I’m an aspiring thriller writer. Whenever I read a successful thriller, I want to know why it’s a hit when so many others are misses or, more frequently, are simply workmanlike product that you read once and promptly forget. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” is as big as they get, and deserves close scrutiny. Here then is my list of the top ten reasons why it’s become a classic.
1. The main plot is a familiar cozy mystery setup. There has been a mysterious disappearance (or perhaps a murder, but no corpse was ever found) on a remote island. There is a finite number of suspects. The pool of suspects include members of a venerable and eccentric family. Does this sound like an Agatha Christie mystery? Of course.
2. A subplot involves a powerful industrialist who, despite his vast wealth, seemingly perpetrates a petty fraud involving a phony factory. The risk is high and the rewards are low. Why? The same question is asked in the James Bond thriller “Moonraker”; when the book opens, Bond and M wonder why the immensely rich Hugo Drax would cheat at cards at M’s private club. This little McGuffin sets the plot into motion.
3. The hero Blomkvist is hired by a wealthy, near-death octogenarian to investigate a young female member of the old man’s family. We’ve seen this same scene in many thrillers including “The Big Sleep” by Raymond Chandler (in that case, the detective was asked to find a blackmailer). It’s familiar and it resonates.
4. There is plenty of tasteful sex. Blomkvist beds various female characters, and provides the promise of one-night, guilt-free, middle-aged lovemaking to millions of male and female readers. The tasteful sex is not described in detail.
5. There is a substantial “cringe factor.” We experience the graphic violence perpetrated upon Lisbeth Salander, which she dishes right back. There are also the murders of the many female victims, which are described in gruesome detail, and the many sick relationships in the Vanger family.
6. Computers play a big part in the book, and Larsson knows enough to be able to describe exactly how Salander works her hacking magic. At least I assume he knows; I have no idea if his techniques actually work. But the impressive detail gives the book a contemporary sheen.
7. Corporations are vast, unknowable, craven organizations, ruled by selfish tycoons. Always an appealing theme.
8. Nazis are good to have in a thriller too; you can’t lose by including a few of these super-bad guys.
9. About two-thirds of the way through the book we learn that someone is trying to kill Blomkvist. This makes the book a thriller; it’s no longer just a cold case, but a conflict that includes an active agent of evil.
10. The brilliantly conceived character of Lisbeth Salander sets the book above thousands of other competently written mysteries. Her character is fresh, compelling, and she provides the moral foundation that supports the story.
There is much in the book that I skimmed or found boring. I really didn’t care about the fate of “Millenium” magazine (print magazines come and go all the time), and Larsson loaded the book with paragraphs of tedious expository writing (or “information dumps”). The fate of Harriet Vanger seemed obvious from the first page; the moment Henrik reveals that the pressed flowers are related to her disappearance I thought, “Of course, she’s still alive and she’s the one sending them.” When this possibility is never seriously considered by the protagonists, this makes it seem all the more likely.
By my estimate, the book clocks in at a hefty 180,000 words; it could easily have been trimmed to 100,000 with no loss of nutritious content. But this only proves that when you’ve got a reader hooked, they will dutifully slog through the boring parts to get to the good stuff.
- Thomas Hauck provides ghostwriting and editing services for authors of fiction and non-fiction. When you need to take your novel or self-help book to the next level, contact Tom for a free consultation.
