Stieg Larsson and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The book is years old by now, but the popularity of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has never been bigger.  Here is a quick rundown of the book and the author that has the book and film world talking.

Stieg Larsson wrote three books (there is allegedly an unfinished fourth installment) best described as crime novels with a focus on two characters: a journalist name Mikael Blomkvist and a researcher named Lisbeth Salander.  It is Salander’s character that seems to have captivated readers and spawned the book’s international success.  Originally published in Sweden in 2005, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels had a successful run and were subsequently translated to English and other languages, making the trilogy an absolute blockbuster over the next few years, selling 20 million copies of the trilogy!

The run is far from over, as a Swedish film of the first book has been well received and even made it to the states recently as a foreign film with subtitles.  The big story now is who will play the lead roles in the  U.S. film versions of the books, now that Sony Pictures recently acquired the rights and is ready to start preproduction.¹

Just as intriguing as the books’ plots is the real life situation surrounding the family and friends of Stieg Larrson.  Sadly, Larrson died BEFORE any of the three books were published, and now that a fortune fit to be his is available, legal fights are involved in the money, the half-finished fourth manuscript, and the film rights.  Why?  Because Larsson never married his longtime girlfriend (due to Larsson’s alleged desire to protect her from any threats or problems his anti-neo-Nazi publications may have caused), so even though they were together for 32 years, there was no will (Larsson was only 50 when he died) and no legal connection to the person closest to him.

The story on and off the page is a thriller, and now you know enough to talk about it and search out the Millennium trilogy if you haven’t picked up a book in a while!²

Trivia: the Swedish title of the first book translates to “Men Who Hate Women”, but the publishers wanted something more appealing to all groups, so the title was changed for the English version.

Read on:

StiegLarsson.com – Hollywood Movies (rumors of potential casting)

StiegLarsson.com – Controversy surrounding the legacy

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