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Buy the Book
The Girl Who Hid the Real Victims
Meet the world and women of the late communist, feminist author of The Girl Who…mysteries.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a man who knew as much about real evil as the fictional kind, wrote of a realization he had during his internment in the Soviet gulag: “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts.”
This insight made him well fitted for Christianity and anti-Communism. Stieg Larsson, the late Swedish author of the blockbuster The Girl Who… mystery novels, on the other hand, was a lifelong Communist, and so (one assumes) missed that memo. Communism has always been a Manichean creed, dividing good and evil along broad, neat lines, a habit that came in handy when they wished to annihilate people without all the bother of actually proving legal cases against them.
Having at last finished reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the final book of the trilogy (I’d have read it sooner if the greedy capitalist publishers hadn’t delayed the mass market paperback forever), I feel qualified to draw some vapid (not to mention envious) conclusions about them all. Communists like Larsson (one assumes, or presumes) have been faced with a crisis of faith ever since the 1980s. Larsson himself, judging from textual evidence in these books, seems to have substituted gender for class theory as a moral guide. I made a note as I read — “There are no bad females in this book.” That doesn’t hold true entirely for the series, I’ll admit. I recall at least one bad female in the first book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but she was both rich and a Nazi, and so probably constitutes a special case.
In general, it appears, if one were to line up all humanity, women on the left and men on the right, Larsson would have drawn the line between good and evil somewhere east of center. One of the characters in this book says, “When it comes down to it, this story is not primarily about spies and secret government agencies; it’s about violence against women, and the men who enable it.” The Swedish title of the first book of the series actually translates, “Men Who Hate Women.” (This present book, in case you’re wondering, goes by something meaning, more or less, “The Castle in the Air that Exploded” in Sweden.)
The idea of the woman warrior is a constant refrain. Each section of the book begins with a meditation on various accounts of women warriors in history (many of them legendary). Lisbeth Salander, the “Girl” of the titles, although a tiny, waif-like individual, is an expert at unarmed combat, and kicks serious butt above her weight class. This time, however, she spends most of the book confined to a hospital bed, and does her fighting with her mind (no mean weapon). So in her place Larsson introduces a tall, athletic, Amazon-like female cop (who predictably falls immediately into bed with Mikael Blomkvist, the chief male character) to demonstrate female physical equality. This leads me, in my wrongheaded way, to ponder the consistent inconsistency of doctrinaire feminists, whose operating principle seems to be that women need lots and lots of protections from the state, but that men had better not presume to protect them.
(I suppose I ought to take a few column inches at some point here to mention the plot, rather than just detailing my fascinating insights into it. This book reveals, at last, that the horrors of Lisbeth’s abusive childhood, of which we learned in the previous books, were not the fault of the Swedish welfare state which raised her [I rather liked that idea, but it turns out it’s wrong], but of a secret conspiracy within the Swedish state security apparatus. More on that later.)
Stalin is supposed to have said that one death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic. Communist writers ever since have found inspiration in this principle, hiding the millions of victims of twentieth century Communist violence effectively behind the much more compelling figures of one or a few selected victims — often of McCarthyism or the Hollywood Black List — brought up close to the camera lens. Lisbeth Salander is the Girl Who Hid the Real Victims in these books.
In The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the true villains (we learn this early on, so it’s not a spoiler) are a small, invisible group within the security system — a conspiracy of old Cold Warriors. Anti-Communists are, it goes without saying, paranoid. This development came as no great surprise, I suppose, but it was a disappointment. Larsson had done a creditable job of keeping political balance up to that point. I suppose it was too much to ask that he go the whole way without striking a blow for the True Faith.
Don’t take all this to mean that I didn’t enjoy The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, or the series as a whole. I found it great entertainment. Larsson excelled at creating vibrant, fascinating characters, and at building suspense. He had a magical gift.
And, as with all magicians, it’s important to keep your eye on what the left hand is doing.
About the Author
Lars Walker is the author of several published fantasy novels, the latest of which is an e-book, Hailstone Mountain.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (25) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Lars Walker
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Mike Walsh| 4.3.12 @ 7:26AM
I find it interesting that a lot of Scandinavian fiction writers manage to find some form of Nazi to serve as their villain. You'd think they would have run out of them by now. Meanwhile, Norway leads Europe in rape stats, and an identifiable Jew cannot safely walk the streets of Malmo --both for the same reason, and it ain't skinheads. Transference and denial are strategies people use to divert attention from the real causes of anxiety, and your Scandinavians seem pretty anxious, for some reason.
Kitty | 4.3.12 @ 7:38AM
After having slogged through "Tattoo," I had no interest in reading the other two books or seeing the movie. I've read a number of Scandinavian murder mysteries, so I'm used to their grim themes. But "Tattoo" ended up being a depraved mess with no redeeming value.
Charles Romer| 4.3.12 @ 8:42PM
I had the same experience. Although I couldn't put down the first book until I had finished it, on reflection I could not bring myself to read any more of these. There was something eerily evil about it. Now I know my instincts were right on target.
I do appreciate this column. Spectator sure manages to find fascinating takes on things.
Dr Joyce| 4.4.12 @ 2:00PM
Glad to know I wasn't the only one who thought that the first book was a depraved mess with no redeeming value. I also did not bother to purchase either of the other two books or see the movie. I also thought the book had an evil aura about it.
LindaF | 4.3.12 @ 8:46AM
I wondered why this book had been rushed into film - of course, it's the feminist/female warrior motif.
Dai Alanye | 4.3.12 @ 9:28AM
Managed to read the first book and was mystified by its popularity. Not that it's badly written overall, but the plot is such a mess.
The premise is an unsolved mystery about a woman who has disappeared, and whose "killer" yearly sends mocking clues back to the patriarch of the family. It is immediately apparent that she most likely is alive. And as to the "solution," the FBI or any large-city US police department could have tracked her down in relatively short order.
The secondary mystery of a multi-generational family of serial killers also seems unlikely to have eluded a good police force.
Worst of all is the denouement, where the hero, who has just survived a sniper attack by the villain, chooses to confront the man at his house unarmed and wholly unprotected at night, with the inevitable result that he is captured. The author's motive for depicting such a level of stupidity seems merely a setup to allow the pint-sized heroine to stage a rescue.
There are other unlikely matters, such as a crew of un-blockable hackers who use their super e-powers only for good. But what I fail to understand is why anyone would read the subsequent novels after seeing what is involved. I only finished the first so as to be able to discuss the book with an enthusiastic relative, and I'm a bit sorry for the waste of time.
Jack in Wi.| 4.3.12 @ 9:35AM
My wife dragged me to the Tattoo movie. It was disgusting. The richest man in the country and his father as serial sex murderers, come on. The guy was a real nutty communist. The homily, skinnny girl who played the main role, Mara Rooney is a member of the families who own the Pittsburg Steelers and New York Giants. I am sure her parents must be prood of her playing a bi-sexual tatttoed body pierced leftist. The whole story is idiotic.
albert constantine jr.| 4.3.12 @ 10:16AM
I haven’t read the book or seen the movie, so prudence would dictate that I shut up. In reading this review, though, I was struck with the contrast represented by differing approaches to how the weak are protected, so I will cast aside that direction and post anyway.
At one end, the weak are encouraged to become strong, as the regulatory apparatus is largely non-existent, and those who are not self reliant might perish. At the other pole, everyone is protected from every depredation, except from the protective apparatus, for in order to be effective, it must be capable of neutralizing every threat.
While most societies organize somewhere between the poles, and there is movement back and forth along the continuum, the fictional characters that are created that represent this likely are a reflection of where we think we are.
In “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, John Wayne as Tom Doniphan portrays the self-reliant individualist, who, acting against his own interests (as well as those of “Big Cattle”, and the anarchy of the gun thugs represented by Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, Strother Martin et al) ushers in the beginning of the nanny state by saving the life and launching the political career of Jimmy Stewart as Ransom Stoddard, losing the girl and the “Wild West” in the process.
Likewise, Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in “Casablanca”, who sticks his neck out for nobody in the chaotic existence that the Moroccan port represents, also loses the girl but saves the world (or at least advances the work, career and love life of Paul Henried as Victor Lazlo) against the tyrannical advances of Major Strasser and the Third Reich, as well as the anarchy of Casablanca itself.
It would appear that today, the iconic characters portrayed by Bogey and the Duke have been retired in favor of an unbalanced tattooed woman with body piercings. Seemingly, if the cast of “Casablanca” was assembled in a film under the standards of today, Peter Lorre would somehow be playing the hero role, or Ingrid Bergman as Ilse would have killed the Nazi couriers in the opening scenes and scored the letters of transit, negating a need for the rest of the film.
Bill| 4.3.12 @ 10:35AM
I read the trilogy of books one after the other in quick succession, therefore getting a full dose in essentially one transaction. The first book was OK, a good mystery story, told like a mystery story with little "message."
The second novel was replete with lesbian sex and casual attitudes toward lesbian sex. Well, OK, I'm an old fogy and I'd be in the way if anyone paid any attention to me to begin with, so la-de-dah to me. But the story was pretty much explication in order to pave the way for the third novel.
The third novel was (as was the second) full of discussion of the oppression of women in Swedish society. Perhaps Stieg Larsson might have paid some attention to the way a collectivist government like Sweden's treats its citizens in order to obtain some insight instead of relying on the old saw of Cold-War-inspired male chauvinist pigs getting their jollies out of mistreating women. But the plot twist with the biker gang was pretty good.
My final takeaway from the series was that I am tired beyond describing of novels, movies, and TV shows that have female characters who are simply men with vaginas (vaginae?) and breasts, but who otherwise are indistinguishable from men. Just as a clue: no matter what society tells us, women do not think in quite the same way as men. Women have strength issues, too. So women as ass-kickers who, at 5'2" can lambast some 6'2" Goliath man just aren't all that credible. Not that there aren't women who can do that, just that they are awfully rare, and their personalities are not the kind a Stieg Larsson would want to memorialize in a series of novels.
skedaddle| 4.3.12 @ 11:49AM
I couldn't agree more with your last paragraph. I'm also sick to death of small women doing ninja moves on large men and winning. The only method I've ever seen for a women to win against even an average man is a swift kick to his groin and flee while he's insensible. Portraying anything else gives impressionable young women a false sense of their own power.
Lars Walker | 4.3.12 @ 12:22PM
Yes, this also troubles me greatly. I'm particularly irritated by the fact that it's become obligatory to include some kind of swordswoman in any medieval story. Young women: do not try this at home.
Kelsey | 4.3.12 @ 9:17PM
But, but, but. . . I am a 5'4" girl who swordfights with the Vikings and does an okay job! (Okay, so I'm not that great, but I'd like to think I'm okay.) I know there were some women in history who could fight, but I think most were "emergency" forces, only actually fighting when there simply weren't enough men. The middle ages were gritty.
That being said, I prefer sewing to fighting. It's not as dirty.
KyMouse| 4.3.12 @ 3:25PM
Several decades ago, I thought I'd try my hand at writing children's novels. I read up on what publishers wanted and didn't want. Back then -- I don't know about now -- it was said that publishers didn't want books in which children outsmart adult criminals, because youngsters shouldn't be encouraged to try doing that. The success of "Home Alone" probably changed publishers' minds.
In the end, by the way, I found that I'm better at non-fiction articles for newspapers and magazines.
Hal G. P. Colebatch| 4.3.12 @ 10:50AM
Lars, after writing "Troll Valley" and"West Over Sea" you don't need to be envious of ANY writer. They are marvellous explorations of the half-enchanted frontiers of religious belief.
Lars Walker | 4.3.12 @ 11:00AM
I'm envious of the money.
Bill| 4.3.12 @ 11:24AM
You can't control that; do you really want to cater to the PC crowd as Larsson did? I'm sure your advice was "Do what you love if you can." If you can, that's reward enough. Although everyone likes the idea of owning a Lamborghini.
universal mind| 4.3.12 @ 12:30PM
There is a hidden truth in any marxist content, whether it be film or literature. & it is that everything that creates a government free society is destroyed while creating the illusion that this is all liberating.
It is highly abusive to the sanctity of any human heart. & why we in America live as marxists under a nanny state.
Ground Control| 4.3.12 @ 12:44PM
I find it fascinating that people can still look to Communism as moral righteousness. The greatest mass murderers in history were Communists (Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, et.al.) The "justification" behind their crimes is eliminating political opposition, which translates into killing off millions of people who actually want to prosper in life. Communists are ego-maniacs, seeing themselves as saviors, even if they have to kill millions of people in order to "save" them. Stalin is reputed to have said, "I don't care is three-fourths of the World's population dies, as long as the remaining fourth is Communist." That Larsson would cling to this nonsense, and perhaps see Stalin and his crimes as "heroic", is disturbing. I sat through all three of the Swedish movies, and frankly, it was fatuous nonsense. Several posters here have it quite right, in that the plots are predictable, and contrived to sell Communists as heroic and capitalists as devils.
Augusta| 4.3.12 @ 1:38PM
Wonder Woman was actually a product of S&M pulp fiction fandom of the 1950's. On the surface, she's the amazon warrior, but in reality, just another object of male prurience. That's the lie of modern feminism. Like all of Leftism - feminism is just a means to make life easier for weak leftist men, while wearing a self important veil of 'equality'. If free-love and abortion are 'rights' that facilitate female liberation, then spineless men are free to be as irresponsible as they like, while the women they patronize remain unaccountable, dependent, wounded and alone. If the welfare state is husband and father, weak men are liberated, not the women and children who exist in that unending cycle of dependence. Feminist men are bigger hypocrites than the feminists themselves - the feminists delude themselves, but feminist males knowingly wink to each other scarcely believing their good luck. I've no doubt that these stories are Larsson's own brand of personal commie-porn, and certainly not his hymn of praise to womankind.
Bill| 4.3.12 @ 2:53PM
My guess is that the comic book creators of the 1950s had one overriding idea in their minds when they created Wonder Woman: concoct a superhero that isn't a copy of Superman and Batman. That's probably the principal reason why they came up with a female superhero. I doubt that it had much to do with SM concepts or softcore porn.
I do agree entirely that feminism comports completely with the worst of masculine desires. When women embraced The Pill, that meant men would be getting lots and lots of uncommitted sex. Women too, but they had to give up the idea that their kids, assuming some mistake was made and they became pregnant, would be illegitimate and possibly not receiving support, and that marriage wasn't even going to be an option. Then women competing in the marketplace insured that men could now become Peter Boys and languish around the house, as no one was going to mock them for hanging around in the pajamas (or underwear) eating bon bons. They wouldn't get mocked because other men would envy them.
Yeah, women got some benefits too, but in the end they just got treated like men. Now that they're discovering that no one is going to relieve them of the burden of being a woman while the voluntarily assume the burden of being a man, women have a full-to-overflowing plate of social mess to deal with.
james wilson| 4.3.12 @ 2:21PM
Good books, especially if you know how to edit them by a quarter as they are being read. His politics did not slip out of control until the last novel, but the characters were not ruined by it. Read above.
Most fiction writers of this genre are leftists. Back in the day in America, many were communists. Nowadays they are liberals with spasmodic knees; it is as if they need to apologize for their characters through asides and insertions, who in order to be interesting cannot also meet the litmus tests of correctness.
Leon| 4.4.12 @ 12:25AM
Read the first book. Won't read any more. The villains were so predictable I almost quit in the middle.
Since Larson was so concerned with women's rights it's ironic that he screwed his female live-in out of rights to the books and the rest of his estate
when he died. They never married and he had
no will, so, as I understand it she got zip.
Not Special Ops Bill| 4.4.12 @ 1:53PM
Modern man-woman relations. Before there was any knowledge Larsson was going to die, the relationship was probably just fine with her. Only when he died and probate law kicked in did she say, "Oops!"
Arch| 4.4.12 @ 1:15PM
Thanks for warning me. I was just looking at one of The Girl series yesterday at CostCo. I'm a Cold Warrior, Vietnam vet, and a huge Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn fan. His best book was, in my view, the First Circle. In the Soviet Union, the only free men were the Zeks, prisoners in the Gulag
It's amazing that the left has still not admitted that the Vietnam War killed 1.125 million but their Peace killed over 3 million.