"There Are Things I Want You to Know" about Stieg Larsson and Me
Here is the real inside story—not the one about the Stieg Larsson phenomenon, but rather the love story of a man and a woman whose lives came to be guided by politics and love, coffee and activism, writing and friendship. Only one person in the world knows that story well enough to tell it with authority. Her name is Eva Gabrielsson.
Eva Gabrielsson and Stieg Larsson shared everything, starting when they were both eighteen until his untimely death thirty-two years later at the age of
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“The trilogy allowed Stieg to denounce..couch-potato activists, sunny-day warriors, unscrupulous company heads and shareholders”,
If ever there were anyone who had an excuse to grind axes, it would be Eva Gabrielsson, who lived with author Stieg Larsson for thirty-two years but who, through a loophole in Swedish law, inherited nothing upon his death at age fifty in 2004, his entire estate going, by law, to his estranged brother and father. Gabrielsson has often said that she is not personally interested in the enormous sums which his Millenium Trilogy sales have generated. As dedicated to social causes as Larsson was, she is fighting, instead, for control of his literary legacy, especially alarmed because, she fears, that if present trends continue, she could even see his name on beer cans.
Remarkably objective and straightforward for most of the book, Gabrielsson describes Larsson’s early life in the remote north of Sweden, where he lived with his grandparents from infancy until the age of nine, absorbing his grandfather’s stories and pacifist political views. After his grandfather’s death, Larsson rejoined his mother and father in the city, six hundred miles to the south. Though Larsson felt comfortable with his mother, he never formed a strong bond with his father or younger brother, according to Gabrielsson. In 1972, just after his eighteenth birthday, he met nineteen-year-old Eva at a rally in support of the Front National de Liberation in Vietnam (FLN), a Trotskyite group. Soul-mates, she says, they simultaneously supported communist causes and a strict, old-fashioned morality, believing in justice but also in vengeance. Later, when Larsson began to write for a series of newspapers, he was a crusader for human rights for those suffering from discrimination, and often received death threats, especially from neo-Nazis.
Gabrielsson does not really tell much about their lives together, except within the context of their shared beliefs, and neither of them truly comes alive here. Gabrielsson’s descriptions of her grief at his sudden death certainly ring true, but much of this grief was also connected to their devotion to causes, some of which began to languish after his death. She is passionate about what she regards as the complete violation of Larsson’s wishes after his death–that the profits from his books should serve causes in which he so strongly believed, not personal greed. Despite her obvious grief, Gabrielsson still comes across as rather cold, single-minded, and uncompromising about all aspects of Larsson’s legacy. Though his father and brother have been incredibly selfish, to say the least, she sometimes seems equally tunnel-visioned, equally close-minded. And as the wrangling between Gabrielsson and the Larssons plays out, I cannot not help feeling that parts of this saga have been left out.
Does Gabrielsson, in fact, really hold the “ace” in this high-stakes game of Larsson’s legacy–the mysterious computer with an outline and part of a fourth book? That is never clear. Though she says the computer was returned to Expo magazine the day Larsson died, Expo denies that they have it. She has also said that she is determined that the fourth book, if it exists, not be completed–she wants no ghost writers involved. Gabrielsson’s own co-writer, Marie-Francoise Colombani, says in the Foreword, however, that if Eva’s request for legal control of Larsson’s literary estate is granted, that “she will clear up the mystery shrouding the fourth novel,” then adds, “Let [her enemies] tremble…Eva, tempered in the fires of adversity, is poised to write the final words of their fate and lead a dance on their graves.” You decide. Mary Whipple
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|At it’s best,provides intriguing details about Larsson but..,
Perhaps the key to the focus of this memoir is in the book’s title. Yes, it provides a personal take on Stieg Larsson. But it also centers on the disappointment felt by Gabrielsson as events unfolded after Larsson’s death. I wonder how much this will appeal to the average reader.
Gabrielsson does indeed describe places and people, both fictional and real,which are mentioned in Larsson’s works…..but with what I found to be far too much of her life and career, rather than that of Stieg Larsson, included.
I am a huge fan of Larsson’s work and after hearing an interview with the his long time companion on a public radio station, I bought this memoir . I was hoping for more about Larsson and all those “things” promised by Gabrielsson. I was able to finish this uneven memoir in spite of overly lengthy passages but it was often a tedious task.
This book primarily focuses on these themes:
1. Gabrielsson was Larsson’s lover,with a relationship that spanned over 30 years. Unfortunately, the couple never married nor did they have children. After Larsson’s death, Gabrielsson was not able to retain the rights to make business or other decisions concerning his works ( a cautionary message for writers who haven’t made legal arrangements for their literary estate, including their written books,articles,letters,memoirs,etc).
2. Gabrielsson is unhappy that Larsson’s brother had not acted in accordance with Larsson’s values and probable wishes when it comes to his novels. She describes the two brothers’ relationship as cold and distant and relates events which support her points. Letters from friends and acquaintances who knew Larsson and Gabrielsson help bolster her claims.
3. After Larsson’s death,Gabrielsson was cut off by the brother. I don’t want to trivialize Gabrielsson’s pain. The loss of her lover as well as the right to honor him and his works seems very unjust. But these points are agonizingly belabored when they could have been summed up rather quickly. Instead, the work often seems aimed at defending Gabrielsson rather than providing lively accounts of Larsson’s life.
4. Gabrielsson describes how many of the plot details in Larsson’s books come from the couple’s travels and experiences. Diehard
fans may find this information intriguing,but only if they are interested in the even the tiniest of details of Larsson’s life ( who did the
laundry,who washed the dishes,etc). I did find the history of Larsson’s political views helpful in understanding key parts of the novels. But it takes patience to get to the gems of info buried beneath the defensive and even strident tone in the book.
Bottom line? If you want to know more about Larsson’s daily life, his political activities, and relationships, you could find this well worth reading. For me, it was very slow going.
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|A beautiful book,
Really insightful and heart-wrenching. Definitely for people who want to know more about Stieg Larsson and how the Dragon Tattoo books were created. But also for people interested in reading about a real life love story that lasted thirty-two years, and the grief of losing someone you love. A must read on a variety of levels.
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