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[Edited, 6 Jan 2012:  This blog post refers to the original Swedish film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, directed by Niels Arden Oplev, and starring Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace.  Here is a link to another post about the American remake, directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.]

Like zillions of other people, I’ve been devouring the Stieg Larsson “Millenium” “Millennium” trilogy.  My copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest hasn’t arrived yet, which has made for some painful waiting.  (Darn you, Powell’s!  Why must you be so far away?)  But I anticipate an engrossing read when it does arrive.  The first two novels in the series made a joy of my 100 minutes of daily commuting.

I’m still processing my thoughts about these books.  They break many of the rules of thumb that we like to recite when it comes to writing and storytelling.  In many places they stand at odds with the standard advice beginning novelists receive.  But for all that they’re compulsively readable and, let’s face it, huge international megabestsellers.   So the late Mr. Larsson sure did something right.

Anyway, last night I zipped over to a local college campus to catch the film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  I’m glad I had a chance to catch it while the novel was still somewhat fresh in my memory.  I found myself continually comparing the film’s storyline to that of the book, taking note of the places where the screenplay diverged from the book, and theorizing about why the filmmakers made the choices they did. 

Since The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a mystery, it’s kind of hard to do such a plot comparison without some major spoilers.  So, if you haven’t read Dragon Tattoo yet and don’t want it ruined for you, don’t read below the cut.

Went to see the Russell Crowe/Cate Blanchett Robin Hood last night.  It seemed (very) overly long, and the story—such as it is—never really figures out what it wants to be about.  Sort of a poster child for “written by committee”.

I completely gave up on this movie when we hit the slow-motion shot of Russell Crowe yelling, “Nooooooooo!”

That is honestly in the film.  Hard to believe, I know.  And I’m pretty sure that bit was meant non-ironically, since this wasn’t intended as a comedy or satire.  I’ll bet I can guess what you’re thinking: hasn’t noooooo been a cliché since almost forever?

Yes.  Yes it has.

Another Chronicle of Sorrows hint request came over the weekend.  I haven’t posted about the contest in a while, so maybe I should rectify that.

As of this posting, the Chronicle of Sorrows game is still unsolved!   (Though, thanks to the magic of Google Analytics, I see folks are making good progress.)  The first person to successfully access the contents of John Stephenson’s desk is elegible to win a signed advanced review copy of Bitter Seeds.  (I say eligible because I recognize that some folks might not want an ARC.  And I’m not about to force somebody to take one.)

A summary of the game, and some suggestions, below the cut.

It seems an odd thing to say, but I have to admit it never occurred to me that being a writer—even a fledgling one, as in my case—would bring me into greater contact with people.  But it has, in ways I never expected.  This has been, by far, the greatest unexpected benefit to come out of my writing efforts.