Not that I stick to the New York Times Bestseller List for all my reading choices, but when a title gets a lot of buzz I do like to see what all the fuss is about. Even though it's fallen from the top 15, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo seemed to get an extraordinary amount of attention. People would come in and say they loved it! and an equal amount of people would come in and say they hated it. My curiosity got the best of me and I put my name in for it, and honestly, I tried. A few times. I hated it. Perhaps it was the translation, rather stilted and formal, or perhaps it was trying to figure out the Swedish pronunciation of the names of characters...at any rate, I brought it back while book two and three jumped onto the bestseller list, replacing Dragon Tattoo.
Being stubborn (yes, it's a fault of mine), I decided to try it as an audiobook. There have been several books I've listened as I'm commuting or doing errands, and actually a few I've recommended as opposed to the print version because the reader did such a great job, it was like a performance! And who doesn't love being read to?
And the verdict is...I loved it. Not necessarily the content, this is not a bedtime story after all, there's a serial killer about. But the reader was skillful, the unfamiliar names rolled off easily and he was able to assign different voices to the characters. The plot kept you on the edge of your seat at times, literally, and I love it when I'm equally pleased with both character development AND plot. I'm on hold for The Girl Who Played With Fire now! So, if you're one of those holdouts because you tried the print version of a book, try a different format! Or have someone read it to you.
I have to take an opposing position on all three of Steig Larsson's books about Lisbeth's adventures. I have the third, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" but haven't read it yet. It's in the pile. The first two, however, I loved, although, I admit #1 had a slow beginning. When I read, I don't mentally pronounce the words so the bizarre town and street names don't slow me down or don't detract from the story. Good blog though, good job.
ReplyDelete