Action Heroine Fans discussion

One bloc of fiction that clearly seems to fall in the action-heroine category, and which is currently generating a fair amount of buzz, not only on Goodreads and elsewhere on the Internet but in the literary world in general (I think the novels have each made the NYT best sellers list) is Steig Larsson's Millenium Trilogy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1); The Girl Who Played with Fire; and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. It's unusual for me to create a thread like this for a specific literary work or heroine I haven't read, or read about, at all (in the case of Modesty Blaise and Femme Noir, I have read about some of their exploits, just not many). But I thought that the impact these books have made on the current scene entitled them to a thread, and that some members of this group have probably read the trilogy and might like to discuss it here. (The movie adaptations, both American and Swedish, would be good grist for discussion over on the movies and TV thread, too, if anyone's seen them and has an opinion.) So, what do you think: how does Larsson's work measure up as action heroine fiction?

From the reviews I've read, Lisbeth Salander comes across as flawed (and who's not?), but as a brave gal who's out to put a stop to abuse of women wherever she finds it, and who's got the fighting ability to do it. That would earn her high marks from me; but I've never been attracted to the books (or the films) because of what I understand is the really graphic depiction of violent sexual abuse, which would really turn me off. (I'm not a total wuss when it comes to violence, obviously, or I wouldn't be a fan of action fiction/drama in the first place, and I don't even mind if some of it gets a bit graphic, to a point; but there is a point, and a mode of treatment, where that kind of thing can get off-putting and disgusting for me --especially in the area of sexual violence and abuse.) That might be a worthwhile area for discussion, on the part of those who've actually read the books; how did that aspect strike you? There are some who argue that depicting sexual abuse so fully actually undercuts Larsson's theme of opposition to it; do they have a point there, or are they all wet?

I read the first book, and liked it, but I'd have to agree with some comments I've read that it feels like an early draft. I don't know if any of this is due to the English translation. The story was good, but the writing style was tiresome enough that I'm not interested in reading the other books. I watched the movies instead.

I don't want to give anything away, but there was one shocking scene of sexual violence. I don't actually remember the scene. (That doesn't mean it was so shocking that I blocked it out. It's more that, these days, I tend to remember my reactions to stories rather than the details that elicited the reactions.) I do remember thinking it was not gratuitous, and was important for understanding Lisbeth's character, but that I didn't want to read it again, ever.

Mostly, the story is a cool (as in deliberately paced) investigation that uncovers . . . some horrific things.

Wasn't there some question as to how complete the manuscripts were at the time of publication because Larsson died before he finished them? I seem to recall something along those lines being on an article on the BBC about 18 months ago...

According to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieg_La... , he had completed all three novels of the trilogy before his death. However, he had intended to eventually have ten novels in the series; the fourth one was left about 3/4 completed. (There may be written synopses or manuscripts pertaining to the the fifth and sixth entries as well, but that isn't confirmed.)

I have it on the list to read. I've heard it a slow starter, so I haven't felt motivated yet. The movie has started to light a fire under me.

I saw the Daniel Craig film three times, and I am now reading the first novel. I like Lisbeth because she has fought to become her own person and to overcome some horrific experiences.

I´m a big fans of this books and I will say I like them a lot, the books are great.

The Swedish movies are great versions, not that close to the books but the idea/message was there, the intrigue was there, Mikael was flawed but good and Lisbeth humanity and raw strength is shown amazingly in those films, I watched the American version too because it was done by DF a director I usually like, but though the actress did a good job with Lisbeth, she made her too vulnerable, she let her character to be sexually exploded and she was moved to role of Mikael´s sidekick, they made Mikael less flawed too, Craig played it as if her were James Bond; this didn’t happen at all in the Swedish version, the actors did an amazing job, instead.

But about the books, the sex scenes mentioned are not sexualized at all; they are rather cold just like most of the scenes they are described just as much as Larsson describes landing scenery or how he does character explanation on certain history involving a character. The idea of the books is that these are all political crime novels, we have to understand Larsson was a politic journalist who liked English crime novels, so he used his knowledge in politics, frauds and intrigues, put in a crime novel, plus he added a very important element that marked his life since he was a teen, he saw a girl being raped and didn´t/ couldn´t do anything to help her, that moment plus many other things he saw on how women are treated, led him to believe all females are abused or at risk of being abused by men, that is why he wanted to call the series the “men who hated women” but the publisher wouldn´t let him, instead they published the series under the name of the “Millennium Trilogy” and each got the name it got.

The point I want to make with all these is that, there are not books easy to read, the thematic is not easy, taking aside the crime novel genre and intrigues and mystery, these books try to reflect the worst of the abuse on women and sexual crimes against women, as a protagonist is Lisbeth Salander, a young woman who may or may not be a little autistic, but who was repressed by society and even treated as crazy, instead of being helped, she was sexually exploded by other´s decision and later she was the one who chose how she wanted to live her sexual life; she lived/lives through awful things, yet she arises from all the bad things, her constant in life is that no matter how hard she gets it, she is going to heal up on her own and then return even stronger and full of vengeance against those that did her wrong. She is a really interesting character, strong yet vulnerable, flawed yet full of her own convictions and she defends what´s her own. She is not an easy female character, since she is not feminine and lovely, but it is good to read about, not all female characters should be as society expects a woman to be.