I wanted to read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson, because my parents both read it and I recently saw the movie, which I recommend everyone to see as long as you have the stomach. It is one of the craziest movies I have seen, and from past experiences, the book is always better than the movie. The beggining 80 pages of the book is pretty boring since it is all about financial situations and it brings up many names and many cities in Sweden (where the story takes place) so you can't really even pronounce half of the cities and names in your head. I know I wouldn't have been able to get past the first part if I didn't see the movie, so that is why I think you should see the movie before you read the book because it will help you understand all the confusion in the beginning.
Once you get past the beginnning, it starts into the murder mystery that the story is about. The two main characters, Mikael and Lisbeth, live separate lives which the book clearly illustrates by switching off between the two stories of the two characters every once in a while. As you read on the different stories of Lisbeth and Mikael are closer together and I am now in anticipation of when they finally get together to work on the case.
The only thing wrong with the book is that there are a lot of disturbing parts to it. It might have been even more disturbing to watch in the movie rather than just reading it on paper, but I haven't gotten to those parts yet so I will keep you posted on how tolerable it is in the book.
I also saw the movie recently and the plot was very confusing to me at first until the end when all of the loose ends were finally tied together and the characters all fit into each other's lives somehow. The disturbing parts were truly horrifying to watch in the movie, so I hope that the description within the book is not so offensive (I doubt it though). I can only imagine how dense with detail the book is because the movie was pretty long and captured many elements within the setting and the characters themselves. I plan to read this book, hopefully this semester, so I would love to hear how the book turns out.
ReplyDelete-A. Pruett
The movie was pretty disturbing and it would be interesting to find out the differences in story and depth the book and movie share. For example, the movie and book "I Am Legend" shared some elements but they were almost completely different in other key aspects. Maybe watching the movie for this book may clear up some confusing parts, but it may also differ in other key aspects of the book.
ReplyDelete-Yahya H.
Why do you think the book crossed over to the big screen so poorly? Do you think it was the book its self or do books turned movies never do the novel and its author justice? What is an example of and book and movie that both were beautifully presented?
ReplyDelete-Jasmine C
Jasmine- I thought the movie was very good! I have to continue reading to figure out how well it compares to the book. I think the book, however, is easier to understand because it goes slower. It allows you to get to know the character before jumping to the next part of the plot. I will let you know how the book compares to the movie when I complete it.
ReplyDeleteYahya- There hasn't been any differences so far from the book to the movie. The only thing that might be different is a part that I don't want to spoil for everyone else do I'll tell you in person!
I'm also reading the book, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and it is a pretty good book so far. I just hope that the movie won't be lame like Twilight.
ReplyDelete- Richard W.
I am attempting to read this book, my mom has read the book. But I will take into account to see the movie before i start to read this book. Hopefully it will be a good read.
ReplyDelete-Kyle Fischer
I've always been one to read the book before the movie because I like to critique what they did wrong in the movie, but I trust your judgement about seeing the movie beforehand. I've heard that it's a difficult read in the beginning due to the introduction of everyone and everything, hopefully it is a book I can get into though.
ReplyDelete-Secada C.