18 November 2009

Progress report: THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, Stieg Larsson

I'm reading THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST on my new Kindle, and I am not yet 50% through. I've read somewhere that the printed version is 600 pages long.

One thing that strikes me about this novel, more than any other that I've read in a series recently, is that if I hadn't read the previous ones, I would be all at sea in this one. Much of it depends on the reader remembering what has gone before. So you MUST read the books in order.

Some sites to check.
My reading of TGWKTHN so far has had me marvelling at the complexity of the threads being woven. Perhaps it is one of the features of reading it on a Kindle which makes it more difficult to flip backwards and forwards in a book, but I have this sensation of trying to hang on to elastic bands, thinking "how important will it be to remember this?" Sets of characters (and the settings in which they appear) are a bit like the Cheshire cat, here for a moment and then disappearing from view.

I'm finding some of the characters a bit difficult to track, particularly when the names look similar.
If you want some listing of characters, then you might like to read this Wikipedia set of articles.

10 comments:

Bernadette said...

I agree that you couldn't possibly read Hornet's Nest without having read the others Kerrie. Hope you think it's all worth it in the end :)

Uriah Robinson said...

Kerrie, I agree I think it is important to read them in order simply to see how Larsson builds up to the finish, and how his writing improves over the course of the three books. On the other hand it leaves you wondering what great books would have been written if he had lived.

Luanne said...

I'be bought the first one, but haven't read it yet. I just know that this is a series I want to own.

Kerrie said...

I am wondering if it will feel unfinished when I complete reading this one.

Dorte H said...

Interesting to hear about your progress, and it always strikes me as very funny when foreigners think Scandinavian names are alike. Of course they are not ;)

But Irish, Finnish or Icelandic names ...

Reg / Steve said...

I do not run The Stieg Larsson Site. I run my own blog: http://reg-stieglarssonsenglishtranslator.blogspot.com/

And Dorte, sure, Scandinavian names ARE hard to tell apart sometimes. How about all the Niels Jensens, Jens Nielsens, Thorkild Hansens, and Hans Thorkildsens out there? Why do you think Danish authors like to use their middle names or mother's name?

Once an old friend from a radio station in San Francisco called me up when I was living in Seattle and publishing Scandinavian fiction in translation. He said it was Erik Christiansen, and I thought, oh no, another Danish author who wants to be in English. He hung up on me and I haven't tracked him down since. Even online it would be hard with a name like that! (Eric, if you're out there reading this, forgive me and go to my blog and drop me an email!) Reg Keeland [alias Steve Murray]

Dorte H said...

Reg, you have a point ;O
I wrote a Danish short story recently, inspired by an old family legend, so I had to use the actual names of my relatives. 90 % of the men were called Christen.

Kerrie said...

Thanks for the correction Reg. I've changed my post.

Anonymous said...

Kerrie, How did you get TGWKTHN on Kindle? I can't find it...

Kerrie said...

It came through the Kindle store on Amazon US. There may be different scenarios according to which Kindle oyu have, and where it is is "homed"

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin