I recently read the bestseller, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Steig Larsson. I have to say I love Scandanavian novels but this was not one of my favorites. Maybe it was the translation but I thought it was flat, predictable, and often times just plain dull. I'm not sure I'll take the time to read the other two in the trilogy.
Although I have a ton of books to read...and they keep piling up, (maybe I should stay away from Books-a-million for a while), I'm tempted to reread my favorite Scandinavian thriller, "Smila's Sense of Snow" by Peter Hoeg, a Dane. It is set in Copenhagen and is about Smilia, a Greenlander, and her relationship with a young boy in her building who's murdered under mysterious circumstances. It is incredibly well written and intelligent, two things I can't say about Larsson's book.
One thing I love about Scandinavian novels is their underlying darkness...maybe brought on by the long winter days/nights and the cold there. I'm not sure. I've been to Sweden, Denmark and Norway and found all to be beautiful exciting places. They appear too perfect on the surface, but apparently, like any other place, lie some pretty scary and abhorrent monsters.
No comments:
Post a Comment