Don't Mess With Lisbeth...

Title : The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Author : Stieg Larsson

U.N.Owen’s Rating : 4.0/5

Mikael Blomkvist, the controversial journalist is hired by Industrial Mogul, Henrik Vanger to look into the disappearance of his niece (or great-niece). As Mikael delves deeper into the mystery, Lisbeth Salander helps him. Lisbeth has a dark past & she’s an expert hacker/programmer. Together, they piece the missing puzzle blocks discovering  a shocking truth. What happened to Harriet? Is she alive?

The above is the basic gist of the book. This is the first of a trilogy by the late Swedish author. The book was initially written in Swedish under the title “män som hatar kvinnor” (Men Who Hate Women). Seeing from the title it’s obvious that the book touches upon the subject of abuse & trafficking with respect to women. In fact, the female protagonist is named after a real person who went through the same kind of torture.

The translation is good, not great. While the book could have been cut down by about 100 pages, the story is so gripping that I had to stay up late till 4am to finish it. Two aspects of a book (especially a mystery) are important: first, the characters & second, the plot. As I mentioned the plot was flawless (parts were far-fetched, but hey it’s fiction!), so the book satisfies point two. The characters in this book are written with so much detail that they felt like real people. Having satisfied both my rules, this book is easily one of the best whodunits in recent times.

With the Swedish movie (trilogy as well) being a success, we can hope the American version doesn’t turn out to be a damp squib.

Verdict: Apart from the lengthy descriptive passages (I just skimmed through), this book is a real page turner with a nail-biting finale. If you like this book, don’t expect much from the next two of the series. Leave comments about the book or any other recommendations.   

Faute! ~ Young Guns! (Part 2)

3.Petra Kvitova - She reached the Semi's of Wimbledon at the age of 20 giving tough competition to eventual winner, Serena Williams. This 6 footer from the Czech Republic has a booming forehand & a serve which could make Venus shudder (ok! Venus still has the best serve). What makes her unique is that she isn't a one-trick pony. She has reached the semi's of a Grand Slam (Wimbledon '10), won 3 WTA titles & has helped her country get through the group stages of the Fed Cup. She defeated 5th seed Sam Stosur in the 3rd Round, Flavia Penetta in the round of 16 but lost to Current World No.3 Vera Zvonareva. Despite her loss, she came back with a bang, defeating Australian Open Champ & mom, Kim Clijsters in straight sets at Paris. She is dangerous when she is in the zone.

4. Andrea Petkovic - The oldest in my group of "upcoming talent", Andrea is known for her spunky nature & her famous dance move - Petko dance. Supposedly, her coach made her promise that if she won a particular match,she would dance in front of everybody. Ever since that incident, the Petko dance has become her signature move whenever she beats someone. Beneath the smile & moves, this German is all no-nonsense, delivering the goods with precision. Although, she had an easy pass to the round of 16 with Venus' early retirement, the match against her 4th round opponent was tougher than it looked. Maria Sharapova,coming back from her shoulder injury, showed no mercy to her opponents until the 4th round where she crumbled - ouch! Losing in straight sets makes it that much harder.Despite her loss to Chinese Runner-up, Na Li, Andrea seems to have finally found her rhythm.

I think this year is going to be a cracker whether it be ATP/WTA 1000's or Grand Slams - the competition is fierce! More "Faute!" to come soon!

Faute! ~ Young Guns! (Part 1)

Whoever said Tennis is a "Gentleman's Game" needs to check his noggin. It's bloody brutal out there! After years of tamed-play from players like Connors,McEnroe (his mouth isn't though!) & Borg , everything is so - fast. The players are really agile, surfaces are different making the ball speed way higher than before,serves are ridiculously fast too. I think this era of players like the Fab 4 (Federer,Nadal,Djokovic & Murray), Soderling & others are really competitive & ruthless when it comes to their game play. While the 90's were dominated by the likes of Sampras & Agassi, the 2000's have so many good players.Each player has his/her unique technique or style, no more serve-volley domination. Baseliners & two-handed backhanders are doing much better now than they used to 10 years ago - bye bye sweet one-handed backhand! Despite the changes, the game has remained intact when it comes to its rules,long rallies,occassional tantrums & controversies.

I personally love watching a one-handed backhand player - the way they move their arms like that is just awesome. Apart from the Fab 4, there are a number of other players who have great potential at winning Grand Slams.

So here goes my list of 'budding talent' :-

1.Alexandr Dolgopolov- This guy has a massive serve , Gonzo-style. His forehand is like a whip & his movement is on par with Nadal. Alexandr reached the quaterfinals of Australian Open 2011 where he lost to an in-form Andy Murray (Runner-up '10,'11). He demolished 2008 Runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga & French Open finalist Robin Soderling en route to the round of 8. With hair as big as his serve, this one should be on the lookout for 2011.


2. Milos Raonic - This 6'5'' Canadian blazed through his opponents & reached the 4th Round in only his second appearance in a Grand Slam.Having failed to reach the 2nd Round in his maiden Grand Slam (USO '10), this Yugoslavian-born player shocked everyone this year with his splendid performance. He defeated 22nd seed Michael Llodra in Round 2 & then went on to win against the mercurial Russian, Mikhail Youzhny who was seeded 10 at this year's Championships.Milos has already grabbed his first ATP Title at San Jose (SAP Open) beating title defender, Fernando Verdasco. In case ace-serving Roddick quits soon, Milos could be his successor!

Part 2 coming soon..

New Stuff coming out soon!

Hey I know my articles generally come under the "reviews" section, but I've decided to be more open & creative. I think you guys would find it a real drag if I review each & everything, so I've decided to add another section to my site.

"Faute!" is going to be my "tennis-analysis" section covering anything & everything that goes on in the ATP/WTA world. I may add a few articles on other sports as well (If I feel like writing one!).

I love Tennis  - watching & playing (on my PS3 i mean :P ). So any news regarding sports would be primarily covering Tennis, occassional news about Football or Cricket may randomly appear.
So hope you all like my new articles, will get one out soon!

P.S: I am not putting a full stop to my reviews. U.N.Owen will continue rating & reviewing. So don't worry :)