The tales of Lisbeth Salander, the 23 year old hacker girl, with the dark past and temperament, has been on a role for nearly a decade now. And heck, if you can snag Daniel Craig for the U.S. film, you're rolling in the big time, sweetie.
Part of the allure of this pop culture cottage industry - three books, with a fourth on the way, films in both Swedish and English, TV miniseries and graphic novels - generally now known as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (or, in some circles, the Millennium trilogy) is the strange tale of the originating creator: Stieg Larsson.
The story of Larsson is full of irony. Never was one's story so ripe with the conditional clause: just before. It was indeed just before he became a bestselling novelist that Larsson was a notorious crusader against the menacing forces of Fascism and plutocracy in Swedish society. Or, at least, so it was that he perceived his foes. And, in like manner, just before he became a bestselling author, generating a considerable personal fortune, he died. (You see, you're never appreciated while you're alive.)
This poses two questions to the inquiring mind. First, if he had lived, would he have remained quite as suspicious of wealth as a marker of evil? And, second, might the prior two facts be related?
On the second question, popular speculation has rather run rampant. Young in life Larsson signed on as a true follower of the Communist cause. And Communism has a long history of the conspiratorial temperament: both in its machinations and worldview. It hardly ought to be surprising then that much of the 80s and 90s saw Larsson embroiled in unveiling the alleged skullduggery of neo-fascists, plutocrats and assorted crypto-Aryans.
The institutional legacy of all this was Larsson's establishment of a foundation and magazine, which he eventually edited, named Expo. These were pledged to exposing Swedish society's dark forces, its blackguards and villains. Now, don't mistake my tone here; it's not a matter of doubting the existence of such plotters and fantasists. It's just that fantasists are exactly what I think they are. They, no less than their arch enemies, like Larsson, exaggerate their relevance and influence all out of proportion to reality so as to make themselves and their titanic struggle seem of epic consequence. (I feel confident in saying that when barbarism next descends upon Western civilization, it won't be wearing jackboots and swastikas.)
And, no, the fact that Larsson died of "a heart attack" on the "anniversary" of Kristallnacht doesn't strike me as especially compelling evidence of anything. Now, if they'd waited until 2008 to execute this KGB-style hit, celebrating the...what...70 year anniversary? I mean, 70 years would be symbolic, right? Of something? I'm sure. You get my point?
Despite the silliness of all this conspiracy theory in the real world, though, in terms of entertainment marketing, Larsson's fascination with blackguard plotters paid off handsomely in providing the thematic and plot backdrop of his much read and film adapted novels. And, strange as it may seem to some of us, Larsson's brand of paranoia resonates just as well in America as in his native Sweden.
It is the conspiracies and debauchery of these right wing Satanist that are exposed by the exploits of super-girl Lisbeth Salander - with the photographic memory, chess-like strategic mind, mathematical skills to make Fermat weep, and the ability to hack into the computers of banks and police departments more or less at will - alongside her journalist sidekick, Mikael Blomkvist. Indeed, in one of the sequels, it appears that maybe coming back from the dead may be added to her list of super hero qualities.
Okay, it is all a bit far-fetched. But whatever stretches of suspended disbelief (or plausible deniability) Larsson may ask of us, the protagonists and their virtuous mission makes for fun reading and viewing. And, hey, there's no success like market success.
The final irony, in it all, I suppose, is that even a paranoid commie like Larsson could brush lips with the zeitgeist and hit the jackpot. Though, I'm inclined to think that one probably ought not to reflect too deeply upon just what it is that that says about the rest of us.
Part of the allure of this pop culture cottage industry - three books, with a fourth on the way, films in both Swedish and English, TV miniseries and graphic novels - generally now known as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (or, in some circles, the Millennium trilogy) is the strange tale of the originating creator: Stieg Larsson.
The story of Larsson is full of irony. Never was one's story so ripe with the conditional clause: just before. It was indeed just before he became a bestselling novelist that Larsson was a notorious crusader against the menacing forces of Fascism and plutocracy in Swedish society. Or, at least, so it was that he perceived his foes. And, in like manner, just before he became a bestselling author, generating a considerable personal fortune, he died. (You see, you're never appreciated while you're alive.)
This poses two questions to the inquiring mind. First, if he had lived, would he have remained quite as suspicious of wealth as a marker of evil? And, second, might the prior two facts be related?
On the second question, popular speculation has rather run rampant. Young in life Larsson signed on as a true follower of the Communist cause. And Communism has a long history of the conspiratorial temperament: both in its machinations and worldview. It hardly ought to be surprising then that much of the 80s and 90s saw Larsson embroiled in unveiling the alleged skullduggery of neo-fascists, plutocrats and assorted crypto-Aryans.
The institutional legacy of all this was Larsson's establishment of a foundation and magazine, which he eventually edited, named Expo. These were pledged to exposing Swedish society's dark forces, its blackguards and villains. Now, don't mistake my tone here; it's not a matter of doubting the existence of such plotters and fantasists. It's just that fantasists are exactly what I think they are. They, no less than their arch enemies, like Larsson, exaggerate their relevance and influence all out of proportion to reality so as to make themselves and their titanic struggle seem of epic consequence. (I feel confident in saying that when barbarism next descends upon Western civilization, it won't be wearing jackboots and swastikas.)
And, no, the fact that Larsson died of "a heart attack" on the "anniversary" of Kristallnacht doesn't strike me as especially compelling evidence of anything. Now, if they'd waited until 2008 to execute this KGB-style hit, celebrating the...what...70 year anniversary? I mean, 70 years would be symbolic, right? Of something? I'm sure. You get my point?
Despite the silliness of all this conspiracy theory in the real world, though, in terms of entertainment marketing, Larsson's fascination with blackguard plotters paid off handsomely in providing the thematic and plot backdrop of his much read and film adapted novels. And, strange as it may seem to some of us, Larsson's brand of paranoia resonates just as well in America as in his native Sweden.
It is the conspiracies and debauchery of these right wing Satanist that are exposed by the exploits of super-girl Lisbeth Salander - with the photographic memory, chess-like strategic mind, mathematical skills to make Fermat weep, and the ability to hack into the computers of banks and police departments more or less at will - alongside her journalist sidekick, Mikael Blomkvist. Indeed, in one of the sequels, it appears that maybe coming back from the dead may be added to her list of super hero qualities.
Okay, it is all a bit far-fetched. But whatever stretches of suspended disbelief (or plausible deniability) Larsson may ask of us, the protagonists and their virtuous mission makes for fun reading and viewing. And, hey, there's no success like market success.
The final irony, in it all, I suppose, is that even a paranoid commie like Larsson could brush lips with the zeitgeist and hit the jackpot. Though, I'm inclined to think that one probably ought not to reflect too deeply upon just what it is that that says about the rest of us.
About the Author:
To follow developments in the Stieg Larsson posthumous franchise, you need to read Mickey Jhonny's writing on the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo blog. Mickey's latest writing includes a provocative review of the Michael Apted's amazing 7 Up documentary series for Best Documentaries on Netflix -- you don't want to miss it!
