The Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson and the Secrets Behind the Most Compelling Thrillers of Our Time

by Dan Burstein, Arne de Keijzer, John-Henri Holmberg

The fascinating stories behind what have been rightly called the "hottest books on the planet": The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Through insightful commentary and revealing interviews, you will enter the unique world of Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist---and of Stieg Larsson himself---discovering the fascinating real-life experiences and incidents involving Swedish politics, violence against women, and neo-Nazis that are at the heart of Larsson's work.

John-Henri Holmberg, a Swedish author and close friend of Larsson for more than three decades, provides a unique insider's look into the secrets of the author's imaginative universe, his life, and his ideas for future books---including the mysterious "fourth book" in the series, which Larsson had started but not finished at the time of his death.

Included within are answers to compelling questions on every Larsson fan's mind:

· What makes the Lisbeth Salander character so unique and memorable? Why have so many people from all backgrounds and with all kinds of tastes found The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so riveting?

· What are the speculations---and what is the truth---about Stieg Larsson's tragic death at age fifty, just before the publication of his novels, and the bitter battle over his legacy?

· What changes were made in the plots and translations of the novels after Larsson's death---and why?

· How did Larsson's early interest in science fiction and American and British crime writers feed into his creation of the Millennium trilogy?

· What were Larsson's ideas for the fourth book, and are there any clues to the plots he imagined for his ten-book series? Will we meet Lisbeth's twin sister, Camilla, or any of her other seven siblings that Zalachenko tells her she has?

· Does Lisbeth Salander give feminism a new definition?

· What will happen in the contentious battle between Stieg Larsson's life partner, Eva Gabrielsson, and his father and brother over the future of the books, as well as the billion dollars at stake in his legacy?

· Who are the emerging Swedish crime writers we should pay attention to now?

· And much, much more!

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Dan Burstein is the world's leading expert on the fiction of Dan Brown. Burstein is also the founder of Millennium Technology Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm that invests in innovative new technology companies.

Reviews

[Fátima Linhares · Rating 4 out of 5]

De bagagem na mão, avançamos por um corredor de saída que exibe uma galeria de retratos dos suecos dos tempos modernos: Greta Garbo, Bjorn Borg ... e Stieg Larsson. Há uns anos atrás, Larsson seria um desconhecido para os turistas que chegavam. Mas agora é uma grande celebridade sueca e uma importante indústria de exportação nacional, conhecido por milhões de pessoas em todo o mundo depois da publicação póstuma da trilogia Millennium.

Nunca na vida diria que esta seria a minha primeira leitura de 2026, até porque tinha este livro em casa há anos e até o tinha à venda nas plataformas de venda de livros usados. E por que raio li este livro agora? Porque o vendi. Sim, infantil, mas foi por o ter vendido e ter pegado nele e começado a folhear as páginas e a ver as fotografias que me deu vontade de o ler.

Karl Stig-Erland Larsson nasceu a 15 de agosto de 1954. Viveu os primeiros anos com os avós maternos, começou a escrever para fanzines na década de 1970, andou pela Eritreia numa missão secreta, começou a trabalhar em TV e, em 2002, começou a escrever aquela que é talvez a melhor trilogia de sempre. Em 9 de novembro de 2004, poucas semanas depois de assinar contrato com a editora, sofreu um ataque cardíaco e morreu sem conhecer o sucesso que os seus livros tiveram.

Neste livro é-nos dado a conhecer um pouco da vida de Stig, só mais tarde é que virou Stieg pois havia um autor com o mesmo nome, os livros que leu na adolescência e que o inspiraram (ficção científica e policiais), alguns contos que escreveu, os artigos para a revista Expo e como lhe surgiu a inspiração para a trilogia Millennium.

Também aborda a polémica da herança de Stieg, que ficou para o pai e para o irmão mais novo. Apesar de ter vivido em união de facto com Eva Gabrielson mais de trinta anos, esta não teve direito a nada. Há também a questão de perceber se havia mais livros escritos e parece que havia um quarto livro já adiantado e um quinto começado, mas ninguém encontrou os ficheiros. Na altura da publicação deste livro ainda não se sabia se haveria continuação das histórias de Lisbeth Salander. A companheira propôs-se a continuar o quarto livro, mas os herdeiros não o permitiram.

A saga continuou e eu ainda li os três livros posteriores que saíram, apesar de não terem a magia dos primeiros. Há mais, mas já me deixei disso. Para mim, a trilogia Millennium são os livros que Stieg escreveu e que eu devorei em pouco tempo. Têm uma protagonista tão fixe e fora do comum que é impossível não gostar. Este livro também trouxe uma novidade que eu desconhecia. Paolo Roberto, um dos personagens existe mesmo! É um famoso boxeur sueco.

Valeu a pena vender este livro! :D

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interresting view on Stieg Larsson's legacy and how he struggle to became the sucessful author of the Millennium trilogy. A good book for those who have read his novels. I give it a 4.2 of rating.

[Dimitris Passas (TapTheLine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a devout Nordic noir aficionado, I couldn't miss this excellent reference book containing a large number of enlightening articles regarding the "Millenium" trilogy phenomenon and the life and work of the deceased Stieg Larsson. John-Henri Holmberg who writes many of them is a Swedish author, critic, publisher and translator who had a personal, friendly relationship with Larsson, thus he has deep knowledge of his temperament and character as well as the publication history of the three novels. "The Tattoed Girl" consists of small chapters covering a wide variety of subjects as well as some really enticing interviews from acclaimed Swedish authors like the Anders Roslund/Borge Hellström writing duo and the husband and wife team of Alexander and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril, also known by their nom de plume, Lars Kepler. There is also interesting information concerning the aftermath of Stieg's death and the feud between the Larsson family and Larsson's lifetime partner Eva Gabrielsson for the rights to the "Millenium" series. Stieg and Eva never got married and the Swedish law states that she has no rights over her partner's intellectual legacy. Thus, the rights now belong to Stieg's father and brother who decided that the series would continue with another author, the Swedish journalist David Lagercrantz, mainly known by his biography books and his fictionalized novel about the British mathematician Alan Turing (" Fall of Man in Wilmslow"). Eva strongly disagreed with this decision but she actually has no say in the matter for the reasons I explained above. There is a chapter written by Paul De Angelis, titled "In Her Own Words" which summarizes the dispute between Gabrielsson and the Larssons and for those who want to delve further into this subject there is also the biography that Gabrielsson herself has written, titled "There Are Things I Want You to Know About Stieg and Me". I also enjoyed the comparison between Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara, the two actresses who portrayed Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish (Niels Arden Oplev/2009) and the American (David Fincher/2011) cinema adaptations of the first novel, both titled "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". If you liked the novels, or even the films, and want to know more about Stieg Larsson this is definitely the book to start with.

[Kent · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an extremely boring book.

[Avi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you cut out all the filler material, this book would be interesting, informative and about half its size.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read half the articles. I wanted to read on the dark side of Sweden, the Neo-Nazi's and the treatment of women. There is something wicked thriving on the Nordic shores. It was a cool insight to the politics and the reactions to the politics of the trilogy. I found a lot of the articles repeated certain information and so felt guilt free to pick and choose my articles.
I enjoyed the book but don't feel a commitment to it.

[Kimberley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I read this a little at a time over the last few months. Most of it was interesting, though some was a bit too dry. I enjoyed it and plan to reread the Millennium trilogy by Larsson in the next year or two.

[Darlene Messenger · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[ceeeeg · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was such a good book...and not the sort of thing i would usually pick up...i only did because i found it on the shelf in the dollar store for a buck and it was about the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, which i reallyreally loved...

this book gave that series so much additional depth for me, provided a new backdrop, extra context and texture to the books...

it presents as a collection of essays and interviews with people that have some contextual connection to either Larsson or his work and touches on those themes that informed his books as well as other aspects of his life as a writer, investigator, crusader and social commentator...

if you are a fan of the books, you will probably love this...if you have not read the books yet, it wouldn't be a bad idea to grab this along with the series to allow yourself that broader context to the tale..

what a shame we lost this guy too soon...his work is not only riveting, original and epic, but its also socially important, both for Sweden and the rest of the world...

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just saw the Swedish DVD movie version of the book and was reminded why I didn't like the books so much. They are too slow and take too long to get there. It isn't that we are watching character development; we are not. It is just slow. The only time I think this works is when we are seeing the obviously dangerous brother who enjoys killing people. He is menacing, and the only person who builds tension in the film. All the other characters hear they could possibly be killed, but other than some initial outburst, they go about their business paying no attention to what could be going on about them.

My favorite characters, of course, are Lisbeth Salander and her truly psychotic brother. We could minimize much of the story about the angst of the magazine staff, and especially the maverick reporter/publisher/owner or whatever he is in this version.

[Jo Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the books and the three Swedish movies so I can certainly be called a fan. I enjoyed the book, but I have to wonder how many different ways can you write about the same thing. Which is what this book is. It was interesting and well thought out, and the people writing it were all friends of Stieg Larsson, but unless you are a big fan of the books and Swedish films, you are going to become bored rather quickly.

I feel that Dan Burstein and his co-writers took advantage of their friendship with Larsson to make some money off the guy. Notice Larsson's longtime companion, Eva, did NOT participate in this book; she was only quoted from already published articles.

The reason I gave this book such a high score is because it IS interesting and well-written and when I reread "The Girl With/Who" again, I will read it with deeper knowledge.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book on a whim and at first struggled to get into it as it talks about Larsson the person and his unusual life as well as his inspiration for the books.

I enjoyed reading about the Swedish laws and court cases that inspired him and talking about Nordic Noir has made me make out a list of books that I want to explore at a later time.

I am disappointed that according to articles in this book that the Hollywood films are not going to stay as true to the books as the Swedish films did (but what else can we expect from the film industry in today's world).

This book made me realize even more than the actual novels what a powerful presence Larsson had in the world of journalism and literature and what a hole has been created by his death.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

For hard core Stieg Larsson fans, this is must; for anyone who enjoyed the Millennium Books, this anthology provides lots of interesting insights into the writing, editing, translating and publishing rights of the books as well as quite a bit of biographical material on Larsson and his early interests in science fiction and crime writing. John-Henri Holmberg, one of the coauthors , recently published, A Darker Shade of Sweden, an intriguing history and analysis of Swedish crime fiction, and knew Larsson for many years. After getting it from the library, I found it on Amazon for under $2 and because I had done the Millennium Tour when in Stockholm, it makes a nice souvenir, particularly with the map and descriptions of the sites.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe die "Millennium-Trilogie-Entschlüsselung" nur exzerptartig gelesen, da ich weniger an der Biografie bzw. den Interviews interessiert bin, als an Analysen und Hintergrundinformationen zu den Millennium-Büchern.
Insgesamt enthält dieses Werk sehr viele interessante Zusatzfakten und Informationen rund um das in den Büchern kreierte Universum, wobei an manchen Stellen meiner Meinung nach zu viele Interviews und auch Randaspekte zu Larsson's Leben hinzugefügt wurden.
Trotzdem eindeutig empfehlenswert für Trufans (kurz für true fans; k.A. wieso man diese Abkürzung wirklich benötigen sollte...) der Bücher :D und optimal geeignet für exzerptartige Lektüre.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often read abut authors, but Larsson seems to be as controversial as his main characters. The most interesting (and disappointing) part was learning about the clumsy translation from Swedish to English and how it affected everything from the size of Lizbeth's tattoos to those long stretches when even I considered the text boring (it probably isn't so much in the original Swedish). All around, very interesting.

[miteypen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting but there were a lot of parts that were repetitive. It's worth reading if you're interested in the books and the author, but it doesn't quite live up to the hype. It's pretty much a hodge podge of articles about everything from Stieg Larsson's background to other Nordic noir authors. Some of the articles are more interesting than others and you kind of have to slog through it all to get to the good parts.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zajímavý dokument o sérii Milénium od Stiega Larssona. Dozvíme se tam všemožně zajímavé informace a detaily o této veleúspěšné sérii. Také nám tato kniha přibližuje autora, jeho život a inspiraci k těmto románům a jejich postavám. Rozhodně zajímavé čtení pro ty, kteří se chtějí dozvědět něco víc o celé této sérii.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo author Stieg Larsson and the state of politics in Sweden. Particularly interesting to me was Stieg's involvement in sci-fi clubs in the 1970s and the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments and neo-nazis in Sweden today which is pretty terrifying.

[Ratforce]

Since you are interested in some nonfiction, here is a book about author Stieg Larsson (author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ). You might enjoy reading the details behind this mysterious author.

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

First chapter or two were very interesting in that the author discussed Stieg Larsson and his writing. After that I lost interest in the book because it merely displayed a Q&A of various people. This style of writing was the balance of the book and was very uninteresting and boring.

[Mark Parrish]

Excellent

[Karmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful essays on the various topics Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy touched upon.

[Diane Fitzwater]

Basically this book delves into the mystery of why Lisbeth was so popular around. She was a strong woman who tried to fight for the rights of women against sex trafficiking

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

....interesting read on the varied "behind the scene(s)of Mr. Larsson's complex life.....

[Dahlia]

nicht fertig gelesen

[Alexandra Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good guide to understand Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy