29-year-old Noomi Rapace from Sweden did a fantastic job of playing Lisbeth Salander! I hope Hollywood doesn't embarass itself by trying to make it's own remake version. The Swedish film adapation was very good and I don't think America has the ability or the cultural context to recreate it.
**Spoiler Alert** (I don't delve into the plot, per se. But I give a lot away about the main female character. It could take away from some of the joy of reading the book, if you read this first. Just fair warning.)
I've just read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. It's set in Sweden and deals with, among other things, corporate corruption in Sweden (but also, the world at large), violence against women, journalist's responsibilities and shortcomings, mental illness, and family problems. All of that tied into a murder mystery at that! In particular, I love the heroine, Lisbeth Salander. She's a 24 year-old, pierced, tattooed research assistant and just a little intimidating. She's my new hero and here's why.
1) She's a survivor. Lisbeth has had a tough life and through it all, she has survived and fought back. She represents so many minorities at once and yet she's an exception to the fate that befalls so many of them. She takes care of herself and doesn't like others to help her. She's stubborn in that sense, but she's more independent than most people.
2) She has strong moral conviction. Lisbeth has her own set of ideas about what is corrupt and what is just, with little regard to what the law has to say. She has an intense distrust of legal enforcement and often takes matters into her hands. She stands by her moral principles and acts upon them accordingly. Despite her shortcomings with personal relationships, she doesn't hesitate to step in when there are victims who need a helping hand.
3) She's unbelievably smart. So much so, it makes me sick. She has skills that I would love to have. She uses her skills to make a living, of course. But more importantly, she uses them to help people and to give bad people the shit storm that they deserve. She's methodical and she's never wrong (not yet at least, there are 2 more books in the series). In short, she's a genius. I hate her for it, but I love her for it at the same time.
Anyway, she's awesome and I hope that if you haven't read it yet, you'll pick up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's the first really great plot-driven novel I've read since The DaVinci Code or The Kite Runner.
0 comments:
Post a Comment