The Girl Who Played with Fire
It's rare these days that I feel the need to post about a work of literary fiction in more than just a passing reference.
I just "finished" The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson. I've been listening to it on audiobook, and had opportunity to plow through a chunk of it a few days ago while waiting online for car inspection in Southeast.
I knew that I was approaching the end, and when I got home, I plugged it into the stereo, and just sat there listening, not doing anything else, for the next hour or so while I finished the book.
Often audio books are there when I am doing something. It has to be something mechanical (driving, washing dishes, sweeping the floor, exercising) -- I can't "read" like that while trying to do something that requires parsing language or writing. But I can do it quite easily while doing physical motions, especially those that don't require a lot of higher reasoning.
However, with this, I felt I had to give it my attention. I even hit a point where I felt (despite giving it all my attention) that I almost had to go back and listen to parts of it again, the author was being so brutal to his reader, both in terms of events and what he had done with the characters, and shaking some facets of the readers belief in what he would and wouldn't do. In ways, it was far more subtle than the ways that GRR Martin f's with his readers, and at the same time, it had almost more impact.
Larsson has the ability to combine a narrative that reads almost like a Victorian novel about commonplace activities (albeit almost always by thinking, as opposed to unthinking people) with arresting and jarring moments that pop out of nowhere, much like violence and unpleasantness can do in real life. Combine this with a think set of social agenda and commentary that is executed through his characters and situations with much more skill than most writers who attempt that through fiction, and you have the recipe for some astounding books. I highly recommend the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for those of you who haven't picked him up before -- stick with it, it's not at all what you think from the start. He's not an author for people with a weak stomach, I will give that one warning, and I can think of some of my friends who might not want to read it due to some of the subject matter (which can be pretty distressing at times, but I won't discuss for fear of spoilers).
But I must say, I'm very glad to know that he's current one of the bestselling authors in the world right now. Unfortunately, this all comes well after his death, but it makes me feel better to like this work than most of what's on the NY Times list of "best sellers."
I know this is a very circuitous and general commentary, but I promised no spoilers. I can start up a separate spoileriffic thread if there is any interest.