sharing my love of books with you
Sycophantic – a characteristic of or relating to a sycophant (an informer, a talebearer, a parasite, one who seeks favor by flattering people of wealth or influence)
Not until the book was launched did he give an exclusive interview to She on TV4, once again scooping the state-run stations. But the questions were anything but sycophantic.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Delphic – oracular; obscure in meaning; ambiguous
When she was asked why the previous year’s exposé of Wennerström had been such a fiasco, she was even more delphic. She never lied, but she may not always have told the whole truth.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Vitriolic – extremely biting or caustic; sarcastic; sharp and bitter
“For me, it’s also important that you absolutely understand that I have nothing whatsoever to do with this vitriolic attack.”
Vanger to Blomkvist, in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
Cogitation – the act of thinking; thought; meditation; contemplation
After six months of fruitless cogitation, the case of Harriet Vanger cracked open.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Importunate – pressing or urging in request or demand; urgent and persistent in solicitation; refusing to be denied; annoyingly urgent or persistent; causing vexation; troublesome
Cecelia Vanger kept her distance. Blomkvist did not want to be importunate, so he waited a week before he went to her house.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Gallimaufry – a hodgepodge; a jumbled assortment
Every family had a few skeletons in their cupboards, but the Vanger family had an entire gallimaufry of them.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Kitsch – something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality; a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition (Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
“That’s where Eugene Norman lives. He’s in his late seventies and is a painter of sorts. I think his work is kitsch, but he’s rather well known as a landscape painter.”
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Warning: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is not a book for everyone. There are many intense graphic scenes. Murder, sex, and violence are major themes and foul language is used throughout the book. If you do not feel comfortable with any of these elements, I highly recommend you do not even open the book. Once you start, it will be hard to put down.
I started and stopped reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a few times last summer, mainly because of time constraints. This is a complex novel with several storylines and two main characters, and I wanted to be able to read it in its entirety without too many interruptions. So, when I finished my novel in October 2024, this was the first book I pulled off the shelf.
The story begins with disgraced reporter Mikael Blomkvist. He used unverifiable and untrue sources to slander a large company and its owner. For this, he was prosecuted and found guilty of libel. After the trial, Blomkvist semi-retires to north Sweden at the invitation of the Henrik Vanger, head of the wealthy Vanger family, and is given the opportunity to write Henrik’s autobiography.
But there’s a twist. Blomkvist is asked to try to solve the mystery of sixteen year old Harriet Vanger who disappeared forty years ago. Was she murdered? No body was found. Did she run away? If so, how was it that absolutely no one had seen or heard from her since?
Enter the girl with the dragon tattoo that wraps up her back and around her neck: Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth specializes in research – but not the kind in libraries with old books. She can dig up anything out of anyone’s past with a few quick strokes on her laptop keyboard. She was originally hired by the Vanger’s lawyer to research Blomkvist, but eventually Blomkvist hires her to research the Vangers, especially Harriett.
What they uncover falls into my Best Plot Twist Ever list. Sorry, I can’t say more.
The author, Stieg Larsson was Swedish and the editor of the magazine Expo. From the introduction: “He died in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, and the third novel in the series.” (The third novel is The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.) Other authors have carried Lisbeth Salander’s character into more sequels, but that is a subject for another day.
Did you read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or its sequels? Let me know what you thought of them in the comments below.
“When she locked the door to her compartment, she could feel that for the first time in two days, her adrenaline levels had returned to normal. She opened the compartment window and defied the no-smoking regulations. She stood there sipping at her coffee as the train rolled out of Oslo.”
Steig Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Let me tell you why this quote is so cool. But first, personal context:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was the first novel I read after I finished writing my novel’s first draft. The problem with first drafts is that they are rudimentary and sorely underdeveloped. They say the first draft is for the writer, meaning it is the story the writer wants to tell. The following drafts are for the readers, shaping the story into the complete book it will eventually be.
The quote above is from the end of the second-to-last chapter of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It caught me and gripped me. As soon as I read it, I had to reread it and breathe out a sigh. “That’s so cool!”
Watch this.
Stieg Larsson could have said, “She picked up a cigarette” or “She took a drag from her cigarette.” Both would have been equally as effective at describing what She was doing. And both are equally as boring.
Instead, Larsson used words to paint a picture. We know exactly what she is doing, even though he never even mentioned a cigarette. “She defied the no-smoking regulations.”
Why did this phrase make me so excited? Because it was a clear example to an amateur what a master can do with words alone. Now I can begin editing my novel with this phrase in the back of my mind, and I will look for ways to incorporate this kind of storytelling. Storytelling that shows the picture instead of talking about it.
Can you think of some cool ways to describe things or actions without naming them? Put your imagination to the test in the comments below.
© 2025 A COLLECTION OF BOOKISH THOUGHTS
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑