The Stieg Larsson novels getting so much attention? I think the titles are getting markedly worse. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? That's good shit. I want to know about the girl with the dragon tattoo. What about the girl with the dragon tattoo? Why does she have this dragon tattoo? What does the dragon tattoo look like? Is the story connected to the dragon tattoo? (It's not, actually, which is pretty disappointing.) (Unless of course it is and I don't know about it because I only saw the movie.)
So next comes The Girl Who Played with Fire, which isn't as good, but is still mildly intriguing. I mean, lots of people play with fire. Does she literally play with fire, or is it just a bad metaphor? But still, why does she play with fire? And what sort of play, exactly? Playing with fire doesn't seem nearly as cool as having a dragon tattoo, but maybe the story will support it sufficiently to excuse the mediocre title. (It doesn't, by the way. At least not in the movie, which, again, is the only format in which I've experienced it. I could be wrong.) (But I'm not.)
The third title is just ridiculous. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest? Come on... It sounds like a chapter in Winnie the Pooh, for Christ's sake. Kicking a hornets' nest is stupid. There's no good reason to kick a hornets' nest, there's certainly no interesting reason to kick a hornets' nest, and I couldn't care less about whatever reason the girl might have had to kick a fucking hornets' nest. What's worse (insofar as book sales are concerned), is that I couldn't care less about the hornets' nest kicking girl herself - whoever she is. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is a very bad title. Seriously, it's like he just stopped caring.
All that said, I heard somewhere (I have excellent sources) that the author - this Larsson character - was extremely dissatisfied with the English translations of his books. So maybe it's not his fault. Who knows? But let's be honest. If he's familiar enough with the English language to critique the translation, it seems like he might have weighed in before they went to press. Am I wrong? (No, I'm not.) (And we both know it.)
I think he was dead by then. And Winnie the Pooh wouldn't have gone anywhere near a hornet's nest. Hornets don't make honey. So it would also be a terrible title for a Winnie the Pooh book. Or even just a chapter in said book, as indicated. I think it's weird that they want me to have a URL. I don't even know what that is. So I'm going to keep posting anonymously, but just so I don't look like some dick that posts dick-y things on your blog, I'll put my name at the bottom... so everybody knows it's your SISTER posting dick-y things on your blog. So much better...
ReplyDelete-Your Sister