Stieg Larson: biography, personal life, books

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Swedish public and political figure Stieg Larson is known to the Russian reader primarily for his three-part novel Millennium, but writing was far from the only thing in his life. From the article you can learn more about the biography and personal life of the writer, as well as about his works.

Stieg Larson's biography

The writer was born on August 15, 1954 in the small Swedish town of Skellefto. As a child, he was brought up mostly by his grandmother, because his parents were too poor and young, and at the age of 16 he left home. The formation of his personality was strongly influenced by his grandfather, who had anti-fascist convictions, for which he suffered during the Second World War.

Throughout his life, Stieg Larson was a politically active person: from his youth he was a member of the Communist Workers' League (which was later renamed the Socialist Party of Sweden), worked first as a designer, and then as a journalist and editor in the newspaper "The Fourth International". Larson left the party in 1987 due to ideological differences.

In 1977 hostedparticipation in the training of women guerrillas of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Eritrea. After returning to Sweden the same year, he began working for one of Sweden's largest news agencies, TT, as a journalist and graphic designer.

Anti-fascist activities

In 1982 Larson, then the spokesman for an English anti-fascist newspaper in Sweden, created Expo, an organization (as well as a magazine of the same name) that counteracted the spread of radical Nazi views among Swedish young people. In particular, the writer is known for his publications and studies on right-wing extremist movements, for example, the book Right Extremism, he lectured on this topic even at Scotland Yard.

In addition to his editorial and journalistic work, Stieg Larson is also known for writing scripts for film and radio.

In addition, the writer loved science fiction since childhood, periodically worked as an editor in various publications specializing in the literature of this genre, and was also the chairman of the science fiction club of Sweden.

The Millennium trilogy brought Larson worldwide fame, but posthumously. Having concluded a contract for the publication of books, the writer did not live to see it. On November 9, 2004, Larson died of a sudden heart attack. Rumors that his death was not accidental and related to neo-Nazi threats against him were refuted by his common-law wife and colleagues - they claimed that the journalist was a workaholic, besides, he smoked a hugenumber of cigarettes per day.

However, in the last fifteen years, the journalist really lived in an atmosphere of constant threat from the radical right, against which he conducted activities. Larson became a true expert in the field of precautions designed to protect against possible assassination attempts, and even wrote instructions on exactly how journalists should behave in such situations.

Private life

Stieg Larson from 1974 until his death was in a civil marriage with the architect and writer Eva Gabrielsson. They met at a public meeting in support of South Vietnam when Larson was eighteen. Their marriage was never officially registered, according to Eva, her common-law husband was afraid that his anti-fascist activities could be harmful if their relationship was legalized.

Larson's look

In the eyes of his contemporaries, Stieg Larson himself looked like a literary character. He was a modest and quiet man, so it is assumed that if he had lived to literary fame, he would not have changed much. Coming into the office in the afternoon in his big glasses and an old corduroy jacket, he could sit there until early morning, drinking huge amounts of coffee and smoking up to sixty cigarettes a day. Returning home in the morning, he wrote for several more hours before going to bed.

Writer's work

Larson's literary debut is considered to be his novel "The Autists". In it, the author broke with literary norms:the character seemed impersonal, the principles of narration were not respected - there was neither beginning nor end, the reality described in the novel was weakly similar to reality. But, as already mentioned, the author gained world fame after the publication of the detective trilogy "Millennium". It tells about the adventures of a hacker girl Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist. Neither the author nor the publishers imagined that the novel could be such a success with the public - Stieg Larson's books have so far been translated into more than 40 languages, and the total circulation is 70 million copies.

The books were published consecutively in 2005 (the first part of the trilogy "Men Who Hate Women"), in 2006 (the second - "The Girl Who Played with Fire") and in 2007 (the third - " Castle in the air that exploded).

Larson originally planned to write a ten-volume novel. Several hundred pages of the fourth part, which he managed to write before his death, Eva Gabrielsson wanted to finish, but in the end, David Lagerkrantz completed The Girl Who Stuck in the Web. However, it is difficult to call Larson the author of this book, it differs too much from the rest of the trilogy. There are still drafts for the next two books, and the debate about what fate awaits them is still going on.

Interestingly, the author began writing the trilogy during a break from his main job - social work, journalism and editing. The creation of literary conspiracies and their consistent disclosure allowed himrelax, because such an activity did not threaten him or his wife. Stieg Larson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was more of a hobby for him than a main occupation.

In 2009, Larson became the most popular writer for European readers. The book was a bestseller in five European countries.

Screenings of the trilogy

All three books were filmed by Swedish directors in 2009 - the first part of the trilogy was directed by Nils Oplev, the other two by Daniel Alfredson.

In 2010, a series based on the trilogy appeared on the screens.

In 2011, a Hollywood film adaptation of the first book of Millennium was filmed (directed by David Fincher, starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig). The continuation of the trilogy is still in a frozen status, as negotiations for filming have not been completed, although the script is already ready.

Comic "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

From 2012 to 2014, Vertigo released a series of comic books based on Stieg Larson's books, which are available in both print and digital versions. The authors were Leonardo Manco and Andrea Mutti. The publishers of the comic thought that the plot and characters of the trilogy were the best suited to adapt it to this genre, and they successfully implemented their idea.