I joined another book club (at our first meeting we discussed The Help -- deja vu!). The next book is Little Bee, which is a tough read about a young woman refugee from Nigeria in England. I'm waiting for some redemption to kick in! (And hurrying through so I can start The Earth Hums...). Thanks to loaners from Dianne Green I also read Losing Mum and Pup (Christopher Buckley's actually rather humorous account of the death of both his parents in one year) and The Piano Teacher, which I also liked.
And, great news! The Girl Who Played with Fire is now out in paperback. It's next in line for me after The Earth Hums....
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Unhappy endings suck.
Like the last poster (is that you, Robin?) I was disappointed by the ending. In an act of true love, Salander cleans her apartment, buys a Christmas gift for Mikael, and then sees him with Erica? Way to crush the reader at the end, and ensure that we buy the next book.
By the way, did you know the Swedish title is "Men who hate Women"? They were wise to change the title before marketing in the US!
Can't wait to discuss tomorrow!
Erin
Like the last poster (is that you, Robin?) I was disappointed by the ending. In an act of true love, Salander cleans her apartment, buys a Christmas gift for Mikael, and then sees him with Erica? Way to crush the reader at the end, and ensure that we buy the next book.
By the way, did you know the Swedish title is "Men who hate Women"? They were wise to change the title before marketing in the US!
Can't wait to discuss tomorrow!
Erin
Monday, March 15, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Plot Thickens!
I'm a little over halfway through the book (don't know what that is in Kindle-speak, but in my copy it's page 260). The two main characters are about to meet.
In my homiletics class in seminary we were told "if you hatch a snake at the beginning of a sermon you have to kill it before the end". Or, as playwright Anton Chekhov said "if you introduce a gun in Act I you have to use it in Act III". There are so many "snakes" and "guns" introduced in the first half of The Girl... that I'm wondering if Larsson will resolve them all by the end of the book. And then I remember the alarming trait in Swedish director Ingmar Bergmann's films of introducing more questions than answers. Hmmmm. I can deal with ambiguity in life, but I like my books tied up with a neat ending, thank you very much!
(For those of you who have finished the book, please, no hints!)
Also, BTW, the March 1st issue of Newsweek has a good article about Scandinavian films, including mention of The Girl...
I'm a little over halfway through the book (don't know what that is in Kindle-speak, but in my copy it's page 260). The two main characters are about to meet.
In my homiletics class in seminary we were told "if you hatch a snake at the beginning of a sermon you have to kill it before the end". Or, as playwright Anton Chekhov said "if you introduce a gun in Act I you have to use it in Act III". There are so many "snakes" and "guns" introduced in the first half of The Girl... that I'm wondering if Larsson will resolve them all by the end of the book. And then I remember the alarming trait in Swedish director Ingmar Bergmann's films of introducing more questions than answers. Hmmmm. I can deal with ambiguity in life, but I like my books tied up with a neat ending, thank you very much!
(For those of you who have finished the book, please, no hints!)
Also, BTW, the March 1st issue of Newsweek has a good article about Scandinavian films, including mention of The Girl...
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
IKEA anyone?
Anyone up for run to IKEA on Monday 3/22 to buy lots of tasty Scandinavian tidbits for our meeting on Tuesday? I'm planning to head up there around noon. We can meet up at church -- just let me know so I can plan on either the SmartCar or the one that seats more than 2 people! -- Willie
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
I caught the movie
Well, I went with Robin to see the movie, without having even begun the book- normally a sin I would not commit. However, the movie tickets were a real treat- the US premiere of the movie, part of the Miami Film Festival, at one of my favorite Miami theaters, no less. If you've never been to the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts- find a reason to go!
Our friend Ivette also went and she texted us at the end of the movie to hear our thoughts. I could only respond that we had really enjoyed it, once we dug our nails out of the armrests! There are a few scenes that test your ability to keep your eyes open, but I hear they are not as tough to endure in the book.
Does anyone have a book for me to borrow?
Monday, March 8, 2010
About half-way through the book, I went with Erin to see "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" at the Miami Film Festival. I loved it, but it sort-of gave the story away, of course. I found the movie much more gruesome than the book, at least so far. Oh, and the tattoo is immense - much bigger than the one on the book jacket!
Thanks for the tickets, Ivette!
Thanks for the tickets, Ivette!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
I'm well into The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - well, 11% according to Kindle, or "location 1026-32." I'm wondering why Kindle doesn't forego this useless information and instead tell you the equivalent page numbers, so you can locate yourself intelligently to your friends who are reading the hardbound or paperback versions.
At any rate, beginning this book has been a little like the first day in a foreign country. I felt disoriented, as in "What are they talking about?" and "What does it mean?" Sweden and Poland are foreign to me, and strange. After the intriguing prologue, I was as put off by the first chapter as I was by getting lost in Madrid 20 years ago, but more irritated. I do not want to read about business discussions in Poland regarding companies I don't know or care about, by people whose references to names and places I don't understand.
The second chapter also began inauspiciously, and had I been just a trifle more impatient, I might have put down the book, like David did, and picked up something within my comfort zone . But having been warned, I plugged on. I'm glad I did. Within a few more taps on my Kindle's "next page" button, I was interested. A few more, and I was hooked. I had met the girl with the dragon tattoo.
She's a skinny, gothic girl who does investigations for a likeable man who owns a security company. We've already been introduced to an honorable investigative financial reporter who has gotten hoodwinked into a jail sentence for slander and libel - and guess who is being hired to investigate the reporter and his story? That's it - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo!
So come on other people, don't you have something to say about this book?
-Robin
At any rate, beginning this book has been a little like the first day in a foreign country. I felt disoriented, as in "What are they talking about?" and "What does it mean?" Sweden and Poland are foreign to me, and strange. After the intriguing prologue, I was as put off by the first chapter as I was by getting lost in Madrid 20 years ago, but more irritated. I do not want to read about business discussions in Poland regarding companies I don't know or care about, by people whose references to names and places I don't understand.
The second chapter also began inauspiciously, and had I been just a trifle more impatient, I might have put down the book, like David did, and picked up something within my comfort zone . But having been warned, I plugged on. I'm glad I did. Within a few more taps on my Kindle's "next page" button, I was interested. A few more, and I was hooked. I had met the girl with the dragon tattoo.
She's a skinny, gothic girl who does investigations for a likeable man who owns a security company. We've already been introduced to an honorable investigative financial reporter who has gotten hoodwinked into a jail sentence for slander and libel - and guess who is being hired to investigate the reporter and his story? That's it - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo!
So come on other people, don't you have something to say about this book?
-Robin
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Welcome to the Not on Saturday Morning Book Club!
This blog has been created for the members of the Not on Saturday Morning Book Club and our friends. If you have received an invitation to post to this blog and have accepted it, you are registered as an author and can create posts, as well as comment on the posts of others. (After signing in, you should be able to click on New Post in the upper right corner.) It is an experiment in an attempt to welcome and engage our friends who cannot join us on the fourth Tuesday of the month when we normally meet, but would still like to join the book discussion.
This month, we are reading "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson.
I haven't started the book myself, but someone (Ivette?) told me you have to get beyond the first two chapters, which are full of information you think you're going to need later - but you're not. These chapters can be skimmed.
If you've started the book, let us know what you think.
Robin
This blog has been created for the members of the Not on Saturday Morning Book Club and our friends. If you have received an invitation to post to this blog and have accepted it, you are registered as an author and can create posts, as well as comment on the posts of others. (After signing in, you should be able to click on New Post in the upper right corner.) It is an experiment in an attempt to welcome and engage our friends who cannot join us on the fourth Tuesday of the month when we normally meet, but would still like to join the book discussion.
I haven't started the book myself, but someone (Ivette?) told me you have to get beyond the first two chapters, which are full of information you think you're going to need later - but you're not. These chapters can be skimmed.
If you've started the book, let us know what you think.
Robin
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