THE LARSSON SCANDAL
Recently, a trusted friend described the Larsson Trilogy as "books you just can't put down." With such a final recommendation, and having resisted until then, how could I resist any longer? At a loose end recently on a forced, family-related vacation in a very bleak cold climate, the trilogy provided an ideal escape from climatic challenge and familial torture.
In the advance-copy printed version "The Larsson Scandal - The Insider's Riotously Politically Incorrect Unauthorized Guerilla Critique of Stieg Larsson", kindly provided by Gemma at CoolMain Press, André Jute and Andrew McCoy have taken on the task of getting into the blood and bones of the books and of the Larsson juggernaut phenomenon which has elevated him to semi-sainthood and rising. They do a good job generally. Some have accused them of sour grapes and professional jealousy, in the face of the runaway success of the Trilogy. I doubt this. Like many others, they merely wondered what the fuss is all about; smelled a few dead rats, and sought to provide answers to some pertinent questions, for those unable or not interested to seek them out themselves. Let's face it; the entire Larsson story is a saga novel in itself!
They also point out a most fortunate and fortuitous conjunction: apart from the efforts of Larsson's print publishers in Sweden, the UK and the USA, the arrival of the e-book phenomenon spawned massive sales and other e-methods like blogs, added to the effect. It was in fact, a "created" fame with a huge add-on effect and benefits. Enter Amazon with great effect. Remember Dan Brown and his spawning capacity? This is far bigger!
Jute and McCoy write informally and at times, rather too loosely, but, despite the occasional word likely to send most racing for the dictionary - irredentist; decalogue; berserker; happenstances - mount a good argument and provide selected and pertinent examples in support of their contentions. As they also point out, yet more examples would have resulted in a mega tome, thereby over-labouring a point. There is much analysis and comment about the feminist perspective and, linked with this, Stieg's feminism and its source. I needed to be more informed on that but admit I have a long way to go before I'd be considered a feminist.
Back to the source, the Trilogy: a book can of course be a "good read" without overt critical analysis, but in my case, while I consider all three overall a "good read", early in the piece, the critical parts of my brain also started asking questions and saying... "Hang on a minute!" There were inconsistencies; there were great chunks of boring, pointless diversion and unnecessary detail, merely confusing and getting in the way of progress of the plot; and there were unlikely events and implausible scenarios, which at first, started to affect my overall perceptions and then to irritate me with increasing intensity. Added to this, Larsson's writing - neither fluent nor generally memorable - all collectively stimulated my critical faculties but still allowed at the end, a general assessment as a "pretty good read", in other words, a pass mark. Jute and McCoy share these perceptions.
Reading beyond the three books, there also appeared to be considerable intrigue about the life and death of the author himself and in this regard, I then started to wonder about the mix of reality, fact, myth and fiction. Another aspect of great interest is the entire modus operandi of the publishing trade. It is - it seems - a brutal world whose values are a bit murky. Jute and McCoy also turn their focus here.
Now, there are two key questions and then, many follow-on questions when one considers the "Larsson phenomenon". The first is, "Who was the real Stieg Larsson? And the second, "How much is his persona a creation of his own fictions and mythmaking and the gilding, fictions, diversions and mythmaking of others?" His writing really is a product of this complex mix of reality and fantasy. After the books, Larsson himself and the cavalcade around him is an infinitely more interesting saga of Norse proportions. Jute and McCoy certainly add to this notion.
Although a dead author is generally a liability, Larsson died at an opportune time for some, notably his brother Joakim and father, Erland, and then it must be said for his image and the commercial success of his publishers, who were it seems, surprised that they had an unexpected blockbuster on their hands. Conversely, Larsson died at an inconvenient time for others, notably long-term lover (common-law wife) Eva Gabrielsson. It is Gabrielsson, most curiously, who is still in possession of Larsson's laptop where allegedly, the fourth novel in the series lies in vestigial form as well as other outlines. In fact, far from expressing sympathy to Eva's plight, Jute and McCoy give Gabrielsson quite a serve and this contrasts markedly with the viewpoints of others who consider her a seriously wronged woman and a victim of primitive Swedish law. There is even a support Eva fund.
In Larsson's eyes, Sweden certainly is no dull, brooding backwater. If one is to believe the insinuations, Sweden as a presumed democratic paradise of free love and choice, has many deep and dark rivers running through it, including, in recent years, political assassinations. For Larsson, it is a place of conspiracy, murder, machination and mayhem. We have to be thankful for the goodies.
Jute and McCoy point out, extremely stridently at times, the often poor quality and sloppiness of Larsson's writing in totality with its awkward constructions, convoluted sub-plots which digress from the key direction, and meaningless diversions, which often end up confusing the characters and direction. Much of it indeed does not ring true and at times the authors wonder if it is Larsson having a private joke at the expense of us all. Such conjecture certainly fits with the Larsson we think we now might just know.
But, I hear you say: it's fiction: does it all need to hang true? Well, yes. Within the genre in which Larsson writes, good fiction should reflect reality and at the very least, the realms of the possible. Right on boys and girls!
There is another point worthy of mention: with Larsson, what is really on trial is the whole Swedish state, it system and structures; and here, the books do get rather mixed up with reality. Often touted as a model democracy and welfare state, the fact is that Eva Gabrielsson, regardless of any posturing or myth-building of her own, can be disinherited after 32 years because there was neither a valid marriage - according to the Swedish state at least - nor a valid will. Brother Joakim apparently had urged his brother to marry but regardless, he and his father now preside over the spoils of his brother's failure to marry properly, in accordance with primitive Swedish law, and allied failure to leave a valid will. Ouch! Gabrielsson, however, remains a thorn in their collective sides and an angry woman.
And then there's the violence, which Jute and McCoy also consider although they do have questions about Larsson's quoted "statistics". I don't think the violence - as appalling as it is - is gratuitous: Lisbeth Salander has been subjected to physical and emotional violence all her life, by the state and its instrumentalities, structures and systems; and by her father. She has been dispossessed, denied and discarded because the state placed her obnoxious father on a higher level of importance. She has good reason to be a bit miffed with it all. I see Lisbeth as a symbol of resistance and survival, even if I didn't exactly fall in love with her. She is a victim of the state, through its agencies and agents, on a frolic of their own, who have chosen to play dirty and nasty, and most conveniently out of sight and off the official record. And, all clearly is not well in the kingdom of Sweden! Much in Swedish society gets hidden away and ignored and while this might not apply to Sweden alone, it is also interesting, in the light of all of this, to consider what the Swedish state, in collusion with others, has done or tried to do, to Julian Assange of Wikileaks infamy. Political assassinations in Sweden and the "reasons" for them also make an interesting topic for analysis.
Oh, and what of the characters, upon whom Jute and McCoy also pass judgment? Of course, Larsson's characters are all flawed in some way and often display twists and turns which merely confuse and frustrate with their bloody-mindedness. They certainly can test one's patience and sympathies, and one is challenged to like any of them. But then, this is perhaps reflective of Larsson himself. Another private joke?
Unless you want to go on a critical crusade of your own, read this book for a bit of useful Larsson enlightenment; a denouement of the plot. It's not perfect but it hits the mark!
