dragon tattoo

i am attempting to read the girl with the dragon tattoo. i say "attempting" because i have only read maybe, 75 pages in two weeks. this is "attempting" because i can easily read a 250 page book in one day if i am into it. i just don't know what it is about this darn book but i just cannot seem to get into it. i honestly feel like i am back in 402 english struggling to get through novels that were written by foreign authors in every language imaginable other than english. yes, i am aware that this novel was originally written in swedish so this feeling is obviously justified but struggling through the foreign names of people (there is not a single character with a simple name like "smith" or "jones") and places (unfortunately, i know nothing about swedish geography) is nearly painful. i think the awkward names of people and places are what is making it incredibly difficult for me to connect with the characters - i cannot seem to picture or place them at all. reading this book is not pleasurable and everything but leisurely - the two things i want from a good book. it is an international best seller which means everyone else around the world seemed to be able to get into it - i think i just need to pull up my big girl panties and get over it.

so, you might ask why i am still "attempting" to read this book? well to start off it is the first of a trilogy. lately, i have been trying to avoid reading single novels; it is a rare occurrence that after finishing one novel i feel satisfied. the majority of the time i find myself annoyed that it was over so soon so i have decided that i am only going to read novels that are at minimum a piece of a trilogy.

secondly, they have decided to make a movie out of the novels. yes, i am completely aware that they have already made a movie version of all three novels in swedish; to be honest, i had zero desire to watch the subtitled versions but i recently saw the trailer for the american version and it definitely looked intriguing. so, before i watch the movie, i have to read the book because any time that i ever watch a movie then read a book i find myself falling back to the images of the characters as they were in the movie rather than really picturing the characters and places as the author intended for them to be portrayed. i feel like this is cheating and unfair to the poor chap (or chapette) who spent so much time and effort creating and describing these characters and places just so. plus, i personally love seeing films that were originally novels that i have read. for some reason i get a sick amount of pleasure from critiquing/ comparing the novel to the film. oh, and, did i mention that daniel craig stars in the new american film adaptation?

lastly, everyone who has read the book raves about how amazing it is - i would hate to miss out on an amazing novel. yes, the majority of them say that you need to give it about 150 pages before it gets "amazing" (so, at this rate, i guess i wont start enjoying it for another two weeks...) so i have decided that i will "attempt" to read it a little bit longer...