The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This is an odd book to have received such widespread public acclaim. For one thing, it is about 250 pages too long. The story I thought the book was about, that is the story from the synopsis on the back cover, does not begin until about 100 pages in and has a satisfying ending with 100 pages still to go. That story is a good and compelling one, if a little frustrating. Readers who think they're going to be given a chance to solve the mystery alongside the protagonists will be disappointed. The clues are unavailable to the reader as they mainly involve decades-old photo albums. That said, the mystery is interesting enough to keep me curious and wanting to read into the wee hours.
Another thing that surprised me about this book is how unabashedly violent it is (though on second thought, that could be something that attracts it to the American public, warmongers that we are). Murder, physical and sexual assault, and animal cruelty abound. I like a good crime novel as much as the next girl, but this was a bit more explicit than most of what I've read before. I think it was the animal cruelty that was the worst. Steer clear of this book, PETA.
Other complaints: -There are too many characters to keep track of with names too similar to each other. (Berger and Birger? Was that necessary, Larsson?) I'll attribute that to my limited knowledge of Swedish names, since before I read this book the only name Swedish name I knew was Astrid as in Lindgren.
-There's far too much in the way of business dealings for my taste. I just found myself not caring about this part of the book and it drags on for pages and pages.
All in all, I'm glad to have read this book. I'll probably read the next in the series at some point because I like to finish what I start and even though I have a lot of complaints about this book I did enjoy it. The translation from Swedish to English is smooth and did not pose any problems. The main story and parts of the business/journalism stuff were good.
Recommended for business majors (maybe they'll find the finance parts more interesting than I did) and lovers of crime novels.