(*At least until the US version of The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest hit the screens)
So here's the thing: I have read all three of Stieg Larsson's rather wonderful Millennium novels, watched the US movie based on '...Dragon Tattoo' while I was about halfway through reading it, and have now watched the entire Swedish TV miniseries based upon the Millennium Trilogy (or 'The Girl Trilogy' as it seems to be known in some circles).
Some have said that the US movie is an abomination which ruins a good story, and that the Swedish version is far superior.
I am not one of those people.
Don't get me wrong, the TV miniseries is pretty good... it just takes far too many liberties with the story. I've already commented on the simplifications made in the US movie, and I fully expect that the remaining books will receive much the same treatment by Hollywood... But, frankly, if they're even half as good as Steven Zaillian's take on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, they're going to significantly improve upon on the bizarre omissions prevalent in the TV series.
The changes made for the series make certain plot elements seem unnecessary, contrived or downright weird. Not wishing to give anything away, but "Erika's big decision" from book 3 was removed entirely, yet one of the consequential subplots was worked in by a different means, and it seemed to be pointing the finger at one of the employees at Millennium... only for that strand to be left hanging - presumed solved - in the denouement.
There's a cliffhanger to the first part of '...Kicked the Hornets' Nest' that not only isn't in the book, but directly contradicts part of the evidence later presented in the court case. In fact, most of the case was similarly mangled and, while the very end of the trial was pretty much the same as the book - with a key witness for the Prosecution being arrested - it all seemed like a losing battle until very near that moment, whereas the book shows that the Defence is merely biding its time.
Oddly, though, the thing that most rankled was that no attention was paid to Niedermann's phobia and the resultant hallucinations so, since he didn't have a single line of dialogue that I can recall, he ended up being entirely without character.
I'm not remotely surprised that they toned down Blomkvist's relationships (he's basically with Erika the whole time) since they have no significant bearing on the plot... but the involvement of the Vanger family in the story seems to end in when their mystery is solved, whereas there's a Vanger on Millennium's board right till the end of the books. Blomkvist's involvement in the police investigations is purely professional, so his big turning point at the end just doesn't happen, and the handling of his reconciliation with Salander was, in my opinion, misjudged - it felt as if it was left hanging and undecided, whereas the book is quite clear about it.
Had I not read the books, I'm sure I would have thoroughly enjoyed the TV series. In fact, it might have prompted me to try the books... and then only be disappointed in retrospect. I'm sure a perfectly faithful adaptation would have been considerably more expensive and time-consuming to make, most likely ending up with a 12-part miniseries. In fact, on the dubious strength of the Swedish adaptation, I rather hope that the US version of '...Kicked the Hornets' Nest' gets turned into a 2-part movie, like the final volume of the Harry Potter series. The first part could be the events surrounding Salander's time in hospital, while the second could focus on the court case and all the intrigue that's happening behind the scenes... there's more than enough of that, certainly.
(Addendum: One really funny thing is that, in episode 3 ('...Played with Fire' part 1) Lisbeth kits out her new apartment straight from Ikea - just like in the book - and unpacks exactly the same Kitchen Starter Set as I got when I moved into my flat!)
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