there may be another. Supposedly another author could finish it up. NOt the best of situations, but I'd still love for it to happen. His family and girlfriend are now arguing over who owns the rights to the books, so it could be tied up in the courts for a long time. Loved the Trilogy!!!

[fadedrose]

4. Delete

[fadedrose]

5. I've come up to #53 from #57 on the library reserve list..oh joy

I hope I enjoy it as much as you (in 2017 when I get it :))

[Jim__]

7. Not sure why he calls fiction a "guilty pleasure."

As his review implies, there is more truth in good fiction than there is in most non-fiction. I hadn't planned on reading this book, but now I'm curious. Thanks for posting the review.