My name is Bondssen. Johann Bondssen. From Wisconsin.I'm about halfway through The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and so far ich liebe es, although I'm not sure why exactly. Maybe it's the strong female protagonist, maybe it's the whole idea of overturning a government conspiracy, maybe it's the clever, understated dialog, hell, maybe it's the fish sandwiches. Whatever, I haven't enjoyed a new book so much in a long time.
On the other hand, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the Swedish secret police. Since the original bad guys are more or less dead, it's unclear why the new generation is so paranoid about keeping old secrets buried. Also as villains go they're pretty lame. I mean, it's convenient for our heroes that the secret police don't know seem to know the first thing about counter-espionage and have to hire a tame burgler to break into someone's apartment and don't realize the significance of PDAs and other handheld devices, but I find myself thinking, 'Really, Stieg?'
For crissake, people, I'D be a better spy than these guys. I even know someone who knows how to tap phones. But so far the plot seems to depend on them being not very good - and, to their credit, not evil enough to kill innocent people - or the book would have been over after the first chapter.
Also it's an interesting study of the Swedish political system. Even once the Prime Minister and about half the government and police force have been informed and agree there's a problem and want to stop whatever's going on, it still isn't anywhere near over because no one seems to have any actual power. It's a bureaucrat's Shangrila.
Please note that these are just my preliminary observations since I haven't actually finished the book yet. Knowing my boy Stieg, he still has something up his sleeve to tie it all together neatly and surprise me. I'll keep you posted, although I won't spoil the ending for you.
BTW for some reason blogger is not emailing me comments reliably, although I can check them directly in the posts. Is anyone else having this problem?
Perhaps they are being intercepted by the Swedish secret police, which probably has some sort of search engine looking for references to 'Stieg Larsson' and 'fish sandwiches.'
Given what you said about the Swedish Secret Police, I don't think they could find the internet. That said, I occasionally have that problem with not receiving comments as well. Weird.
ReplyDeleteI heard from your friend of a friend. He reported that YOUR phone is tapped. Oops.
ReplyDeleteJust kidding. The book sounds interesting. I think the issue is simply that the Swedes don't get enough sun and they suffer from a Vitamin D deficiency. ;-)
As for blogger, I am now getting emails with comments where I wasn't before. Hum....
Thanks for the heads up. I find I am missing some of my comments as well. At least 80 of them.
ReplyDeleteI'm having the opposite problem. Comments get emailed but don't show up in the post. And the number has been off too.
ReplyDeleteWhen do you find the time to read! I'm running around like a balloon with the air let out of it trying to get everything done!
ReplyDeleteI'm a speed reader.
ReplyDeleteYour so snarky in this post...made me laugh :)
ReplyDeleteI think the Swedish Secret Police are too busy eating meatball sandwiches to do any secret policing. Also - one thing you must realize about Sweden - no one can do anything before having hundreds of meetings to discuss what to do and then everyone has to agree...
ReplyDeleteOnce in a while that comment email issue comes up but it usually fixes itself shortly thereafter.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're enjoying the book!
You are a hoot. I never get my comments by email, so I don't know how to help you!
ReplyDeleteI haven't had any comment issues. But I have been so busy that I may not have noticed.
ReplyDelete