More Jawing Over Larsson's 'Millenium' Trilogy

Not everyone's happy about the Americanization of Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy (FIC LARSSON). When merchandising agents and unlicensed publicity began capitalizing on the new David Fincher film, a project with its predominately Anglo/American cast talking in Swedish-accented English, it's taking things too far for Eva Gabrielsson, Larsson's former mistress, who this week claimed that Larsson would never have endorsed such a spectacle. She says the deceased author would've used the spotlight to promote his rigid stance against mysogyny, discrimination and violence against women. Even though she doesn't actually own the rights to any of the books (the author's immediate family does, though that's another matter), Gabrielsson said she and Larsson "would have never sold any rights for merchandizing," adding that, "It has nothing to do with the books." Some people may not have gotten the message. Rooney Mara, the American actress playing Lisbeth Salander, said that her character's neither a feminist nor an advocate of any such group or movement, a gesture to which a disbelieving Gabrielsson replied "Does she know what film she has been in? Has she read the books? Has she not had any coaching?" Gabrielsson may have a point here; the literal translation of Larsson's first title is actually "Men Who Hate Women". Oh well. Maybe Mara only read the American translation. To hear more of what Eva Gabrielsson thinks, be sure to check out her own, recently published memoir, "There Are Things I Want You To Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me (839.738 GABRIELS).

The Hypnotist / by Lars Kepler

In a bedroom community outside of Stockholm, a couple has been discovered brutally murdered in their home. The only survivor, their teenage son, found with multiple knife wounds all over his body, is still nearly catatonic with shock. A homicide squad headed by detective Joona Linna at the helm begins an investigation with very little to go on--despite the horrific crime scene, the killer left no clues. Linna persuades Dr. Erik Maria Bark, a noted psychiatrist, to help extract information from the young victim and though the veteran trauma specialist is initially averse to employing the tactics of hypnosis, a method he used many years earlier but has now given up, Dr. Bark eventually relents and is able to get just enough from the young boy for Linna to hit on a suspect. And just in time too. It turns out that the youth has an older sister who lives away from home and may now be in danger from a very cold-blooded figure indeed, a man who is every bit as menacing as Linna had feared and who most certainly will try to kill again.

This book moves really fast, as swift as Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy and with almost as many plot-boilers. The character of Detective Linna isn't so particularly distinctive--he's as much like many another clever, daring, relentless and often rogue homicide detective--and there's no Lisbeth Salander character to endear the reader, but the story still catches on fairly quickly and its pace keeps the attachment. Lars Kepler is actually a pseudonym for the husband and wife writing team of Alexander and Alexandra Coehlo Ahndori, and much like another author couple from a generation earlier, they've managed a great deal of success with their debut book and it's sequel (yet to be released stateside). At times the stories of both Dr. Bark and Detective Loona can be a bit hard to juggle. It's very back-and-forth. But seasoned Scandinavian crime fiction readers will soon get the hang of it. As with many other similar Nordic Noir thrillers, this book is not for the faint of heart. There is plenty of blood and mayhem, guts and violence on the pages and 'Kepler' spares no one, even the most innocent, from their destiny. (MYS KEPLER)

Roseanna: A Martin Beck Mystery / by Maj Sjowell

Though modern times have seen the emergence and continuing wave of crime fiction from Scandinavia, it wasn't long ago that few would have lent scant appraisal to a detective novel originating from countries like Sweden, Norway or Denmark. Now it's almost the other way around. Highlighted by the mammoth

success of Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy, "Nordic Noir" has gained a prominent place in mystery circles, new titles and authors seeming to emerge every year with intriguing plots and characters moored in the generally cold and dark atmosphere of the region. But before the Millenium Trilogy, or any of the other notable works, there was the husband and wife writing team of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. Their Martin Beck mysteries burst onto the scene in 1965 with Roseanna and continued the series until 1975 when Wahloo died. The Laughing Policeman even won an Edgar in 1970. Roseanna is a book tinged with intrigue, fascination and suspense, subtly doing what so many other mystery authors have tried and failed at over the years to accomplish: describe people and society tangled up in hostilities which inevitably lead to violence, crime and punishment.

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One summer in the lakes region of Sweden, a young woman is dredged up in a canal, dead and presumably murdered. An autopsy confirms that she was also molested. Nothing is known about her origin and with no one coming forward with any information, the case soon grows cold. Detective Martin Beck of the country's Special Homicide Commission is about to shelve it when, through a near accident, it's discovered that the girl is an American tourist named Roseanna McGraw. With aid from Interpol, Beck and his subordinates are able to trace the girl back to her permanent residence in Lincoln, Nebraska where she worked as a librarian. Having no way to conduct an investigation overseas, the Swedes rely on American Detective Lieutenant Kafka to interview McGraw's friends and neighbors, soon learning that the girl was something of a free-spirited libertine who'd been traveling across Europe alone following a falling out with her roommate. She had been aboard a Swedish canal cruise ship at the time of her death.

The new information leads Beck and his department to narrow the suspects down to passengers aboard the ship and finally to a man they think might have done it. But without any evidence they'll need to catch him in the act. Roseanna has been called one of the best police procedurals ever written with Martin Beck listed among the great fictional detectives of literary history. It's a very concise book with noticeably little extraneous material interfering with the plot. It's also pretty dark and graphic. Almost forecasting the thematic associations their successors would incorporate a generation later, the authors portray Sweden as a very sedated country on its surface, its citizens rather passive and reserved to a point. But beneath this somber veneer lies a world where the darkest human evils are capable of being unleashed and where crimes of the most heinous nature inevitably crop up. Beck himself is a character who mirrors this dichotomy. At once a tranquil family man whose henpecking wife never lets him alone, he's also a master investigator, methodical and meticulous until the moment of critical engagement when his skillful maneuvers extract the truth. (MYS SJOWALL)

Stieg Larsson, illuminated

Just one week before the U.S. publication of the conclusion to Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy, (which began with The girl with the dragon tattoo) the NY Times Magazine has published a lengthy article on Stieg Larsson's legacy in Sweden and the fight between his father, brother and Stieg's long-time live-in, Eva Gabrielsson, over the rights to control his literary legacy. The story is fascinating and sad, and truly sounds like something that could appear as a plot point in one of Larsson's books. There are even some conspiracy theorists who speculate that Larsson didn't actually write the books or that he was really murdered instead of having a heart attack. Click here for a link to the article.

The NY Times also reports that Ms. Gabrielsson is in possession of about three-quarters of a 4th, unfinished book in the series -- so we may get more of Mikael Blomqvist and Lisbeth Salander after all. The girl who kicked the hornet's nest is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on May 25th. Careful, this series is addictive.

Thank You For The Music ♪♪

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ABBA Super Troupers: A Celebratory Film from Waterloo to Mamma Mia! (DVD)
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Say what you will about their peppy rhythms, folksy gaiety and ridiculous outfits, not to mention bankable good looks, ABBA had some catchy tunes--quite a lot frankly. By the late 1970’s, they were Sweden’s biggest export, more marketable than Volvo and so wildly successful (their rabid fans frequently so uncontrollably frenzied the foursome would be trapped in their hotel) that popularity partially contributed to their disbandment.
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Often overlooked in the context of the band’s tacky getup and mammoth commercial success (grossing over $1 million per day) was their talent. Composed of two married couples Bjorn Ulvaeus/Agnetha Falkstog and Benny Andersson/Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad (hence each member’s first letter of their first name forming the band’s title), the quartet had an astonishing blend of musical skill, artistic ingenuity and vocal harmony. Immediately identifiable, basically on every track (and of course in the existing video footage), are the two women usually singing in unison. Both sopranos, each possessed unmatched angelic voices with extraordinary range, strength and command, able to execute complex, vocally rigorous melodies synchronized within exhausting multi-octave songs. Agnetha’s routinely recognized among the premier female vocalists of the twentieth century with Frida not far behind. It was the incomparable tandem of Benny and Bjorn though, composer/keyboardist and lyricist/guitar player respectively, which essentially made the group what it was, the pair virtually a machine cranking out hit after hit after hit at their Stockholm studio. Production engineer Michael Tretow, who mixed each record with ample amounts of synthesized material, would help give ABBA its trademark feel-good sound.
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ABBA Super Troupers is a typical music documentary, conventionally profiling the supergroup’s folk-rock roots, its evolution as a Swedish pop band, swift movement up the European billboard charts and international stardom with a raucous fanbase (particularly in the UK and Australia). Yet the film justifiably reveals the essence of the band's phenomenon, detailing their proficiency at creating such an appealing brand of pop music and how the relatively normal coming together of four exceptionally gifted artists produced such a substantial collection of timeless songs. Especially apparent is how the heart of ABBA, the likely reason for its immense success, was their artistic passion and resonance. They really were in it purely for the music. The group's disintegration in 1982, initiated by each couple’s divorce along with Agnetha's growing agoraphobia and reluctance to travel, was the true end. All inquiries into reuniting are just that, questions, put to a stop immediately with each member ardently opposed to a comeback—they were offered a sum of over $1 Billion to do a reunion tour and promptly turned it down—considering any attempt at reunification to be a blight on the original ten-year trek.