The NY Times has a very long and fascinating essay on the publishing phenomenon of deceased Swedish mystery writer Stieg Larsson. The Times quotes John-Henri Holmberg, a long-time Swedish libertarian author and editor, and someone who knew Larsson, about the author of these suddenly in-demand books.
John-Henri Holmberg, a Swedish editor, translator and critic who was a mentor to Larsson, wrote in an e-mail message: “He was very soft-spoken but held uncompromising views. He was a steadfast friend who would drop you entirely if you in some way proved not to be worthy of his friendship. . . . Among other things . . . he would not tolerate derogatory opinions of others based on their secondary characteristics, such as ethnicity or gender. Politically, in his youth, Stieg was a libertarian Socialist, active in a Trotskyite group; later on, I believe that he became more of a libertarian anarchist, but regardless of that the important part was his continual passion for liberty. And he would not suffer even previously close friends once he had reason to believe that in fact they harbored racist, sexist or prejudicial views.”
I haven’t yet read any of the books in the trilogy, but would consider reading them in the original language if I can locate any copies. I read somewhere the books were tough to read in translation.
