The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest: A review

Stieg Larsson writes with an attention to detail of an investigative journalist seeking to create a narrative that educates and entertains. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest is an excellent work of fiction that has the mimesis and verisimilitude that college professors speak of when addressing works in a literature course.

Hornet's Nest carries the momentum from the end of Fire, into what is a completely different text. The intricate nature of Hornet's Nest requires a notes section, at the end of the book, to verify the allusions to real elements utilized in the creation of the story. Larsson utilized his expertise in journalism, and with aspects of counterculture to impress upon the reader the importance of his story. By the middle of the book the reader feels a sense of trepidation and wants, no needs, for the main character Lisbeth Salander to pull through this murky, distorted novel that captures the shadowy and conspiracy laden nature of countries that dealt with the darkness of the Cold War.

The plot itself is simply the story of a dysfunctional family, and the characters that align to bring justice to one woman. This woman, Lisbeth Salander, is a metaphor for women who have dealt with the uncertainty of a justice system that aligns itself with men and caters to the paternalistic slant of all facets of life. Hornet's Nest takes the mystery novel and details every aspect leaving nothing to question and effectively tying up every loose end successfully without Deus Ex Machina or some simplistic resolution.

The climax of the text feels never ending, but can be given one point of clarity at the end of the book in the courtroom scene which literally makes the reader laugh, shout and pump their fist in approval of the decimation of authority figures that have made the life of Lisbeth Salander a complicated mess of injustice. This is not the resolution however. In a twist the book does not end once Salander is somewhat vindicated, the book continues forward to enhance the reader's understanding of points that were began in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire.

In short, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest is damn good and the Millennium trilogy is worth the investment of three weeks. At 600 pages each, the books read incredibly fast and for a text that is complicated, it is clearly drawn and presented. Read it and then watch the films. Rest In Peace to a masterful writer.

The Girl Who Played With Fire: A review

A couple of days ago, I did a grand disservice to Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I sandwiched a review of the book into the middle of a social commentary on whether Blacks read White books. Honestly, who gives a damn? I know what I do give a damn about though, the Larsson Trilogy. While I am a bit late in reading the books, I am finally worked my way to the third book in the series, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. I shouldn't say worked because it is my own fascination with Larsson's narrative that has driven me to read the first two in one week.

While the first book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has the potential to stand on its own, The Girl Who Played With Fire is a traditional cliffhanger, mystery novel. What remains non-traditional is the depth and detail that Larsson crafts his texts with. Fire brings us back into the world of cyberpunk Lisbeth Salander and publisher Mykael Blomvkist. In the first text the complicated relationship between the two is dealt with in a closely drawn plot structure that forces the two together while solving the case in Hedestad. In the second novel, the regular storyline of returning to a person's surroundings and things going back to the way they were is established but not in a way that feels routine. Blomvkist has been catapulted to 'stardom' by his book on the Wennerstrom Affair and the magazine Millineum is benefitting from the shine of its star.

Do Black People Read "White" Books?

Obviously if I'm writing a quick review of a "White" book then Black people do read White books. An interesting thing does exist in literature however. Typically a White author is only approached by Blacks while they are in college. Introduction to Lit courses are filled with the rich literary history of White authors that Black students have to read to pass the course, and this is the way these books are approached. Novels, short stories, poetry by authors that don't look like Blacks are basically placeholders in the pursuit of attaining a passing grade. The appreciation of literature for the Black person is somewhat skewed and lacks a foundation in understanding the function and scope of writing. Consider that Phyllis Wheatley was the first Black woman to publish and then realize that not until the 1900s was Black literature given any respected status in academic and literary circles and there lies the problem. When a group of people have only been writing and reading as a culture for around 100 years, literature for that group is in its infancy. Now I am only looking at Black America. With that said, do Black people read White literature voluntarily and does it matter?