As an author, I envy the sales and popularity of Stieg Larsson’s trilogy of books about Lisbeth Salander ( the main character) and all the things she’s kicking or burning.  I also wonder: why is this series so popular?

I think it’s popular because, in many ways, the stories are in such contrast to real law enforcement, prosecution of criminals, and the court system.

In real life when a crime is committed, there’s often a lengthy investigation followed by the charging of a criminal case against the suspect and the wait (sometimes months) for a trial date, concluded with a trial. (Itself, sometimes stretching to a year–like the OJ Simpson trial, although that’s very unusual and contributed to the prosecutor’s loss…another blog someday!)

There are many good reasons why the criminal process is so slow:

1.  Enough evidence must be gathered to assure we have the correct suspect and there’s a solid case.

2.  Every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty (with the evidence from #1)

3.  Because of #2, every accused person has an absolute right to use everything they can to defend themselves–which often takes lots of time.

For many people, the process can be so slow it’s not exciting or even interesting anymore.  Looking back in American literature, there have always been heroes who operated alone, outside the restrictions of society and the law, and succeeded by using their own wits, skills, and strengths.  We are attracted to them because they don’t have to “play by the rules.”

Most of us live within the limitations of our jobs, families, money, churches, house ownership, etc.  How often do we dream of breaking free of all the restrictions and rules to do something exciting and outside the normal structures of our lives?  For me, many times!

Through characters like Lisbeth Salander, readers can escape along with her and imagine what that experience is like.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the usual police procedural mystery and draws upon previous characters like James Bond and Ethan Hawke (from Mission Impossible) .  All these characters are outsiders, living by their wits, emotionally limited (or with no emotional ties at all),and use high-tech gadgets/skills to succeed.

Larsson’s genius was to fill this kind of character with an extremely troubled goth.  To me, Lisbeth Salander is so damaged and limited emotionally, I have a hard time getting into these stories, but she’s different!   That intrigues readers.

Although court room dramas are always popular, the real life slow pace of the prosecution of criminals and courtrooms is far too slow to hold people’s interest.  It’s the fact that heroes like Salander can avoid requirements like taking the time to get a judge to sign a search warrant, in contrast to real life, that makes a great story.