The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

It rained early morning yesterday. It was the perfect day for me - balmy, not sunny; overcast skies, mild sunlight. No, I'm not a vampire. I just don't like sunny days like most people do. I like feeling the energy of a storm, and I particularly love the weather that presages a downpour.

I made myself some chocolate oatmeal and drowned it in milk, and settled myself on the terrace to appreciate the fine morning reading a book. Stieg Larsson's Millenium books have been the 'IT' books for the past year, much like Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code or the Twilight series were in the past. So on that fine morning, I decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about and started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.


It was not bad, as crime fiction goes. Although I must say that upon reading the part where the mystery was first presented, I already suspected what the solution was going to be. What I did not know were the details surrounding the solution and though I was not surprised, the author was skillful enough that I did not clearly see it coming.

The book also has more substance, than, say, Sidney Sheldon's. Where Sheldon's books aimed to tiltillate with the various depravities he wrote into his stories, I felt that Larsson aimed to bring attention to the injustices perpetrated on women. Larsson's book has moral and ethical dimensions.

Also, the main protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist, is a crusader. In this character you can feel the author's strong personal convictions on what journalism should be. And I agree with him on this. Nowadays journalists and the media mostly pander to vested interests, shaping public opinion to be favorable to the powers that be. Most have forgotten that the press is there to serve as a guardian of public interest and a watchdog on the activities of government, unscrupulous sectors and criminal elements.

I would recommend this book to people not only for its entertainment value (moderate), but more to help them understand how much we need crusaders in our society too, and maybe to help them realize that in their own small way, they also need to contribute to supporting these crusaders - be it as simple as buying their publications, or supporting them through advertising. And of course, to not support those media outfits that so obviously always put favorable spins on their stories (yes, that damn entertainment conglomerate that's contributing to the moronization of the Filipino masses).