Free The Man Who Left Too Soon: The Life and Works of Stieg Larsson by Barry Forshaw Page B

to making revisions and having them made; in other words, he notes, he is not hypersensitive about such matters. In perhaps the most striking revelation in these exchanges, he talks about the ‘obsessions’ he nourishes that he won’t give up on easily, and that will feature in the books. He thinks (he says) that the first chapters of Book One are long-winded and that it takes some time for the story to exert a grip, but his aim was primarily to fashion a strongly realised dramatis personae and vivid locales before the narrative gets into gear. Even Larsson admirers might concede these reservations – the first book, by general consent, could have done with some judicious editorial tightening.
    Those same Larsson admirers will, of course, be intrigued by his discussion with his editor about what he wanted to say with these books. It’s clear that he was keen to shake up the tropes of detective fiction in as many ways as he could. The introduction of Mikael Blomkvist in the narrative, for example, takes place exclusively via the investigation carried out by Lisbeth Salander.
    ‘I tried to create protagonists who are radically different from the usual characters in detective fiction,’ Larsson states. ‘That’s why Mikael Blomkvist doesn’t have ulcers or problems with alcoholism or existential anguish. He doesn’t listen to opera or dedicate himself to some strange hobby like model aeroplanes or something similar. In general he doesn’t have any problems and his main characteristic is that he behaves like a stereotypical “whore”, something that he himself recognises. I also consciously inverted the gender roles: in many ways Blomkvist plays the part of the “bimbo” while Lisbeth Salander has ways of behaving and qualities that are characteristically “male”.
    ‘A fundamental rule was never to idealise crime and criminals, nor to make the victims stereotypes. In the first book I created the serial killer by merging three real cases. Everything that is described one can therefore find in real police inquiries. The description of the rape of Lisbeth Salander is based on a case that happened in Östermalm three years ago… I wanted to avoid the victims being anonymous people; because of this, I dedicate a lot of time introducing Dag Svensson and Mia Johansson before [their] murder.
    ‘I hate crime novels where the protagonist can behave however he likes or do things that normal people can’t do without consequences. If Mikael Blomkvist shoots someone, even if he does it in self-defence, he ends up in court.
    ‘Lisbeth is an exception simply because she is a sociopath with psychotic traits and she doesn’t function like normal people. She therefore doesn’t have the same perception of what is “right” or “wrong” as normal people, but she also suffers the consequences.’
    Larsson goes on to say that he wanted to fashion a realistic cast of characters surrounding his main protagonists, for instance by granting Dragan Armansky a lengthy introduction in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to establish that he will be a recurring figure. In The Girl Who Played with Fire , the cadre of coppers working around Bublanski and Sonja Modig are foregrounded. And in the final book, Blomkvist’s lawyer sister Annika Giannini and his colleague/lover Erika Berger are brought centre stage. It’s interesting to note the problems he mentions with Lisbeth’s sometime-lover Miriam Wu: ‘I don’t know exactly what to do with her,’ he writes – and it might be argued that she is one of the least successful characterisations in the sequence. Larsson is aware that his solitary heroine can’t have strong friendships and simultaneously maintain her marginalisation.
    These valuable documents became available in English in 2010 as part of a handsome Millennium Trilogy box set (published by MacLehose Press). Gedin talks about Larsson’s ‘marvellous mix of humility and self-assurance’ – and confirms that the first