Girl with a Cup of Coffee?

Need a cup of coffee?

I’m addicted to coffee. My name is Robyn Skinner. I’m from Bermuda and I can’t stop drinking the caffeinated brew.

But what has this got to do with travel? Well my additions is nothing compares to the Swedish author Stieg Larsson. Or at least I hope he was addicted. It could only explain his souped-up, caffeinated main characters in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Why’d I pick this book up? Well I’ve been fighting it for ages. It was like Harry Potter. I didn’t want to cave to what everyone else was reading.

But then too many things corresponded. I just came back from Stockholm. I am a journalist. Or at least I try to be. I am female. Why wouldn’t I read this book? I couldn’t figure out a good enough excuse so I picked it up.

And I couldn’t put it down. The story didn’t need any coffee on my end to keep me up till 1 a.m. reading. It is intriguing and I’m not usually one for thrillers. The characters are their own and not everything ends happy.

Of course now Hollywood has their hands on it who know what will happen. I certainly will not cave to watching the film.

In the book at least, the main journalist: Carl Mikael Blomkvist and his faithful assistant Lisabeth Salander solve the crime of a missing family member and find the solution to a financier who has creative financing schemes and runs roughshod over the law.

Well that’s the story in a snippet. There are obviously a few shots fired, some gory sex scenes and abuse toward women featured which help the narrative along.

My problem with the narrative? Sometimes its too convoluted for its own good. Sometimes pieces could have been put together before they are to add to what turned out to be a 533 page book.

Many I have spoken to try to excuse it because of the translation. I don’t buy it. There are a lot of books that have been translated and they manage to keep the words going pretty well. I mean if that were the case, i.e. translation changing the book, we would all be tied to our own authors.

My other sore point with this book? Remember how they used to try and cut-back on smoking on TV? They said it would make people want to start smoking?

 

A coffee in Stockholm outside H&M. Can I get anymore Swedish?

 

Yeah well they did. But Blomkvist and his side-kick Salander all they seem to do is smoke and drink coffee (like I said at the beginning. Sick of coffee yet? You haven’t even read the book!). I’m the first to admit I am addicted to coffee. I need one every morning. But all these people seem to drink is coffee. Oh and the odd glass of wine.

And I’m not saying write in when they go for a glass of water. What I’m asking is how many cups of coffee did they really need to drink. I swear. At least twice a page by half-way through the book they were putting on the coffee maker.

Seriously dude. Switch off the caffeine!

That said, I did like the book. And if you wanted a taste of Sweden (I mean besides my stunning columns printed in The Royal Gazette and here of course) these are well worth it. It’s a great book to take with you traveling too because it doesn’t take much to read. Easy prose. Good plot. Just make sure you don’t take-up too much coffee or start the cigarette game!

It’s a tough battle! Enjoy your weekend. Over and out to Bath, England I go but stay tuned for my column on Monday for the second trip in Sweden!