I realize that I'm late to the party, as is my custom. I'm late to everything. Stieg Larsson's novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been wildly popular for quite some time, and I just finished it last week. Its insane popularity may have made me reluctant to jump on the bandwagon. (After being traumatized by the likes of Twilight, I try to veer away from what the masses are reading.) But when the American version of the GWTDT movie premiered, my curiosity was sparked. I HAD to read the book before I saw it, and I'm glad I did so.
By the time I turned the last page, I was not only pleased with the compelling mystery, but also kind of obsessed with the female heroine. In most books that focus on females, the lady in the spotlight is funny with a touch of awkward, charmingly self-deprecating, modestly ambitious, blah blah blah. These are all qualities that any girl could identify with. What made me so attracted to Lisbeth Salander is that she's far from any of those things. In fact, she's rather hard to pin down. Despite (or probably because of) her troubled background, she's unapologetically bad-ass. She skulks around in all black, fucks who she wants to, and keeps her astonishing intelligence to herself.
The tiny part of me that wants to BE Lisbeth grew after watching the movie and falling head-over-heels into girl crush city with Rooney Mara. Mara's performance personified to a T what I expected Lisbeth to be. Never before have I wanted to be tattooed and pierced with inky black hair sticking up in all directions and a bitchy slogan on my tee. The bitchy tee is probably the farthest I'd venture outside my style comfort zone, but Lisbeth/Rooney continues to serve as inspiration. I strongly recommend reading the book and immediately watching the movie. I'm halfway through the second in the series, The Girl who Played with Fire, and haven't yet experienced a Lisbeth Salander overdose. She's too cool to get sick of.
By the time I turned the last page, I was not only pleased with the compelling mystery, but also kind of obsessed with the female heroine. In most books that focus on females, the lady in the spotlight is funny with a touch of awkward, charmingly self-deprecating, modestly ambitious, blah blah blah. These are all qualities that any girl could identify with. What made me so attracted to Lisbeth Salander is that she's far from any of those things. In fact, she's rather hard to pin down. Despite (or probably because of) her troubled background, she's unapologetically bad-ass. She skulks around in all black, fucks who she wants to, and keeps her astonishing intelligence to herself.
The tiny part of me that wants to BE Lisbeth grew after watching the movie and falling head-over-heels into girl crush city with Rooney Mara. Mara's performance personified to a T what I expected Lisbeth to be. Never before have I wanted to be tattooed and pierced with inky black hair sticking up in all directions and a bitchy slogan on my tee. The bitchy tee is probably the farthest I'd venture outside my style comfort zone, but Lisbeth/Rooney continues to serve as inspiration. I strongly recommend reading the book and immediately watching the movie. I'm halfway through the second in the series, The Girl who Played with Fire, and haven't yet experienced a Lisbeth Salander overdose. She's too cool to get sick of.
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