Quick thoughts on Huck Finn, Stieg Larsson & Best books of 2010

There have been several bits of book news lately that I’ve wanted to comment on. I had dreams of separate posts for them all, but that’s not going to happen, so I’m smashing them all into one post instead.

1. Huckleberry Finn Censoring.
This came as quite a shock to me when I heard it on the news the other day. It seems very strange and misguided to change the text of a historic book in order to protect innocent readers, increase use in schools or just be more politically correct. Like Dr. Sarah Churchill says in a Guardian article,

“The fault lies with the teaching, not the book. You can't say 'I'll change Dickens so it is compatible with my teaching method'. Twain's books are not just literary documents but historical documents, and that word is totemic because it encodes all of the violence of slavery. The point of the book is that Huckleberry Finn starts out racist in a racist society, and stops being racist and leaves that society. These changes mean the book ceases to show the moral development of his character.”

However, an EW blogger points on that this censorship would only happen in certain copies of the book – most likely those meant for school-aged children. So, is this any different than censoring R-rated movies on TV so an immature audience doesn’t see/read something its not ready for? I thought that was an interesting point, at least. [Edited to add: This post by Flavorwire, changing other challenged books to be more "appropriate" is great. Also, Susan Orlean's take in the New Yorker.]

In the end, I think I fall on the side not changing the book. It just seems wrong. If I wrote a book one day, I would hate for the powers that be to decide to change it after I’m gone. (Yes, this is a short and simple thought on an very complex issue. But, I don't have the energy to really get into it right now.)

2. New Yorker’s Millennium Trilogy column.
Critic Joan Acocella asks Why Do People Love Stieg Larsson’s novels? She points out many reasons not to like them. Bad dialogue. Loose ends. Unnecessary detail. Not enough detail. A poor choice in male protagonist. I read other bloggers commenting on Acocella’s column saying they agreed with her – they hate the books, too. However, I don’t think Acocella hates these books. She does defend Larsson and the books a bit as well. She thinks the claims he’s a women-hater because of the scenes of violence against women are unwarranted. She likes Lisbeth as the heroine. And, she praises the books use of technology.

I agreed with her on all accounts. Sure, the books have too much detail – I barely kept reading Dragon Tattoo because the first 100 pages were so hard to get through – and there were huge loose ends (Lisbeth's sister??) and bad dialogue. I chalk the loose ends up to the author’s early death. And bad dialogue? Well, see Star Wars and Twilight, and I still love those. I too loved Lisbeth as a heroine, and I was very impressed by Larsson’s knowledge of computers and hacking. He was very up-to-date - if not ahead of our time considering when he wrote these - on security measures and hacking abilities when it comes to technology.

Something I found interesting was Acocella's analysis of Larsson’s view of Sweden. Perhaps it isn’t the Utopia of everything that we Americans think it is?

3. With the New Year came several Best Of lists. Here are just a few:
Goodreads Choice Awards
New York Times
Time Magazine Fiction & Nonfiction

I was pleased to see The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on several lists. I’ve had this book for several months and am reading it right now, so I feel proud to have picked this one out on my own before seeing it make all these lists.

The third book in the Hunger Games series, Mockingjay, also made many lists. I’m late to the game on this series – much like Twilight – but I’ve heard good things, so I plan to start it soon.

Room is also all over these lists. I’ve read about this book and heard from trusted sources that it’s pretty amazing, yet quite sad and disturbing. I’m not quite sure it’s up my alley, at least for the moment.

The Emperor of All Maladies also made several lists. This has been on my Amazon Wish List for awhile. I’m waiting for this book to either drop its Kindle price or come out on paperback, but I’m definitely interested.

I didn’t read The Corrections, so Freedom, even though it made ALL lists, isn’t high on my own reading list.

I couldn’t believe Time picked Faithful Place as a top book of the year. While I liked it, it wasn’t as good as her others, and with only picking 10 books out of all from 2010, I couldn’t believe this was one of its choices.

What are your thoughts? Censorship opinions? Millennium lovers or haters? Your top books published in 2010?

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

My first book read after maternity leave was The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest of the Millennium Trilogy. I very much enjoyed the first two in the series. Hornet’s Nest works as an ending to the trilogy, too. I would have to say that of the three, Played with Fire is probably my favorite because it was the most action packed. Hornet’s Nest takes place more in the hospital and the courtroom, however while there’s not tons of action, Larsson does still make the story interesting. It was a bummer that Lisbeth and Blomkvist had zero scenes together, but you can appreciate the reason why. I liked the wrap up of the mystery, too, though one part (Lisbeth’s twin sister) was left wide open. Was this an error? Was Larsson planning something for this part of the story before he died? I don’t know, but it left a big question mark in my mind.

This review is pretty vague because I would hate to ruin any surprises for people still reading the series. I have the Swedish version of Dragon Tattoo set to stream from Netflix, too, though I’ve heard it’s pretty graphic, like the book but unlike what I would expect an American version to be, so I’m not sure I want to watch it. I will see the American version when it comes out, especially since Daniel Craig will play Blomkvist and not Brad Pitt. It’ll be interesting how Hollywood condenses the book into a movie.

I know there are some detractors out there about these books. I’ve read pretty convincing arguments about Larsson’s use of sexual violence against women, and how even though he made Lisbeth out to be an ass-kicking women, does the violence still paint a masochistic picture of Larsson? I don’t personally know, and I just chose to breeze over the gory details onto more of the mystery and interpersonal relationships between the characters. I’ve also read reviews that claim so much of the action takes place on the Web – hacking, money transfers, texting, chatrooms, etc. – and particularly in the last book and how that’s boring. I actually thought it foreshadows where crime-fighting and crime-prevention are going these days.

All in all, I’d give the trilogy 4 out of 5 stars as a whole. The books are detail enriched, sometimes slow, but overall very entertaining. And I think Lisbeth is a great character.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

I have to say, as much as I enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the second book in the trilogy is even better. There were some slow parts in Tattoo, primarily the first 30 pages and the last 45-50 pages or so. This one has kept me hooked from page one. The story is action-packed, the characters are interesting and Lisbeth Salander, our heroine (if you can call her that), kicks butt.

When Lisbeth finds herself in a heap of trouble that has to do with three murders, she's forced to go into hiding and try to solve the murders, and clear her name. Turns out she's the link, and her shadowed past, which we learned so little about in the first book, takes center stage. The journalist Blomkvist believes her innocence and starts his own journalistic investigation, parallel to the police investigation, to find out the truth. The truth isn't pretty - it involves sex trafficking, sexual abuse and considerable brutality - but it definitely grabs you and draws you in anyway.

We get a whole new cast of characters in this book. With series I'm always wary of new characters. Will the author make me care about them as much as I do the main characters? Will these new guys be fully formed and worth my time? Will I hate one so much it'll ruin the story for me? But, I've enjoyed the new characters in this book - both the good guys and the bad guys. And when the bad guys get their comeuppance, I give a little cheer.

When the book trades off between the investigation from both the police's and Blomkvist's perspective to Lisbeth's, there can be a little repetition. The author takes us through some of the same information, just through Lisbeth's eyes as she finds out. Part of me thinks this is unnecessary; and I tended to skim those few parts. But, they were so few, they didn't take away from the story.

I can't wait for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest to come out in May. I'm anxious to learn the rest of Lisbeth's story. (Warning: Do not read the synopsis to the third book if you have yet, and want, to read the first two. There are some spoilers.)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The book started out a touch slow. The language was a bit cumbersome at first, and the story didn’t hook me instantly. Instead it had to fill the reader in on some background information, and the author decided to do that first, even though it was a bit boring and confusing as to where it was leading. But, once I got about 20 pages in to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I was hooked. The story weaves together a wronged journalist, a disturbed 20-something private investigator/researcher and a powerful Swedish family. Together they try to solve a 40-year-old mystery of a missing girl. You wouldn’t think a cold case like this would be that interesting to read about, especially when things take place in the frozen tundra of northern Sweden, but it was, in fact, very engaging.

I enjoyed all the characters. The powerful family, the Vanger’s, have a weave of interesting members and the reader, along with the journalist Blomkvist, get to learn all about their dark little secrets. The mystery is a good one, and while I did suspect the true ending right away, there were still plenty of surprises in store. There are also a few other minor mysteries that weave throughout the main story, and though they’re not quite as interesting, they don’t take away from the enjoyment of the story by any means.

The detailed writing and family mystery reminds me of other authors I enjoy, like Tana French and Stephen Carter. And while the book was pretty graphic in violence, especially violence against women, it wasn’t too harsh that it made me want to put the book down. I have the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the third comes out in May. Both continue to follow Lisbeth, the researcher, and Blomkvist, so I’m very excited to read those, too.