skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Stieg Larsson = Tupac
When I heard the news that there was a second unpublished Stieg Larsson novel lurking on his long time girlfriend's laptop I wasn't surprised. Like Michael Jackson and Tupac, the late Mr Larsson is destined to become more prolific in death than the poor chap was in life. This is an exciting development for Larsson fans and bad news, obviously, for misogynistic Russian pigdog incestuous rapists.
...
Any spoilers? Well, I've heard that in books 4 and 5 Lisbeth Salander gets even bigger breast implants than the ones she got in book 2 and Cally Blomkvist turns over more filthy stones in that hypocritical, poisonous, cess filled, putrid, neo Nazi, kakistocracy that we foolish bourgeois dupes in the West call, er, Sweden.
62 comments:
The photograph incidentally is a demonstration of how not to put together the Ikea Orgel pendant lamp shade.
Wow! What ya got against Sweden? besides everyhing eh? Gorgeous blonde women live there, im sure they do.
So this one won't be set in America, then?
Still, it fits in with Douglas Coupland's depressing view of the future.
Man, I really wish I hadn't read that before I even had my coffee, John. And will there be coffee? I mean, for the proletariat.
Adrian will probably take some comfort from item twenty-one, though.
As for Larsson, I'm sure the general hope in the bookstore biz is that we can just keep going somehow until number four comes out.
Crikey that is one bleak view of the future, im glad i read that. How can Douglas Coupland have such a pessimistic outlook and live in Canada, with all that glorious wilderness?
Well, like most of us Canadians, Coupland suffers liberal guilt all the time. And my prediction for the future is that we Canadians will have a terrible time with survivor's guilt. The place is huge, under-populated and has plenty of resources.
There was a bestselling book here last year called Your World is About To Get a Lot Smaller that said many of the same things Coupland's article did.
But the truth is, for Canadians it doesn't look that bad.
Hey, if we have to go back to sail to get us our coffee, that'll work.
Under-populated sounds good to me. Keep the riff raff out I say, but let Ray Mears live there as he's pretty good at carving out canoes and he loves Canada.
I know Malcolm Gladwell isn't held in high regard around these parts, but I did like his recent article about why when the revolution comes, it likely won't be via Twitter.
Well, he's right, I think, that there won't be a revolution. It's interesting he uses civil rights, a fight with clear goals that everyone involved agreed on.
It's pretty rare these days to see the comments on an article not devolve into left-right name calling and blaming pretty quickly.
Imagine if all those people organizing sit-ins and freedom marches couldn't decide what the actual problem was.
If I was going to write a non-fiction book about America today I'd call it, "Divided and Conquered."
A lot of what Coupland says does seem inevitable. I thought of his view of the future because the popularity of Larrson shows me that we believe what we believe and we'll keep believing it no matter what.
That sounds awfully pessimistic but it isn't my class that's disappearing, we were done in a generation ago ;) And, you know, I find the Larrson stuff very middle-class....
Interesting and amusing post. My wife, who was so into the first two SL novels, bought the third one but lost interest about 50 pages in, and gave it away. Go figure. I have to cop to enjoying ABBA sometimes, but I'm a product of the Seventies and the two ladies were very hot looking, still are considering.
I guess friend has always been a pretty nebulous concept, but the friending of the internet waters it down to the point of meaninglessness.
Internet political involvement is pretty low risk, but it is good for generating money. And I'm a bit surprised that he didn't address the phenomenon of extremist recruitment via the web. Although he does say that some key components of high risk involvement are hierarchical structure and being inducted into action by a close friend, so maybe that's already answered.
I think Coupland might be wrong about there being no going back, though. Going back to a slower internet connection is only a metaphor for some things. I think there will be a significant group of people who opt for less 'screen time' in there lives--or maybe even no screentime at all.
My nephew, who's twelve, says, "Facebook is for losers!" Of course, he hasn't really hit adolescence yet, so that may change...
Seana, my 12 yr old son also has shown little to no interest in Facebook, and most of the teenagers I know are hardly on it. Mostly, I think it has become an adult interest, as is blogging and message boards. You Tube however..
Sean, thanks to Mama Mia, I believe ABBA has gained a bit of popularity with the younger crowd. I know several Teenagers and young people that love them now.
Glenna- great point. They do have some catchy songs. "Dancing Queen" is pretty okay by me. Having a teenage daughter, I hear a lot of GAGA and the like. I don't mind some of her stuff either.
Frankie
Unlike Stieg Larsson I have nothing against Sweden which seems like a very civilized humane tolerant place.
John
My feeling is that none of Coupland's predictions are going to happen at all. 10 years from now will feel exactly the same as today or 10 years ago.
We certainly wont feel climate change in 10 years, maybe 200 years but not 10.
The problem with the Green movement is that they are alarmists.
I bet you the price of a barrel of oil is about the same as it is today adjusted for inflation. And if its not Canada will be laughing as its sitting on a trillion billions of oil shale.
I read The Rational Optimist earlier this year and although optimism isnt trendy, he talks a lot of sense.
Seana
Bookstores will be around too. Everyone will pretty much look the same except that we'll be older and more decrepit.
Seana
As for Gladwell, the revolution certainly wont come via The New Yorker.
Sean
Larsson lost me after the breast implants.
Glenna
I've never gone on Facebook. In fact I only have a vague idea of what it actually is.
Abba have some good catchy melodies, I'll admit.
Huge in Australia by the way.
Sean
The blonde one apparently has become a recluse and gone a bit mad I'm sorry to say.
When my kids were younger I read the book, The Optimistic Child and that got me onto Learned Optimism.
I can boil it all down to this: look for ways to solve problems, don't see everything as an insurmountable obstacle.
Makes sense to me. Kind of the way my parents saw things, I think. What I've seen more recently is this idea where we try and avoid anything that looks like it might be a problem.
Or, as you say about environmentalism, we take an alarmist approach. I get it, I understand it's because people think they need to present things with a sense of urgency and desperation to get any action but I think it has the opposite effect. People may be naturally drawn to pessimism and the alarmist approach just plays to that but ultimately it's not very effetive.
Have you seen this? I think it was pulled from TV, but I'm not sure.
John
Interesting vid.
If (and I'm not sure they will be) things are bad 100 years from now Canada will be sitting pretty. The short sea route to Asia will be going through Canadian waters. The oil shale will be economic in Alberta and there's bloody tons of the stuff. Offshore oil exploration of the Arctic will have opened up and there's going to be lots of oil there too. Canada's population will have doubled to a sensible 70 million or so and of course the temperate habitable zone will have expanded north. Since there's no oil in Quebec I doubt Canada will have any political problems either.
Survivor's guilt. That'll be Canada.
I think you're right about everything else.
My wife works in the energy "sector" as they call it and the future looks bright for wind and solar power in Canada, too.
Of course, if the survivor's guilt doesn't get to us the Canadian smugness will drive me crazy - all these Canadians who feel they did something rather than just being lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
Sheesh. Where's that book about being optimistic....
John
Australia will be fine too. Tons of coal and other raw materials which they will export to China. They might need to build some desalination plants but they'll be able to afford it.
It's a very rich, stable, affluent society with largely invented problems.
John
Green parties are a sign of decadence and prosperity if you ask me. The stronger a country's Green Party the fewer actual problems that country has.
Adrian, none the less, I, and many others, have "liked" your facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Adrian-McKinty/109906745702003
Glenna
Whoever put that up needs to learn how to write in html.
Hmm. I thought he said it would feel pretty much like it does now.
Bookstores may be around, but I think they will largely be devoted to non-book items. My boss was asked for or five times in the last week, "Do you sell Kindle covers here?" So I guess we're going to be selling them--how we're advertising them will be a different matter.
Oh, wait...I meant non-book items and Stieg Larsson.
Also, I think they'll probably just kill off all us old decrepit ones. One dictionary on a high shelf and it's all over.
I'd like to argue with you about the Greens, but the fact is they very frequently annoy me. I was walking to my friends' house the other night and this guy on a bike comes up to this quiet street intersection and yells "Global warming is happening, people! Get rid of your cars!" The irony that the only person who could probably hear him was already walking seemed to be lost on him.
Seana
Of course the best way for him to decrease his carbon footprint is walk off the end of Santa Cruz pier holding a cement block. Really its just selfishness on his part if he doesn't.
And I am so unselfish that I would actually be willing to help him do it.
Adrian,
Badly. It's a mess. I think you should jump on there and have them clean it up, at least put a good picture up. That picture Declan Burke posted not long ago after a long night of drinking would be fun.
Glenna
I remember that pic. Three in the morning after a night's smoking and drinking. Let's just say that I have looked better.
An interesting little tidbit. According to The Harris poll Stieg larsson didn't make the list of America's favorite readers. Instead, it seems, Americans tend to favor Stephen King, James Patterson, and John Grisham. Also, J.K Rowling and J.R.R Tolken were even at number 9.
Glenna
I looked at that list. Maybe I'm an out of touch elitist or something but it certainly seems that "the people" are idiots.
James Patterson???
When I look at the New York Times mass market best seller list, I wonder what planet I'm on. I know no one who reads those books.
But I may be an urban snob about these things.
No, the revolution won't come via the New Yorker, that is for sure.
But nothing will come via that magazine, if the issues don't arrive (a friend annoyed that her issue hadn't arrived on schedule).
There's always Sjowall and Wahloo and Mankell to read about Sweden.
To get back on topic a bit, Larsson and Tupac will have to go a long way to come close to the amount of 'new' material issued after death held by Jimi Hendrix. I'm starting to wonder if Hendrix was even a real person or just something created by the marketing department to sell all these records.
And I've started to finally appreciate ABBA. There's a new radio station in town that calls itself Vinyl and plays what I'd cal AM hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's. "Fogey pop" rather than the "Fogey rock," I'm used to. Turns out all disco didn't suck, a lot of it was closer to genuine punk than the teenage me could appreciate.
Kathy
I subscribed to the New Yorker in July. So far FOUR issues have not shown up. I'm amazed how they stay in business.
John
Just to swerve back off topic...so The Red Sox have cleared the final legal obstacle and bought Liverpool. John Henry tweeted a message to anxious Liverpool supporters explaining who The Red Sox are, it linked to a video on the MLB page which made this startling claim "The Red Sox are the only team to have won the world series twice in the last decade."
Dont sign the treaty! White man speak with forked tongue.
In 1978 I bought albums by Abba, Led Zepp and The Sex Pistols. Like some kind of neutral Sweden I was never caught up in the disco wars.
Just to swerve back to the other off topic, or maybe it's on topic, I don't think any of those "literary giants" really sell like they used to--at least not for us. Stephen King maybe, and Dan Brown more, but anyone else, including Grisham is a lukewarm phenomenon.I don't know if it's because they're actually buying these books at Costco with all the other 'products' at even deeper discounts than ours, or just what, but people aren't really rushing out to get the next whoever in the way they used to. I suppose it's just Amazon, but that doesn't explain why we've done so well with Larsson, and it certainly doesn't explain why everyone suddenly has to read Franzen.
I'm also observing this phenomenon at least among my friends that guys who read but don't really read fiction anymore are picking up Franzen's book and telling me it's making them want to get back to reading fiction again. It's weird. It's like some kind of magic pill everyone's taking that I don't understand the effects of.
Neutral Swede or schizophrenic...
Seana, I think we'll see a real splitting of the book sales world - like everything else. It's unlikely any store will be able to survive selling just books so it'll be a matter of what else they sell.
Scented candles or car parts?
Adrian, I guess by "decade" he means the 2000 to 2009, right? Which year was the millenium? It's so confusing...
I would be more alarmed if the best seller book lists included all my fav books and authors, that would really irk me. It would deprive many of the great pleasure of sneering at the populist fools. Also I kinda like to think the author is writing the book just for me.. Anyone, anyone, Bueller?
I don't see how "the people" don't get bored, at some point you have to expand your reading base or it's just not worth the time putting into it.
I honestly used to love Grisham, but his last several books just haven't worked for me.
Seana, don't forget the e-readers like Kindle.
seana
thats pretty good news about Franzen. I know I'll read it and I suspect I'll like it a lot. But will I admit it? Thats another question.
John
For years I've been waiting for the film about Hendrix in the days leading up to Woodstock, or his last days, or his London years, or his years as in the USMC...
I mean come on, the notalgia laden weepy boomers demand it.
Frankie
Your point is well taken. I was furious when people began talking about Cormac McCarthy. Back in the 80's I was the only one who'd heard of him and it felt great.
Glenna
Yeah buts what Grisham or King's incentive to write different or experimental books? They get the big advances because they promise to churn out the same thing over and over. They're basically trapped in that mode forever. Trapped in their mansions, poor loves.
I don't really think either King or Grisham are all that formulaic. I read a short story by King awhile ago that was completely out of character and really good. Grisham may be a bit formulaic in approach, but he seems to write about issues he really cares about, which probably keeps it fresh for him.
I just had a fun experience today, as a matter of fact when this young Hispanic guy, covered with tattoos came in and asked for his non-fiction book, An Innocent Man. His teacher or someone had been talking about it the night before, and I found a used copy for him and he just seemed so happy to have it. Frankly, it was a hard day in other ways, but I love those kind of moments.
John, no auto parts yet, but in addition to the calendars and cards we've had forever, we've got chocolate, puzzles, kitchen timers, lunchboxes, and god knows what all else in our sideline section. I will say that I was really pleased by the number of hardback non-bestseller books I rang up in the last hour of my shift.
Seana
Ignorance on my part. I just pulled those names out. I'm really not that familiar with either King or Grisham.
Ignorance is always good to confess.
As for Franzen, I don't know what you'll think of the new book, but I'll be curious. I haven't even figured out what I think of it, but I'm glad I read it.
Also, does anyone else here think that between Vargas Llosa's Nobel and the rescue of all those Chilean miners, Latin America is all set for a new resurgence?
Seana
Unless of course something like this happens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cCLJieV9IY&p=1FC0EF1C5A050D86&playnext=1&index=20
When The Onion decides to take over the world, then I will start worrying.
Or not...
I like Grisham, have read some good books by him, several of which go deeply into social and political issues.
However, that said, some others have been churned out and are formulaic and page turners, which help pass the time, but which one forgets ten minutes after closing the book,
But I think he's written enough good ones to merit writerly respect.
Seana, Grisham's Innocent Man was a good one. I read it quite awhile back and I remember a strong stirring of emotions going on when I did.
Quebec might have no oil, but it does have an ungodly amount of fresh water. Judging from the way the bridges around Montreal are all literally falling apart, though, I suspect infrastructure, or lack of it, will spoil the waters.
I have one foot in that part of the world because of natural resources in a time of woe. I have the other foot in another country because venture capital does not exist in Canada or at least Quebec, and I think some answers to society's laziness will be helped with new and helpful technology. It would help if they stopped destroying the fiction books however.
Also, speaking of ABBA, this speech made by Benny, accepting the R&R Hall of Fame award is pretty convincing.
He speaks at the end of the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyE_XInM-RY&feature=related
Frida's father was a Nazi soldier stationed in Norway, doing what Nazis did including propagating perfect Aryans under some program.
I've always been a mad raving fan of theirs, but these two tidbits from Benny and Frida (she doesn't talk about it in the youtube clip) give a context to their music that perhaps make sense to those who dismiss them. Or not.
I shrug my shoulders at the alter of the Stones.
Kathy
He certainly attracts big directors to the movie adaptations.
Sheiler
You have to think that Hitler wouldnt be pleased by Abba which can only be a good thing.
Ahem. Excuse me.
I assumed that's one of your teen posters, Adrian? Own up!
As for the book rumours; if anyone had seen the Larsson brother interviewed on television, you'd know the man is insane. He's so desperate for attention he'll say anything. They've got the money, which should be enough. Why fantasise another book? I mean, they even suggested that Eva G should marry Larsson senior to keep the money in the family.
Miss Witch
A dead writer, insanity, marrying the sister in law to keep the money in the family...wait a minute that sounds like a plot of a SIXTH Dragon Tattoo novel.
I dont think I ever had an ABBA poster but I definitely had the records.
And I preferred the brunette.
Except it was marrying the daughter-in-law they had in mind. Sick.
Don't believe you about the poster.
Post a Comment