Thanks for your suggestion. They are definitely some good observations, you have there… and I’m inclined to agree. In my fanfic, over at stieglarsson-forever.net, I want the story – the 1% of it or so that I have planned – to progress with some sort of inner struggle in Lisbeth; she tells herself that she’s better off just remaining a ‘freak’, but deep inside yearns for some sort of ‘normality’ and – more importantly – a better chance at realizing some potentials – skills, talents, relationships, etc. – that she can only just begin to hope to glimpse across a Very Distant Horizon. And yet they are there. The only problem is, when you are as damaged as Lisbeth arguably is, how do you get from ‘here’ to ‘there’ – to that horizon. How do you even begin to be able to define for yourself what your kind of normal is?

So you raise some very interesting points and I for one hope to be able to deal with them in the near future in the fanfic. Now, if only the day had more hours… and the night too. Alas, I can only promise more “blatantly irregular updates” as long as I’m pretty much doing most of the sitebuilding here. But I’m going to keep doing that so eventually I’ll get around, one way or another, to explore more about these characters. AND share it with all of you and let your ideas, etc., be part of it.

Larsson left a lot hanging but I think he left enough for us to make som reasonable assumptions about where Lisbeth would be going, what her personal struggles would be in the future, etc.

As a black middle aged woman I love that this character is non-traditional. But you can still be a badass warrior and conform a little. As a woman of color that’s what I have to do — but it doesn’t change who I am underneath. Anyway, in the American reviews of the trilogy much is made of what a freak Lisbeth is and no way too much emphasis is placed on her asperger syndrome. I don’t think she is. She’s odd, yes — not just because of what she has suffered. But to me she is very human. She controls her emotions, but she is full of passion. I love this woman!

I know you say that traffic is slow for a forum but it’s a chicken and egg situation. I have seen a lot of the forums you mention and I agree it’s just tedious reading about people who love the books over and over and who is going to be cast in a Hollywood film version.

I’ll pop in from time to time here then if I may and discuss little bits and peices.

I haven’t actually “read” the books. I’m on my second listen of an unabridged reading by Saul Reichlin. I truly recommend a listen. His voice is wonderful and unintrusive. I think he catches the mood of the books beautifully.

I know I shall listen for a third time as each listen I find something new in the stories.

Mary