by Steig Larsson
Meeting Date: April 23, 2010
Hostess: Dannette (at the pub)
Discussion: Dannette introduced the discussion by advising us that the original, Swedish title of the book was "Men Who Hate Women". While a few of us were aware of that, most of us had not heard this before. This generated a discussion as to whether we thought that title was appropriate or not. We agreed that we didn't really find it fit that well with the story; in addition, we agreed that we likely would not have picked up a book with that title.
We discussed the "Nazi" undertones which occur periodically in the novel. Generally, we found them out of place, but again, our hostess having done her research homework, advised that Larsson who previously worked as a journalist and this was a particular topic of interest for him.
We talked about whether we thought Mikael Blomkvist is actually Stieg Larsson's alter-ego and if he saw himself as a 'protector of women' -- which is how we agreed that Mikael saw his role in relationships with women. Clearly, Lisbeth did not need a protector and we found that Mikael didn't really know how to deal with that.
We discussed the ending where Lisbeth sees Berger and Blomkvist together. We discussed whether we thought/hoped it would be Salander and Blomkvist together. In some ways, the relationship between Berger and Blomkvist did not sit right with us. It seemed that Mikael thought he could 'have his cake and eat it too', as it were.
We discussed the role that Lisbeth's trustee played in shaping her feelings about men and her need for control of her own life. We talked about the need for her to get revenge against the men who harmed her as well as her being something of a hero for other women. We also discussed crimes against women in Canada/USA versus Sweden. The rates of violence against women were much higher in Sweden than we expected (and with two criminologists in the B&B Club crime stats are something that we are pretty familiar with).
We also talked about the sending of the flowers to Henrik Vanger by (spoiler alert) Harriet to her great-uncle every year. Of course, once Harriet is located and revealed as the person who sent the flowers, the author tries to convince you that she did it to let her great-uncle know that she was fine and alive. In fact, we found that it did the exact opposite; it tormented and taunted Vanger for thirty years. It was a mystery that he could no longer handle. Furthermore, we agreed, that had Harriet really wanted Henrik to know she was alive and doing well, there would have been occasions for her to contact him and let him know.
Overall, we all really liked the book. It is complex and there are a lot of sub-plots, secondary and tertiary characters so there were times when it was a bit hard to figure out who is who. We unanimously agreed that Lisbeth Salander was our favourite character; she was strong, independent and exceptionally intelligent. Mikael Blomkvist was also a favourite character. Many of us went on to read the other two books in Larsson's Millennium Trilogy and some of us saw the movies as well.
Ratings:
Kellie ..................7.5
Lynne ...................8
Stacey ...................9
Stephanie ..............9
Christina ...............9
Barb ......................9
Dannette .............7.5
Overall: 8.4
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