5 Reasons to Read The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

 

 

 

 

This year, I finally finished reading the last book of the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, and I loved every single book. I know technically another book to the series just came out, but it’s not written by Larsson and I’m still unsure about whether I want to read it or not. It just doesn’t feel right to me. Anyway, I thought I would share with you some of the reasons why I think you should read these books. 

 

 

1) Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist

The main characters in this series felt unbelieveble real. They were complex and captivating. Lisbeth Salander is one of the most interesting characters I have ever encountered; she was incredibly smart and at the same time it was mentioned often through the series that she likely suffered from asperger syndrome, which is in the autism spectrum.  Also, Lisbeth had a personal moral code that didn’t always fit in the conceptions of sociaty, but that just added to her character. Blomkvist also had a personal moral code and the fact that they both had one became a fascinating way of studying what people would do or wouldn’t do, what they found acceptable and what they didn’t. About Blomkvist as a character, I can say he had a lot of flaws, but he was so clever and did his job with such a passion that I forgot about them most of the time. 

2) The way it portrait some of the horrible things that happen in the world

There was never violence for the sake of violence in these books. There wasn’t an enjoyment in talking about the horrible things that happened. They were shown as facts because they were, horrible things happen all the time. But also, not only horrible things happen and Larsson showed that beautifully, he showed in his books there is still kindness, compassion, love. 

3) The way it portrait the relationship between society and gender 

The central subject of these books was men who don’t love women (that’s actually the original name of the first book!). In that sense, often in this series the author talked about discrimination, violence, and harrasment against women that was perpetrated by men who disregarded them as nothing. But at the same time, it had all kinds of amazing female characters that grew as individuals and that supported each other  though out the series. It was a equilibrium that showed all the things a lot of women have to go though in life and it also showed that women can overcome so much and that they are incredible. 

4)The secundary characters 

It wasn’t only Lisbeth and Michael that were engaging characters; I felt completely engrossed in the lives and work of a lot of other characters, each one of them had a unique personality that allowed them to be gripping and riveting. It could be a journalist, police officer or doctor, there was always something that made them stand out. 

5) The journalistic aspect of this series

I think this was one of my favorite parts of this series, because it wasn’t only a police or private detective investigation, it showed the rigorous investigation that a lot of journalists do everyday to hold accountable certain people that have been trusted with power. Nonetheless, it also showed the way media can become sensationalist and spread misinformation. It was entralling to see the opossite sides of the media and the series felt like an invitation to reflect on this, as well as many other things. 

 

 

Have you read this series? What did you think about it? or are you planning on reading it?