Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest (2007; tr Reg Keeland, Maclehose Press 2009)

Also known as: The queen in the palace of currents of air – A Rainha no Palácio das Correntes de Ar (Portuguese), La reina en el palacio de las corrientes de aire (Spanish), La Reina al palau dels corrents d’aire (Catalan), La reine dans le palais des courants d’air (French); The queen of the houses of cards – La regina dei castelli di carta (Italian); Justice – Gerechtigheid (Dutch); Forgiveness – Vergebung (German); Exploding  castles in the air The Castle in the Air That Was Blown Up (thanks to Reg Keeland in the comments for the correction) – Luftslottet som sprängdes (Swedish, original), Luftkastellet der blev sprængt (Danish), Pilvilinna joka romahti (Finnish), Luftslottet som sprengtes (Norwegian). Dear commenters, please correct my translations of these titles if you think they need it.

Plenty of material there for a prediction exercise in a literacy class, and then there are the covers:

Fy faen sier jeg bare. Luftslottet som sprengtes var en utrolig bra avslutning på en utrolig bra serie. Om du fortsatt ikke har sett Menn som hater kvinner, synes jeg du burde gjøre det så snart som mulig. Mange vil ikke se filmene fordi de er svenske, men de går virkelig glipp av mye. Svenskene kan film, og disse tre filmene er så utrolig gripende at jeg flere ganger får lyst til å rope ut til kinolerretet av ren frustrasjon, gråte av sinne og klappe i hendene av herlig skadefryd.

Les bøkene, se filmene, og fortell meg hva du synes!:D

Mevrouw de Beschermheer kwam laatst thuis met een dikke pil van hebikmejoudaar. “Kostte maar een tientje “, zei ze er trots bij. En inderdaad, af en toe vraag je je af hoe dat schrijvers, uitgevers, boekwinkels, papierpoducenten, inktfabrieken én drukkers op die manier het hoofd boven water houden.

foto: inejacet.nl

Enfin, het was natuurlijk wachten geblazen tot mevrouw de Beschermheer dit boek volledig gelezen had. Of nou ja, verslonden is een woord dat de situatie beter weergeeft. Het maakte de Beschermheer steeds nieuwsgieriger. Was dat boek van de overleden Zweedse auteur Stieg Larsson nou echt zo’n meesterwerk?

Eén ding is zeker: de Beschermheer had al snel moeite om het boek weg te leggen. In deel 1 van zijn Millennium-trilogie laat Larsson zijn hoofdpersoon, journalist Mikael, een uiterst ingewikkelde puzzel oplossen, met moord en gruwelijk seksueel misbruik als weinig vrolijke ingrediënten. Hij wordt daarbij bijgestaan door de weinig gesocialiseerde hackster Lisbeth Salander, met wie hij en passant ook de lakens deelt, net als met een paar andere vrouwen trouwens.

Goed, het verhaal en de karakters zijn niet overal even geloofwaardig, maar het plot is spannend en aardig doortimmerd. Het gevolg is een behoorlijk goed boek, dat je maar met moeite weglegt. Met het mindere werk van Hnning Mankell van de laatste jaren in het achterhoofd komen we tot een viertal NUtsterren: ++++. En dat is een zeer behoorlijke score!

In the latest Vanity Fair, Christopher Hitchens tells the story of the popular writer Stieg Larsson, who died a few years ago at age 50.  The circumstances of that death are explored in Hitchens’ article.  Hitchens helps to correct a common misperception afoot here in the United States. Some of our demagogues use “fascist” and “communist” as synonyms, despite a long and detailed history that shows that communists are the sworn enemies of fascists.  How that distinction has been lost in some of the public discourse in the U.S. perhaps proves only some people’s inability to attend to history, coupled with a desire for delation. Christopher Hitchens reveals some of the stories that have been attached to Larsson’s death.

A report in the mainstream newspaper Aftonbladet describes the findings of another anti-Nazi researcher, named Bosse Schön, who unraveled a plot to murder Stieg Larsson that included a Swedish SS veteran. Another scheme misfired because on the night in question, 20 years ago, he saw skinheads with bats waiting outside his office and left by the rear exit. Web sites are devoted to further speculation: one blog is preoccupied with the theory that Prime Minister Palme’s uncaught assassin was behind the death of Larsson too. Larsson’s name and other details were found when the Swedish police searched the apartment of a Fascist arrested for a political murder.

Larsson’s The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest will be out in English in the U.S. next year.  If you cannot wait, the novel is available now in the U.K. (as of 1 October).

Author: Stieg Larsson

Genre: Murder Mystery

Publisher: Quercus

Dag Svensson is an investigative journalist who has uncovered major sex crimes by government officials who created the very law that they were breaking. Svensson’s revelations will cause widespread controversy against many respected figures in sweden. Svensson begins working with Mikael Blomkvist who agrees to publish his report in Millenium. They realize that this topic is going to ruffle many feathers in high places and could potentially cause problems for people, however they could never have dreamed to who and what extent these repercussions would go.

Blomkvist arrives at Svenssons apartment one night to find that he and his girlfriend Mia have been brutally murdered. Blomkvist believes that he can at least attain solace through the murder weapon he finds, however the gun only serves to further distress and confuse Blomkvist as Lisbeth Salandar’s fingerprints are on it.

Salandar becomes the prime suspect in not only these murders but also in the murder case of her guardian Nils Erik Bjurmann. Blomkvist is certain that Salandar has been framed and he sets out to try and clear her name but it is not easy when even Salandar herself does not seem to want to help his cause.

Being a fugitive is more of an inconveniance to Salandar than an actual problem. She is too distracted by her own search for a man called ‘Zala’ who she intends to kill.

Salandar’s hunt for Zala as well as Blomkvist’s investigation to clear her name reveal a lot about how Salandar was emotionally damaged in the past. Their paths inevitably cross and the situation surrounding the murders and Salandar’s past becomes more intricate and compelling as the story unravels.

Salandar’s determination to find this Zala character, while running from the police and those who framed her, never wanes. This compells us to read on not to find out if she is innocent or guilty of the murders but to find out why she wants to kill this man and what it is that he has done to her.

The story of The Girl Who Played With Fire is well thought out and unendingly entertaining. The array of fascinating aspects of the seperate plots and how they entwine together will keep you reading until your sight gives up. So often sequels are dissapointing however Larsson’s second book continues the success of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and will make your mouth water at the prospect of the finale to the series The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest.

La última entrega Millenium se coge con ganas, pues Stieg Larsson nos deja con la miel en los labios al terminar la anterior. Bien podrían juntarse en un solo libro, si hubiera un formato capaz de aguantar su peso sin descuajaringarse.

Mikael Blomkvist todavía no ha podido probar la inocencia de una maltrecha Lisbeth Salander, que se recupera en el hospital rodeada de enemigos dispuestos a impedírselo. Pero Lisbeth tiene recursos. Gracias a sus pocos amigos y grandes habilidades como hacker, saldrá virtualmente de su confinamiento para allanar el terreno en vistas al juicio que le espera.

Mientras, la policía sigue tratando de desvelar que ocurrió realmente con los reporteros Dag y Mia, quienes son Alexander Zalachenko y Ronald Niedermann, y por qué parece haber una organización secreta del gobierno que les encubre.

La revista Millenium sigue las investigaciones de cerca, y su redacción no estará exenta de peligro.

“La reina en el palacio de las corrientes de aire” está en la línea del anterior libro, y a su altura. El ritmo es bueno y la forma de escribir de Larsson entretenida incluso en los momentos irrelevantes. Pero todo eso da igual. Llegados a este punto uno la devora en un santiamén con tal de saber que será de Salander, ¿irá a prisión? ¿buscará a Mimmi? ¿donde está Niedermann? ¿saltará el escándalo en el servicio secreto sueco? ¿logrará Millenium publicar otro bombazo?

Stieg Larsson ha creado personajes con identidad propia, bien definidos, complejos, y ha logrado que nos metamos en sus mentes y nos hagamos una idea bastante exacta del tipo de personas que serían en la vida real, con sus virtudes y sus defectos, buenos o malos. Ese es el punto fuerte de sus novelas.

La crítica social es patente en los tres libros. La corrupción en las grandes empresas, los prejuicios sociales, la sed de poder de a quien se le da un poco, las injusticias y crímenes que se permiten por una burocracia absurda, incompetencia o aceptación social, la manipulación de los medios, etc… Pero sobretodo Larsson defiende la igualdad entre hombres y mujeres, en todos los aspectos, como el trabajo, los derechos, el sexo o la vida en pareja. No en vano sus personajes mas fuertes y carismáticos son mujeres. Lisbeth Salander, Erika Berger, Harriet Vanger, Miriam Wu, Sonja Modig, Monica Figuerola… También nos habla de valores como la amistad, la lealtad o la tolerancia.

Los tres libros enganchan, crean adicción. Rebosan suspense y acción, y no es de extrañar que se hayan querido pasar a la gran pantalla. El problema es que para hacerlo bien se hubiera tenido que producir algo como lo que Peter Jackson hizo con “El señor de los anillos”, y que pese a su magnitud dejó pasar algunos detalles que todos los lectores echaron en falta. En las películas de Millenium, que no están mal del todo, la cantidad de cosas, ya no detalles, que se dejan pasar es enorme, y se han visto obligados a cambiar algunos sucesos para comprimir la historia de cada entrega en dos horas.

Unas novelas totalmente recomendables. Lástima que Stieg Larsson nos haya dejado y no podamos disfrutar mas de sus historias.

Saludos.

Author: Stieg Larsson

Genre: Murder Mystery

Publisher: Quercus

Henrik Vanger is haunted every year by the untimely death of his grand-niece. Harriet Vanger mysteriously disappeared over thirty years ago leaving no leads to what happened to her, but Henrik is certain that one of his own family members murdered Harriet. Henrik’s obssession with the loss of Harriet lasts for over 30 years however he makes no progress until Mikael Blomkvist joins him on the Island of Hedeby.

Mikael Blomkvist is an investigative journalist whose career has recently been thrown into travesty as his reputation is damaged by a libel case brought against him by the industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerstrom. Blomkvist is unable to continue his career in Stockholm and Henrik Vanger takes advantage of his hopeless situation by inviting him to work on the case of Harriet Vanger.

Blomkvists scepticism of his assignment does not stop him from moving into Vangers guest house and working tirelessly to solve the mystery. Blomkvist’s early excursions into the case leave him empty handed and it is not until he recruits the enigmatic and unique private investigator Lisbeth Salandar does the story even begin to unfold. Lisbeth is considered to be one of the most accurate employees of Milton Security but it is her secret skills as a computer hacker that encourages Mikael to acquire her help. A mutual affection develops between the two to the point that their underlying relationship has the potential to become more than a working relationship which creates a confusing situation for Mikael who is obviously in love with his editor back in Stockholm, Berger is a married women who has an open affair with Mikael.

Mikael finds a new vigour for the case and with the help of Lisbeth his investigations begin to ruffle some feathers of one or more of the residents on the island. Mikael finds that his seemingly quiet job in Hedeby has suddenly become so strenuous that another murder is commited on his porch while his own life is constantly under threat. Mikael is not deterred from his work and keeps working even though it may lead to his own untimely death.

The mysteries of this compelling novel will have you turning pages frantically.

Will Mikael survive his stay on Hedeby Island? Can he uncover the truth about Harriet’s murder? Where is Mikael and Lisbeth’s relationship leading? What else will we learn about the complex talents of Lisbeth Salander? Who is trying to kill Mikael? Is the Vanger family really as despicable as Henrik believes?

The truth about Harriet’s murder and the story that accompanies it will shock you to no end.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a novel that seemingly has everything and is a must read for anyone who enjoys mystery novels and even for those who have’nt in the past. However, I must stress that certain scenes in this book are deeply disturbing and some of the topics discussed are not for the faint hearted.

Jag läste precis att Stieg Larssons bok ”Mænd der hader kvinder” (Män som hatar kvinnor) ska bli teater här i København. Kul!

Föreställningen har premiär den 4:e december 2010 på Nørrebro Teater.

Innimellom går det ingenting av interesse på kino, men nå går det så mange filmer jeg har lyst til å se….også passer det jo så dårlig siden det er 3 uker til eksamen. Men noen av de må jeg prøve få sett på kino. Er liksom ikke det samme på dvd.

Twiligt – New Moon…..jeg har sett første filmen og synes den er veldig bra. Liker kjærlighetshistorien mellom Edward og Bella, og er spent på åssen det vil utvikle seg. Også er jo Robert Pattinson ganske kjekk å se på da

2012….har hørt den er veldig action fylt og at effektene i filmen er helt utrolige! Jeg liker sånne action filmer, så denne bør sees på kino!

This is it….Michael Jackson filmen, har hørt den er veldig bra, særlig hvis man liker musikken hans. Det er masse filming fra han øvde til konsertene han skulle ha.

Luftslottet som sprengtes…den siste filmen i Stieg Larssons serie om Lisbeth Salander. Utrolig trist at det ikke finnes flere bøker, for de er helt supre, og passet utrolig godt til å lage film av. Håper denne filmen er like god som de to første!

Saw 6….den er sikkert like ufyselig og ekkel som de andre filmene, og må sees!

I have not yet come up with a theory that accounts for the popularity of Lisbeth Salander – given that very few people publicly indentify themselves as feminists these days (thinking for some reason that’s all over and done with) and given that bixsexuality, hacking, and anti-social behavior are not on the Approved List of popular plot developments, not to mention that leftist crusading these days tends to be seen through a glass ironically – but she has done something that, if she actually existed, would astonish the hell out of her. She has had an incredible number of people in a great many countries fall in love with her.

Maxine sums up her reviews of the three books in one spoiler-free blog post.

Kerrie reviews Hornets’ Nest at  Mysteries in Paradise, and won’t say much for fear of spoilers (other than read them all in order) but does point out:

For me, Larsson’s women’s rights agenda was stronger in this novel than in the other two. Right from the beginning we have an image of Salander as some sort of warrior. The opening paragraphs tell us about the six hundred women who served in the American Civil War, and then later we are reminded of the Amazons, and then the women’s army that existed among the Fon of Dahomey. It is hard not to see Advokat Annika Giannini, Salander’s lawyer in this role too. She turns out to be a courtroom lion whom the proecutors severely underestimate.

The other theme that comes through strong and clear is the power of the press to make or break a government, and even more the role/duty of a journalist to seacrh out the truth.

Other assessments of the third in the trilogy:

Bernadette’s Reactions to Reading – “The book is brimming with positive female characters who can look after themselves as well as many men who go out of their way to right the wrongs they have seen done around them. . . . a complex, unpredictable book that wears its liberal heart proudly on its sleeve.”

DJ’s Krimiblog – “Larsson does not try to hide his agenda: he wants to do more than write a crime story, this time by adding short sections about amazons, women who voluntarily leave the kitchen in order to fight.”

Norm’s (aka Uriah’s) posts his final assessment at Crime Scraps, describing the complexity and sophistication of the third volume and his own journey from “skeptic to fanatic.”

At the Guardian, Roy Greenslade says that journalists love the trilogy because they are about the excitement (and the challenges) of getting the news; they’d all secretly like to be the crusading Mikael Blomqvist.

And finally, an Australian appreciation by Brian Toohey that compares the book to Henry Porter’s The Dying Light, saying both authors kick the hornets’ nest (while Toohey takes the opportunity to kick a few Australian politicians in the process). Toohey thinks there’s some truth in Larsson’s ficiton . . . and perhaps some fantasy:

Larsson, who died in 2004 before the novels were published, spent many years as a journalist observing Swedish politics at close quarters. Of course, as works of fiction the books don’t necessarily reflect political reality in Sweden. Nevertheless, some aspects of the latest novel are based on fact.

Just as in the novel, Cold War–era prime ministers allowed the Swedish intelligence services to conceal an unofficial unit that violated the civil liberties of innocent citizens in the name of national security. . . . [but considering his treatment of present-day events] it is difficult for the outsider to judge the plausibility or otherwise of Larsson’s portrayal of a prime minister and his justice minister who genuinely want to unearth wrongdoing in the security services. Similar considerations apply to the depiction of a unit that really does exist within the Security Police – the Directorate of Constitutional Protection. In Larsson’s account the unit’s staff work with unswerving dedication to ensure that their colleagues in another section are arrested on criminal charges. It is even less clear to an outsider whether Larsson is being impossibly romantic when he predicts that a huge public scandal would erupt if the prime minister failed to nail those who mistreated a fractious thirteen-year-old.

That’s an unusual perspective: that Larsson may have been too kind to public officials and been too ready to believe some of them would want to do the right thing.

Obviously I’ll have to read this book myself and see what I think.

Salander planea su venganza contra el hombre que trató de matarla y contra las instituciones gubernamentales que casi destruyeron su vida. Pero no va a ser una campaña directa. Tras recibir una bala en la cabeza, Salander está bajo una férrea supervisión en Cuidados Intensivos, y se enfrenta a un juicio por tres asesinatos en el momento que le le den el alta. Con la ayuda del periodista Mikael Blomkvist y sus investigadores de la revista Millenium, Salander tendrá no sólo que probar su inocencia, también deberá identificar y denunciar a los políticos corruptos que permitieron a los vulnerables convertirse víctimas de abusos y violencia. Antes una víctima, Salander está lista para devolver los golpes.

Ver y descargar: “la reina en el palacio de las corrientes de aire”

Les dejo la coleccion Millenium de Stieg Larsson, una trilogia fascinante llena de mucho suspenso, politica, vinculos y la sociedad de hoy en dia.

A titulo personal fue embriagante a tal punto que no queria dejar de leer, ya era tan familiar leer la vida muy pecualiar de Michael y hacerse la idea que Lisbeth es como cualquiera de nosotros.

Enjoy

Made a trip to town today and yeah at least I manage to take a breather of the air outside of Tampines. hehh.

Okay I bought 2 books today, ouch. Didnt purchase the entire series cos the 3rd book was so freaking expensive. 26bucks after 20percent discount. Who wanna share it with me hm. The girl who killed the hornet’s nest , the sequel to the first 2 books of the girl with a dragon tattoo and the girl who played with fire. lol. 26bucks

Saw many people today when I was outside, shant mention who since they didnt really see me either hahaha. -.- If the lack of sleep’s called insomnia, is there a name for wanting to sleep desperately? -.- I slept for like 3hrs straight upon finishing dinner just nao. LFDJhOY6 48^#$&*#^87638. Smth must be wrong with me. Shall go take a shower and decide what i wanna do later. that’s it for now baiii.

lala, it’s nice to be nice.

Among all the egg cups and whisks I packed in the tea cartons to come to Colombo, I managed to sneak in a couple of books – wisely assuming that as a new housewife I would have some time on my hands to read.

And then some.

I’ve made my way through Philip Roth’s second Zuckerman trilogy (slightly ashamed that I’ve never read any Roth before), devoured Jung Chang’s book on Chairman Mao and tried to make some sense of Simon Sebag Montefiore’s Stalin: The Court Of The Red Tsar… but by chapter ten of the latter I’d had enough of dolally dictators and their awfully strange habits. I managed to sneak Robert Fisk’s 1,000-page tome, The Great War For Civilisation into one of the tea cartons but I can’t quite find the will to start it – I’m waiting for a rainy day or a bad dose of the flu (though apparently H1N1 has hit Sri Lanka, so you never know…)

Fearing that I would have to start re-reading back issues of the Husband’s Economist or – heaven forbid – the local newspapers, I stocked up on some books when I was back in the UK in October – one of which was Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. An awesomely written crime novel (though it does bang on a bit in places), it was the first in the trilogy written by the Swede Larsson, who sadly died before the books hit the big time. If you’re looking for a good present for someone this Christmas, or need something to get you through the family festivities, then this is it. (I did order the second book from the lovely Lawrence who runs one of the bookshops out here, but it’s currently stuck somewhere in India, so I’m going to have to wait until December for my next installment.)

Keeping to the Swedish theme, I managed to find Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s Martin Beck detective series collecting dust on a shelf in one of the bookshops out here. There was a piece in the Guardian about Sjöwall last week so I’m expecting great things. Will let you know how I get on.

I recently finished reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the third installment of Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millennium Trilogy’. While I don’t think the third book is quite as compelling as the previous two–a decline that may be explained by the state of the three manuscripts when their author Stieg Larsson died suddenly aged 50, in 2004–taken together these books represent a great achievement in crime fiction. The writing is not always as sharp as it could be, but the scope of the story is enormous. Christopher Hitchens, writing in Vanity Fair, agrees:

In life, Stieg Larsson described himself as, among other things, “a feminist,” and his character surrogate, Mikael Blomkvist, takes an ostentatiously severe line against the male domination of society and indeed of his own profession. (The original grim and Swedish title of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is Men Who Hate Women, while the trilogy’s third book bore the more fairy-tale-like name The Castle in the Air That Blew Up: the clever rebranding of the series with the word “girl” on every cover was obviously critical.) Blomkvist’s moral righteousness comes in very useful for the action of the novels, because it allows the depiction of a great deal of cruelty to women, smuggled through customs under the disguise of a strong disapproval. Sweden used to be notorious, in the late 1960s, as the homeland of the film I Am Curious (Yellow), which went all the way to the Supreme Court when distributed in the United States and gave Sweden a world reputation as a place of smiling nudity and guilt-free sex. What a world of nursery innocence that was, compared with the child slavery and exploitation that are evoked with perhaps slightly too much relish by the crusading Blomkvist. [More]

Yrsa Sigurdardottir makes her first contribution to a group blog with an international flavor and charms everyone with her modesty and humor. She says,

If you are wondering what country I do call home, imagine a tiny island way up north where the only banking institution not humiliated and disgraced is the national blood bank. If this does not help, imagine a country obviously named by someone intent on keeping people out. If still at loss, imagine a war with no prisoners and absolutely no opportunity of placing landmines as it was fought at sea, on fishing boats, over cod. There will be no more clues.

But a commenter adds some additional hints:

It’s also a country with the oldest parliamentary system in western europe–and probably the longest continuous one in the world. It’s a country that keeps adding to its territory without war. And it’s a country with one of the most moving collections of epic literature, poetry and prose.

I’ve tried to create main characters who are drastically different from the types who generally appear in crime novels. Mikael Blomkvist, for instance, doesn’t have ulcers, or booze problems or an anxiety complex. He doesn’t listen to operas, nor does he have an oddball hobby such as making model aeroplanes. He doesn’t have any real problems, and his main characteristic is that he acts like a stereotype ‘slut’, as he admits himself. I’ve also changed the sex roles on purpose: in many ways Blomkvist acts like a typical “bimbo”, while Lisbeth Salander has stereotype ‘male’ characteristics and values…..

The article that Maxine links to by Val McDermid is well worth a read. In “The Man Who Died Too Soon,” she concludes,

It’s a tribute to Larsson’s skill that he never allows his political concerns to dominate his desire to tell a cracking good story packed with dramatic incident and brimming with quirky insights. But without his personal commitment to taking a stand in support of what he believed in, I’m convinced these three novels could never have had so powerful an impact among readers.

Forty years ago, with their Martin Beck novels, the Swedish writers Sjöwall and Wahlöö blazed a trail that proved the crime novel provides the perfect vehicle to write stories that shine a critical light on the society we live in. Stieg Larsson demonstrated that this works just as well for present-day concerns, and his example should give aspiring writers the confidence to put their own beliefs at the heart of their work. Books like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest remind us all that we ignore the wider world at our peril.

Glen Harper at International Noir Fiction reviews Gunnar Staalesen’s The Consorts of Death (and promises to say more about the Norwegian television series):

Staalesen shows great skill in keeping a very complex story coherent: characters and events weave in and out, with personal and metaphorical connections among them all along the way. There are some surpises at the end, as well, when Varg finally discovers what’s been going on in the several murders and in Johnny Boy’s life. Staalesen’s novels take on social issues, but there are many passages in this book that are right out of classic noir (though Varg isn’t the usual noir hero, he has too much hope for his clients’ fates). There’s a lot more Varg Veum in Norwegian, and I for one hope for translators and publishers to fill in the gaps in what has been translated.

There’s an article in The Prospect about the Stieg Larsson phenomenon that seems peculiarly off-base in almost every particular. The author says the Sweden portrayed in crime fiction “is the modern equivalent of the library in the country house of classic English detective stories: the conventional stage in which to find corpses surrounded by a selection of intriguing and sinister eccentrics. . . . The crimes are all solved by amateurs, and usually the punishment is dealt out by amateurs too.” Salander is a witch, and Blomqvist is “Philip Marlowe without the failures or the inner life.” He considers Sjowall and Wahloo as part of the same fantasy genre, and refers (quite snidely) to the “domestic Swedish detective novel, which Scandinavia women journalists in their thirties write instead of chicklit.” My favorite comment on this article comes from a friend at the FriendFeed  Crime and Mystery Fiction room, who feels the author was “jumping on a bandwagon and driving it into the nearest vacant column inches.” Really, it’s difficult to compete with the depth of knowledge and the sheer wit of the residents of this online community.

*The country in question is Iceland, if you haven’t guessed.

Αυτό που μ ενοχλεί στα δεύτερα και τρίτα μέρη μιας τριλογίας και γενικά στις συνέχειες βιβλίων  είναι ότι τα επόμενα μετά το πρώτο, επειδή προσπαθούν να απευθυνθούν και σε ανθρώπους που τυχόν δεν έχουν διαβάσει την αρχή, επαναλαμβάνουν στοιχεία της πλοκής με αποτέλεσμα εσύ που (σαν καλή μαθήτρια) έχεις κάνει το homework να νιώθεις ότι σου μιλάει σαν να είσαι νήπιο. Όταν ένας συγγραφέας αποφεύγει αυτή τη λούμπα τότε είναι ένας καλός συγγραφέας. Ο Μάρκαρης ας πούμε στην τριλογία με τον αστυνόμο Χαρίτο το χειρίστηκε καλά. Η Ούρσουλα Λε Γκεν επίσης σε σημείο να μην είσαι σίγουρη ότι διαβάζεις τη συνέχεια του πρώτου. Ο Αλεξάντερ ΜακΚολ Σμιθ με τη ντετέκτιβ απ τη Μποτσουάνα με απογοήτευσε αλλά μαζοχιστικά, διάβασα 5 συνέχειες πριν σταματήσω. Η Ρόουλινγκ επίσης με το Χάρι με εκνεύριζε απ το τρίτο και μετά.

Ο Λάρσον στο δεύτερο με απογοήτευσε κάπως. ΤΟ κορίτσι που έπαιζε με τη φωτιά δεν ήταν ισάξιο του πρώτου. Το κορίτσι με το Τατουάζ με είχε εντυπωσιάσει. Αλλά επειδή είχα κολλήσει και ήθελα όπωσδήποτε να μάθω νέα της Λίζμπετ Σάλαντερ πήρα και το τρίτο βιβλίο και το διάβασα κι αυτό σχεδόν μονορούφι. Και μάλιστα ήταν μια έκπληξη γιατί μου άρεσε περισσότερο απ το δεύτερο.

Συζητούσαμε για το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο με το φίλο μου τον Κώστα, ο οποίος αγαπάει πολύ τα αστυνομικά και διαβάζει πάρα πολλά κάθε χρόνο, και διαφωνούσαμε. Σ εκείνον δεν άρεσε πάρα πολύ, βρήκε την πλοκή υπερβολική και την ηρωίδα καθόλου ρεαλιστική. Εμένα δε με πείραζε καθόλου αυτό. Άσε που δεν βρήκα καθόλου υπερβολικές ούτε τις δυνατότητες της στην πληροφορική ούτε την όψη και τις συνήθειες της. Αυτό στο οποίο συμφωνήσαμε όμως ήταν ότι ο Λάρσον έγραψε πάνω απ όλα ένα λεπτομερές και παράδοξο για μας πορτραίτο της Σουηδίας. Οι περισσότεροι έχουμε μια ιδέα για τη χώρα του ΙΚΕΑ, αρκετά στερεοτυπική: κρύα, οργανωμένη, με άριστη παιδεία και καλό ντιζάιν! Ο Λάρσον όμως φανερώνει και τις παθογένειες, την πολλή βία ειδικά ενάντια στις γυναίκες (χαρακτηριστική όχι μόνο στη Σουηδία βέβαια), αλλά και κάποια στοιχεία που ίσως τα ξέρουμε αλλά δεν αντιλαμβανόμαστε την έκταση τους. Εμένα μ άρεσε ας πούμε το γεγονός ότι οι ήρωες χρησιμοποιούν συνέχεια τα μέσα μαζικής μεταφοράς, ότι υπάρχει μια ελευθερία στις σχέσεις, ότι στο ζήτημα σεξ οι άνθρωποι είναι πιο χαλαροί, και ότι η νομοθεσία τους είναι εκεί για να προστατεύει τον πολίτη. Σε αυτό το τρίτο βιβλίο αυτό το τελευταίο είναι ιδιαίτερα προφανές. Η Σάλαντερ είναι σε δυσκολότερη θέση από ποτέ αλλά αυτή τη φορά θα έχει την κοινωνία στο πλάι της. Όχι γιατί έγινε ξαφνικά συμπαθής αλλά γιατί ο νόμος είναι ψυχρός: όταν καταπατούνται τα συνταγματικά σου δικαιώματα, δεν έχει σημασία αν είσαι φρικιό. Δεν έχει σημασία αν είσαι αντικοινωνικός και αντιπαθής. Δεν έχει καν σημασία αν είσαι παιδί μετανάστη  ή βέρα Σουηδέζα με ξανθά μαλλιά. Παρουσιάζει δηλαδή μια χώρα στη οποία κανείς δεν είναι αθώος. Υπάρχουν κι εκεί κακοί και διεφθαρμένοι ακόμη και σε πολύ ψηλό επίπεδο. Η διαφορά με τη δική μας χώρα είναι ότι εκεί κάποια στιγμή οι θεσμοί λειτουργούν και επιπλέον υπάρχουν και δημοσιογράφοι που δουλεύουν σκληρά για να αποκαλύψουν και να τεκμηριώσουν αυτά που γράφουν.

Στις ταινίες το καλό και προβλέψιμο τέλος με εκνευρίζει, το θεωρώ εύκολη λύση πολλές φορές. Αλλά σε αυτό το βιβλίο η ηρωίδα έχει περάσει τόσα πολλά που το καλό τέλος είναι αναγκαίο. Τις τελευταίες σελίδες τις διάβασα κυριολεκτικά καθισμένη στην άκρη του καναπέ, και θα μπορούσα άνετα να δαγκώνω τα νύχια μου, αν είχα αυτή τη συνήθεια. Δε θα σας πω όμως τι γίνεται για να μη σας το χαλάσω. Είμαι περίεργη πως θα το μεταφράσουν πάντως. Το κορίτσι που κλώτσησε τη σφηκοφωλιά; Κάπως μεγάλο…

Και κάτι άσχετο με τη λογοτεχνία. Μ έχει πιάσει μια μανία ξεκαθαρίσματος είτε πρόκειται για παλιά πράγματα είτε για σχέσεις που σερνόντουσαν καιρό, είτε για προγράμματα που έκαναν τον υπολογιστή μου αργό και δύσχρηστο. Κατέβασα από ένα ντουλάπι τουλάχιστον καμιά πενηνταριά παλιά coursebooks αγγλικών μερικά από τη δεκαετία του 90 ακόμη, άλλα για εξετάσεις που έχουν αλλάξει τουλάχιστον 2 φορές από τότε που τα απέκτησα. Κάποια ήταν δείγματα από εκδοτικούς οίκους  αρκετά άλλα τα είχα χρυσοπληρώσει. Τώρα είναι στοιβαγμένα δίπλα στην πόρτα και κάθε φορά που κατεβαίνω παίρνω μερικά και τα πετάω στην ανακύκλωση.

“millenium” a lui stieg larsson…nu sunt fan al unor carti care beneficiaza de o tona de reclama, dar… cum despre asta am auzit la guerilla si mi-a mai fost si recomandata de o prietena a unui prieten am zis “hai sa incerc”. si cum am gasit-o si la promotie la carturesti (trei la pret de doua ) am zis: clar, asta e un semn.

si din momentul in care m-am apucat, am uitat ca mai am si servici, si ca trebuie sa mananc si ca imi trebuie minim 10 ore de somn pe noapte ca sa pot functiona (ma rog asta e o teorie de-a mea si probabil o scuza pentru razele de soare pe care le arunc in jurul meu in fiecare dimineata cand ma trezesc la 7…sau la 9….sau la 10 – weekendul, dragul de el – raze de soare pe care unu mai carcotas zice ca sunt sageti, dar cine il asculta, mai ales dimineata).

ce m-a fascinat a fost ca pe langa povestea foarte bine scrisa, am aflat si o gramada de lucruri despre suedia (tara de bastina a autorului si locul unde se petrece actiunea). si mai ales mi-a placut foarte mult cum e descris stockholmul, intr-atat de mult incat mi-am modificat planurile de concediu pe anul viitor si l-am trecut ca destinatie obligatorie.

cartea are si o poveste de dragoste (sau ma rog, mai multe…dar niciuna principala), e si politista, si psihologica,  si de actiune, si oarecum istorica (ma rog, istoria recenta a suediei…). eu nu citesc carti istorice si mai ales politice, dar asta
este cu adevarat fascinanta. dupa ce am terminat-o am dat mai departe catre ai mei parinti care, surpriza, au inceput sa se certe ca mama a inceput-o si a uitat ca mai avea treaba prin casa iar apoi a inceput si tata care dupa ce a terminat primul volum (mai repede ca mama…ca ea totusi si-a adus aminte ca are treaba prin casa), o bodoganea pe mama ca nu termina mai repede celelate volume.

acum, dupa ce au terminat-o ei, cartea a facut un alt drum catre o prietena care, sa zicem, mananca carti pe paine…si care a simtit ca o pashte o raceala (sau ceva de genul asta) incat a simtit nevoia sa isi ia un concediu medical de o saptamana deoarece o stresau oamenii rai de la munca si nu o lasau sa citeasca.

asa incat eu zic ca merita citita!

Titolo originale: Flickan som lekte med elden

Regia: Daniel Alfredson

Cast:  Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Annika Hallin, Per Oscarsson, Lena Endre, Peter Andersson, Jocob Ericksson, Sofia Ledarp, Yasmine Garbi, Johan Kylén, Paolo Roberto, Georgi Staykov, Hans Christian Thulin

Distribuzione: BIM, Svezia, 2009

Guarda il trailer

Un anno dopo gli eventi narrati in Uomini che odiano le donne, un giovane giornalista free-lance, Dag Andersson (Hans Christian Thulin), sta per pubblicare su Millennium, la rivista diretta da Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), una scottante indagine sul mondo del trafficking, la tratta delle donne dall’Est Europa per scopi di sfruttamento sessuale. Tuttavia, prima della pubblicazione il giovane e la sua fidanzata vengono trovati brutalmente uccisi, così come Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson) il terribile tutore di Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace). Tutti gli indizi sembrano dimostrare la colpevolezza della ragazza: la polizia si mette alla sua ricerca, ma Mikael, convinto della sua innocenza, inizia un’indagine parallela per giungere alla verità e scagionarla… Il tempo stringe e il passato tornerà inerosabilmente a galla…

So che non si tratta di un’ultima uscita, visto che la pellicola è nelle sale dal 25 settembre, ma purtroppo sono riuscita a vederla solo questa sera in rassegna, e non potevo non recensirla. 
Cambio alla regia per il secondo capitolo della trilogia tratta dai romanzi di Stieg Larsson. L’esordiente Daniel Alfredson sostituisce Niels Arden Oplev e la differenza si nota indubbiamente. Questa seconda pellicola della trilogia Millennium vede un’unica grande protagonista Lisbeth Salander, interpretata magistralmente da Noomi Rapace, davvero perfetta nel ruolo. La vediamo braccata dalla polizia, incastrata da gente senza scrupoli, decisa a salvarsi e a giungere alla verità come sempre da sola e senza ricorrere all’aiuto di nessuno, agendo come suo solito da guerriera solitaria. Rifiuta di chiedere aiuto anche a Mikael Blomqvist, l’unica persona che tiene davvero a lei e che non riesce a dimenticarla. Anche quando gli indizi puntano tutti contro di lei, lui è convinto della sua innocenza e inizierà una corsa contro in tempo per salvarla dalla polizia, dai reali assassini e, in un certo senso, anche da se stessa.

Lisbeth si mostra indistruttibile e combattiva, ma allo stesso tempo più fragile e più “umana”, svelando un lato di sè che nel primo capitolo non era venuto fuori e rivelando anche una serie di eventi e di particolari che riguardano il suo passato e che fanno comprendere meglio allo spettatore cosa si celi dietro quegli occhi così perennemente torvi e in guerra con il mondo. Al suo fianco ancora una volta Mikael, interpretato da Michael Nyqvist, meno presente rispetto all’indagine precedente e forse con meno mordente, ma sempre determinante, molto più della polizia, per la risoluzione del caso.

Il terzo e ultimo capitolo della trilogia, La regina dei castelli di carta, uscirà nelle sale nella primavera del 2010.

In definitiva una pellicola godibile, anche se sicuramente molto meno esplosiva e intensa del libro, così come della prima  pellicola della trilogia.

Conclusione: Consigliato.

Voto: 7

Nach demKinofilm: Die Verblendung von Stieg Larsson, benötigte ich schnellstens “neue, neutrale und vorallem harmlose Bilder” in meinen Kopf!

Gesagt getan, TV-Kiste an und was seh ich da? Hella von Sinnen bei Stefan Raab.

Normalerweise würde ich ja schnell weiter zappen, Herrn Raabs TV total  ist jetzt nicht umbedingt das was ich mir unter einem ruhigen, entspannendem Ablenkungsprogramm für soeben noch gesehene Millenium Verfilmungen vorstelle.

Hella von Sinnen machte mich jedoch neugierig. Zumal sie unter anderem ihr neuestes Buch vorstellte und die “dicke Frau aus Köln” meist immer für gute Laune sorgt.

Liebe, Lust und Leidenschaft

Liebe, Lust und Leidenschaft – Die Ducks von Sinnen (Carl Barks – Lieblingseschichten ausgewählt und launig kommentiert von Hella von Sinnen)

Auf der Frankfurter Buchmesse hielt ich ihr Buch kurz in Händen und konnte schonmal in ein paar Seiten reinspicken. Sehr lustig gemacht. Erinnert doch arg an die eigene Kindheit. Hella ist der Meinung, dieses Buch mache  glücklich – ich schließe mich an und freu mich auf Weihnachten!

Stieg Larsson och jag har bott i samma hus. På Norra Ersmarksgatan i Umeå. Stadsdelen heter Haga.
———————
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om kändiskänning, Umeå, Stieg Larsson, Norra Ersmarksgatan