The Bloggerhood of the Traveling Book Blog Tour
But first, I'm supposed to regale you with my scintillating and perceptive review of our traveling book, The Girl Who Played With Fire by the late Stieg Larsson. In case you haven't already figured it out, this is the second book in the Millennium Trilogy, which consists of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. (You can see all three themes reflected in the cool BOTTB badge that Double 00 made for us.)
When I began the first novel in the trilogy, I was about a quarter of the way through before there was any mention of a girl with a tattoo. Mikael F**king Blomkvist appeared to be the protagonist. However, from that point on it was Lisbeth Salander, with her tattoo and piercings, that took center stage. Quirky gave us her top "Lucky 13 Reasons Lisbeth Salander Rocks" and she's spot on with her assessment of this badass.
But who is Lisbeth Salander, really?
Throughout the three books in Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, we're given tantalizing glimpses into this mysterious character. As each piece of the puzzle that is Lisbeth Salander comes together, it paints a picture which appalls and intrigues us at the same time.
Lisbeth is a brilliant young woman with an old soul. She has learned to keep to herself for self preservation and rarely lets anyone into her personal space, either emotionally or by physical proximity. She's learned not to trust people because she's been burned too many times. But be careful... cross her and she'll burn you! Lisbeth is a modern day Ubermensch, gaining almost mythic proportions as she hacks her way through the world, answering only to her own clearly defined moral compass. She's also a master of disguise when needed, slipping through customs on a forged passport. Rumor has it she looks something like this... only gnarlier:
So, do we admire Lisbeth or hate her? I, for one, admire her. She does all the things I wish I could do but am far too wimpy to ever attempt. From book to book throughout the trilogy, it is Lisbeth's character that compels me to read further to find out what happens next. Once you've started the series, you can't stop.. or at least I couldn't, but then I'm obsessive-compulsive like that. And when you're done with the series, check out the movies. Although they leave out some parts from the books, they're well worth the effort of reading the subtitles, (unless you are some kind of wizard who can understand Swedish.)
One thing for sure... Lisbeth Salander would never become a CatLady... either with or without the cats. She's far too neat and travels light... something I'll never be able to accomplish in this lifetime. *sigh* But maybe I can still become a badass like Lisbeth by getting a dragon tattoo. Nah... just like Quirky, I'm far too much of a wuss. Oh, well. Pass the popcorn and Dr Pepper, Quirks!
