I have never read, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” the first novel in the series by Swedish author Stieg Larsson that’s enjoyed extraordinary global success. 

In part, it’s just circumstance – do I want to spend $5 on “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters” or $15 on “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” Sea Monsters.

But there’s also another reason: I always had a little voice in the back of my head that steered me the other way as it insisted it was the most vile, disgusting work ever penned.

The voice belonged to my sister-in-law, Katie. Katie is an avid reader and although we don’t always gravitate toward the same novels, I trusted her opinion. So when she told me that the book’s insane level of gratuitous violence against women actually made her physically ill – she went so far as to throw it in the trash as soon as she’d read the final page, an action her husband still resents, seeing as that the book was his – I didn’t have a huge desire to read it, despite its popularity.

This also translated to apathy toward the film, now a Box Office smash starring hottie Bondsman Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, budding star and heiress. Fun fact: Rooney is the great-granddaughter of both Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. and New York Giants founder Tim Mara. Who knew?

But seeing as though it was directed by David Fincher, one of my husband’s favorite directors, best known for “Fight Club,” “Seven,” “The Social Network,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” I knew I’d be dragged to see it.

I braced myself.

Apparently the book delves into Mikael Blomkvist. His work as a journalist. His fall from grace and his subsequent trial. I’m told – by Katie – that this accounts for the entire first half of the book.

Well, “Dragon Tattoo” readers be warned. It’s cut. All of it. Our fair film begins with Mikael (Craig) exiting the courtroom, defeated. He’s quickly courted by a wealthy man who employs him to solve the 40-year-old cold-case murder of his niece, Harriet. It’s this mystery that unites the playboy reporter with Lisbeth Salandar, an antisocial ward of the state.

Lisbeth is brilliant and crazy and the lion’s share of the onscreen violence is against her. It is indeed vile and fairly graphic, making her equally violent response quite gripping.

It’s clear why these characters captured the interest of the world. Sadly, I can’t say the same for the film. For me, it felt like nothing more than CliffsNotes. All the highlights without any of the depth or nuance.

You want to experience “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?” Read the book. I just may join you.  

Catch it at:

* The Regal Cinema at 12:20 p.m., 3:40 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10:20 p.m.

* AMC Tilghman 8 in South Whitehall at ‎‎1 p.m., 4:10 p.m. and 7:20 p.m.

* The Rave at the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley at 12:05 p.m., 2:35 p.m., 3:45 p.m., 6:45 p.m. 7:25 p.m. and 10:50 p.m.