December Blog

In an interview about his Swedish best-seller "Hundraåringen Som Klev Ut Genom Fönstret och Försvann" (The Hundred-year Old Who Stepped Out Through the Window and Disappeared, see page 30) Jonas Jonasson noted that his main character reminded him of the carefree and disrespectful Pippi Longstocking. Having just seen The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the third film in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, I thought of another person who reminded me of Pippi Longstocking - the antisocial and fiercely independent Lisbeth Salander.

If you are one of the millions and millions who have read any or all of Stieg Larsson's three best-selling crime novels, you know what I am talking about. Lisbeth Salander, the heroine of Larsson's award-winning Millennium Trilogy, is a 24-year-old pierced goth with a dragoon tattoo. With her martial arts prowess and photographic memory, the brilliant hacker, with a stern moral conscience, has become a strong symbol of this century of the woman. The fact that she also has all the money in the world, compensates, just like in the real world, for her lack of social graces. Her misogynistic looks not withstanding, she is a hero of many young adult women - their Pippi Longstocking.

Astrid Lindgren’s fictional character, with her carrot-colored hair in braids that stick out, and one brown and one black stocking, had the same rebellious look as Lisbeth Salander when the 9-year old made an appearance in 1945. Just like Lisbeth, Pippi drinks a lot of coffee, has lots of money and is so strong that she can easily manhandle the two policemen who come to take her to "a home".

Both Pippi and Lisbeth have their run-ins with social services because of their complicated family situations. Pippi has no mother and her absent father is a king on a South Sea island. Lisbeth’s mum is in an institution while her criminal father, who has been absent during a large part of her life, wants to get rid of her. Lisbeth was bullied at school while Pippi was sure to have been bullied if she had not ditched school altogether after her first day in class.

Lisbeth's side-kick Mikael Blomkvist shares the surname of another of Astrid Lindgren's children's book characters, Mästerdetektiven Kalle Blomkvist (lead detective Kalle Blomkvist). There is another reference to Pippi Longstocking with Lisbeth Salander using Pippi Longstocking’s house Villa Villekulla as a cover name.

As I am writing this, I come across some material about Stieg Larsson and lo and behold I see that he has stated in interviews with an old colleague and his publisher that he was fascinated with the idea of a grown up Pippi Longstocking, "a dysfunctional girl, probably with attention deficit disorder who would have had a hard time finding a regular place in society but would nonetheless take a firm hand in directing her own destiny", and that he used those characteristics to create Lisbeth Salander.

All I can say is hats off to Stieg Larsson for giving the women of the world another memorable Swedish role model.

God Jul

Anders