outside reading xiv

Outside Reading XIV-
a book review
by David Kamp
The Hacker and the Hack
14 March, 2011

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the last novel in a trilogy by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson. David Kamp offers a brief review of each novel in his critique titled The Hacker and the Hack.

Kamp looks at these books from a few different criticisms, including

feminism- Kamp states that Larsson was a “self-proclaimed feminist,” and that “’this story is not primarily about spies and secret government agencies; it’s about violence against women, and the men who enable it’”. He also looks at the novels from a formalist’s point of view, as he comments on the literary and fundamental techniques of writing that Larsson uses. For instance, he critiques the second book in the series, The Girl Who Played With Fire, by deeming it “cartoonish,” and having to rely on “implausible villains, far-fetched coincidences, and unsurvivable-in-real-life episodes of violence.”

Regarding language, Kamp is rather sarcastic. For instance he says, “Salander, in a climactic confrontation with Zalachenko and Niedermann, survives being shot and buried alive by them, then uses her cigarette case to claw out of her grave and then manages, despite having grievous physical injuries and a bullet lodged in her brain, to swing an ax into her father’s head — though he, too, somehow doesn’t die.” One can easily hear the sarcasm in this text, and it effectively conveys his displeasure with what he feels is an unrealistic plot.

Also, his oversimplification in the quote above demonstrates what he did there with imagery. Kamp leaves out important details in scenes to oversimplify them and make them seem silly. Larsson’s writing probably made this passage seem exciting and plausible, but Kamp’s oversimplification of the setting and events just made it seem too over the top.

As for diction, Kamp uses rather childish words to reflect what he believes to be a rather childish plot. For instance, he calls a character a "big galoot" rather than a more sophisticated term, "villain" perhaps, or "antagonist."