Book Club Gathering #9

A highly talked about title that many people are reading nowadays is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson. Choosing this book was risky- we've read a lot about how graphic and violent this book is. Many club members chose not to read the book for this very reason. Several of us decided to take a risk and see for ourselves what this book is all about! We met at Tracy's home to enjoy a Swedish-inspired meal, since the book is set in Sweden and written by a Swedish author. We had Swedish meatballs, roasted root vegetables, salad, fruit salad, bread, and a Swedish dessert called "Kladdkaka" (accompanied by a scoop of ice cream and a huge dollop of whipped cream, which Tracy taught me how to make that same night- I know, it's pathetic I didn't know how to previously). We all tried some lingonberry jam (courtesy of Emily from IKEA, though she sadly couldn't join us), and Tracy was the only one who was brave enough to try some canned herring (the rest of us couldn't get past the smell when it was opened!). Other than the pungent fish smell, the meal was fantastic! Tracy even had parts of the movie version playing in the background throughout the evening. I guess the U.S. version is coming out some time soon, though we're told the Swedish version is pretty accurate to the book. Surprisingly, all of us who came agreed that we liked the book, despite the graphic violence. In fact, most of us have already begun reading the second and third title in the Milennium Trilogy! The first portion of the book was very slow, but once you get past the slow beginning, the author did a great job of "hooking" the reader. There was a lot of discussion about the issues raised in the book- for example, the violence against women in Sweden, how "sexually charged" the book is, as well as how disturbing it is that someone "created" the scenarios in the book. We all agree that it was a good, suspenseful page-turner. I have already read the second one, The Girl who Played with Fire (which in my opinion, is even better than the first), and look forward to reading the third one!