# Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Worth Reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-worth-reading/574569 "2011-03-13T19:16:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-worth-reading/574569/21 "2011-03-14T21:27:47Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > I don’t know what that means, but I think I can guess. Another author writing himself into the story? The fact he is dead makes it less distracting somehow. It’s the male equivalent of a Mary Sue - a character that is awesome in every way, lacks notable flaws, and often oh by the way, has more than a passing resemblance to the author himself. I don’t want to post a open spoilers, but I found myself eye-rolling a few times at some of Blomqvist’s “achievements”. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-worth-reading/574569/22 "2011-03-15T07:04:53Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Thanks, that was what I was wondering. From the thickness of the book, I guessed quite a bit had been left out. I didn’t find the treatment of the magazine arc or the Wennerstrom sub-plot distracting in the film, enough was presented to set the scene for what I consider to be the main part of the story. In the book, would you say these parts are interesting of themselves? Without them, the movies seem a bit sterile. Having read the books first I knew what was going on, but to me it seemed like it took a five course meal and reduced it to one course. Still good, but … Declan ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-worth-reading/574569/24 "2011-03-15T11:13:45Z")
I found it rather “meh”. Like others, it took me two months of picking it up, rolling my eyes, putting it down, rather, rinse, repeat, until I finally got through the first 100 pages. I think I held that against it even through the parts I liked. Decent story, but I have no need to read the other two. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-worth-reading/574569/25 "2011-03-15T14:15:34Z")
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who things Blomqvist is a Gary Stu, particularly because there doesn’t seem to be a woman on the planet who can resist his charms (generally a big giveaway). ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-worth-reading/574569/26 "2011-03-15T14:33:07Z")
First book I went through pretty fast and enjoyed the story. I have a hard time relating to any story where the guy is completely 100% irresistible to every women he meets. That is the author’s fantasy, not a believable story. Second book was like wading through mud; by the last hundred pages was just because I wanted to finish. A lot of it was implausible to me. Third book I not willing to wade through. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-worth-reading/574569/27 "2011-03-15T19:54:27Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > I had to slog through about the first hundred pages. It gets better pretty soon. Joe Great quote from my daughter when she first recommended the book to me: “It took me two weeks to get through the first third, but then only two late nights to get through the rest.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-worth-reading/574569.md?page=1)