May 08, 2011 11:02 PM
2629 Views
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest is the third and final book in the Millennium series by Steig Larsson.
A bit of the background, which I also mentioned when I reviewed the 2nd title in the series. The Millennium trilogy written by Steig Larsson consists of three books- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. Larsson was a Swedish journalist who was considered one of the most prominent experts on right-wing and Nazi associations, and also ran the magazine Expo.
He died of a heart attack in 2004. After his death, the trilogy was published first in Swedish, the books then became worldwide best-sellers and have been translated into many languages. He has left behind outlines and plots for many more novels in the series.(From wikipedia)
Although all the novels are Crime genre, there is a different feel to each of them. The first title is more a crime/mystery and also establishes the background story. The second one is a crime/thriller and very fast paced. The third title is more sedately paced, and deals with the aftermath of crime, political crimes and crimes against civil rights.
The series has two protagonists. Mikael Blomkvist is an investigative journalist with an impressive track record and questionable personal life. Lisbeth Salander- "the girl"- is an anti-social, secretive girl who is very intelligent and a brilliant computer hacker. Salander is one of the most original characters you have or will read in a long time.
The story picks up right where it left off in the previous book. Within a few pages it becomes clear that everything is not going to be wrapped up neatly as regards to the Salander affair. Next we are introduced to 'The Section' -the secret within the secret police- the villains of the story, their conspiracy and the crimes they are ready to commit to cover-up the crimes they have already committed. This part is a bit slow. Just as you are wondering why they can't see the obvious, thing start to move forward.
After this, enter a number of new characters as the personal and official investigations intensify and the highest echelons of government become involved in a bid to unearth one of the most shocking scandals seen in the country. This part of the book has two problems. First, the story takes place in Sweden , a country whose politics and governance are largely unknown to most people. Second, the author goes into a lot of detail about Constitutional procedures and police and security structure which seems to drag on for a while.
Around 300 pages into the book, the story really picks up. This is the really intriguing part of the book- with chaos, conspiracies, spying, stalkers and whatnot. Blomkvist and Salander's boss Armansky come up with resourceful and ingenious ideas for the investigation. Best of all, we are given a glimpse into Salander's privileged world- that of the world's best hackers. Then comes the courtroom drama, which has also been well-written and you cannot help but be drawn into it. The character of Blomkvist's sister and Salander's lawyer- Annika Giannini deserves a special mention as a tough-as-nails, honest lawyer who takes on a number of perverse men and grounds them into dust. The last part of the book is dramatic and satisfying.
Also, Larsson's books have highlighted and condemned crimes against women. This is actually the cornerstone of his novels. This one is no different.
The book moves much slower than its prequel and takes some patience initially. But it is a brilliant piece of writing and fulfilling conclusion to the series. Overall the series is excellent and will be commemorated for unique crime writing. In particular, Salander will be a character long remembered.
Publisher- MacLehose Press (Quercus)
Pages- 746, Paperback
Price- Rs.350
