Tuesday night was our first official meeting. We had a bit of a low start - Jen and Ann, thanks for coming.
For everyone's future reference - meetings will be held the last Tuesday of every month. Whoever can't make it that day is welcome to participate via the blog.
Anyway, we had some snacks and some wine, and to be perfectly honest didn't get too deep into discussing the book (though we did talk about other books and books in general). Here are a couple of the questions we discussed, along with a summary of what we had to say. I've also included questions we didn't get to. So please leave a comment with your feedback and opinions.
1. Who do you consider the novel's protagonist, Lisbeth or Mikael? Why?
Varying opinions on this question. I think that hands down Mikael is the protagonist. His life and the things going on in it are what propel the story. However, given the title of the book, it seems as though maybe I'm not getting the importance of Lisbeth.
Jen thought that Mikael starts out as the protagonist, but it switches to Lisbeth as she becomes more important in his life.
2. Discuss the character of Lisbeth. Some think she is a "perfect victim" (page 324), others find her intimidating, and Mikael wonders if she has Asperger's, but the reader is allowed to see exactly how her mind works. How do you see her? How do you think she sees herself?
I think that Lisbeth is a very disturbed young woman. And interesting point that Jen brought up was that she works hard to find out people's deepest secrets, yet doesn't want anyone to know anything about her. I've read certain things that claim Lisbeth is this really strong, dynamic female character...and I tend to disagree. She seems very volatile and insecure and under the hard surface, I think she just wants someone to treat her well. I didn't really care for her as a character.
3. On page 202 (pages may vary), Lisbeth says her new tattoo is "a reminder." Of what?
This is a hard question. After talking about it, we all came to the conclusion that it is a reminder to never underestimate the lengths to which a "sado-masochist" will go. And also to It seems odd that she would want anything to remind her of the terrible things Bjurman did. But I guess it could also be a reminder that she was strong enough to overcome that and make him regret what he did.
4. What do you think about the way Lisbeth turns the tables on Bjurman? Is it admirable, or a sign that she's unstable?
5. The narrative contained a number of plot twists. Who did you imagine sent the framed flowers to Vanger each year?
6. Several times in the novel, Mikael'’s journalistic ethics are challenged. Do you consider him to be ethical? In your opinion, is anyone in the novel truly honorable? Who, and why?
I am so excited to comment on all of these questions, but I will have to do it later tonight when I'm not at work!!!
ReplyDelete4. Although part of me is proud of Lisbeth for taking matters into her own hands, and winning I think the way she handled it does show that she's unstable and has a looot of secrets that we don't know about BUT in the movie there are flashbacks during the Bjurman scene and others to Lisbeth as a child. These flashbacks give us images of what she might have gone through and they're pieced together at the end of the film. Not having seen the movie I'd say "You get him, girl!" but seeing a different perspective leads me to believe there's a lot we don't know about the girl with the dragon tattoo.
ReplyDelete1. I also agree in that I think Mikael was the protagonist in this book. When I found myself describing what this book was about to other people, afterwords, they would ask, so who is the girl with the dragon tattoo? Evidently, I could explain what the book was about without even mentioning her, which I then noticed was strange considering the title. However, I just (last night!) finished The Girl Who Played With Fire, and I would have to say Lisbeth is DEFINITELY the protagonist in that book, so I'm assuming once you're through all three in the series, Lisbeth will ultimately be the one who carries the story from start to finish.
ReplyDelete7. Overall, I liked the ending. I'm kind of glad the story worked out the way it did. Reflecting back, I think I would have been disappointed to find out that Harriet's disappearance was business-driven, or something like that, because I honestly don't think that would have been as interesting/exciting to me. However, I thought Lisbeth's money-moving bank-to-bank activity was confusing!!! I mean, I got it - she stole his money, but it made no sense to me what she was doing!!!
Anywho...off to start The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest!!! woooo