The Girl Who Played with Fire (2006) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• Lisbeth Salander: Tattooed computer-hacker, researcher and freelance surveillance agent with aggressive tendencies and a hatred of men who exploit women. She is introverted, complex, has a photographic memory and was previously Mikael Blomkvist's lover.
• Mikael Blomkvist: Journalist and publisher and part owner of Millennium magazine, also a minor celebrity after his role in exposing corrupt Swedish industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerstrom. A master researcher who gets lost in his work. Someone you'd always want on your side. A friend indeed.
• Jan Bublanski: Stockholm police captain, fairly sensible but bothered by Blomkvist's lack of cooperation with the police with the investigations.
• Henrik Vanger: The man who hires Blomkvist to find out what happened to his grandniece. Retired industrialist and former CEO of Vanger Corporation.
• Martin Vanger: Brother of Harriet Vanger and the CEO of Vanger Corporation
• Sonja Modig: Police officer with the Stockholm PD.
• Ella Carmichael: Bartender, Grenada Hotel.
• Cecilia Vanger: Cousin of Harriet Vanger
• George Bland: Grenada teenager whom Lisbeth tutors in mathematics.
• Camilla Salander: Lisbeth's twin sister.
• Hans-Erik Wennerström: Swedish industrialist involved in illegal activities and exposed by Blomkvist
• Christer Malm: Director, art-designer and part owner of Millennium.
• Dag Svensson: Young journalist who approached Millennium about his research and his girlfriend, Mia Johansson's research into sex trafficking.
• Morell: Police officer involved in investigating the disappearance of Harriet Vanger.
• Mia Johansson: Dag’s girlfriend and a doctoral student, writing a thesis on sex trafficking for her doctorate.
• Erika Berger: Mikael Blomkvist's longtime married lover who is co-owner of Millenium Magazine, best friend.
• Miriam Wu (aka Mimmi): Lisbeth's friend and occasional lover. A sociology student whose parents live in Paris. Enjoys kickboxing.
• Advokat Nils Erik Bjurman: Lawyer and Lisbeth Salander's state appointed guardian in the wake of her former guardian's stroke.
• Alexander Zalachenko (aka Zala): An elusive figure in the sex trafficking industry whose name alone strikes fear in people’s hearts.
• Paolo Roberto: Ex-Boxer who becomes involved in the mysteries.
• Dr. Richard Forbes: Prosecutor in the case against Salander.
• Dr. Peter Teleborian: Psychiatrist whose diagnosis was originally used to declare Salander incompetent.
• Carl-Magnus Lundin - aka Magge Lundin: Leader of Svavelsjö Motorcycle Club
• Dragan Armansky: Salandar's former boss and director of Milton Security.
• Gunnar Bjorck: Former Säpo agent.
• Geraldine Forbes: A woman in Grenada that Lisbeth hears being abused by her husband, Richard Forbes.
• Greger Beckman: Erika Berger's husband, who is a well known artist around Sweden.
• Harriet Vanger: Henrik's great-neice. Sits on the board of directors of Millennium magazine.
• Annika Blomkvist Giannini: Mikael Blomkvist's sister and a lawyer specializing in cases regarding abuse towards women.
• Ronald Niedermann: The blonde giant
• Irene Nesser: One of Lisbeth's alter-egos. Identity Norwegian
• Holger Palmgren: Lisbeth's previous Guardian, who had a stroke a couple of years ago. He was seriously affected but is recovering.
• Richard Forbes: Geraldine Forbes' husband. A couple Lisbeth encounters in Grenada.
• Cilla Noren: A member of the Evil Fingers. She is the only remaining member who continues the music business
• Freddy McBain: Keys Hotel
• Malin Eriksson: Managing editor of the Millennium magazine
• Monika Nilsson: Reporter of Millenium magazine
• Lottie Karim: Part-time journalist at the Millennium magazine.
• Henry Cortez: Part-time journalist at the Millennium magazine.
• Agneta Sofia Salander: Lisbeth's mother
• Agnes Mikaelsson: Äppelviken (Nursing Home)
• Arnold Magnusson: Person responsible for the advertisement section of Millenium magazine
• Johanna Karolina Oskarsson: Palmgren's personal trainer
• Dr Anders Sivarnandan: Palmgren's doctor. Has roots in Srilanka but brought up in Finland
• Sonny Bohman: Former policeman and part of the team that Armansky assigns to assist the police investigation.
• Johan Fräklund: Chief of Operations at Milton Security.
• David Gustavsson: Add a description of this character.
• Cilla Norén
• Nils-Henrik Johansson
• Harry Ranta: Eastern European sex slave dealer
• Ohlsson
• Niklas Hedström: Member of Milton Security Group
• Sebastián Luján
• Silvia
• Enrico
• Ines Hammujärvi
• Karl Axel Bodin
• Sonny Nieminen: Number two at Svavelsjo MC
• Kenneth Gustafsson: Killed by The blonde giant
• Richard Ekström: Police office in charge of murder investigation
• Irina P. There: A prostitute named in Mia Johansson's thesis whom later ends up dead. One of the women brought into Sweden from the Eastern block through human trafficking.
• Master Persson
• Nyberg
• Karl Evert Norgren
• Matilda
• Refik Alba
• Tony Scala: Sleazy journalist used to leak information
• Atho Ranta: Eastern European sex slave trade dealer
• Rune Håkansson
• Hans Münster
• Ritva
• Pierre de Fermat: Mathematician
• Svenska Morgon-Posten
• Gunnarsson
• Bilbo
• Hans Faste: Sexist police officer assigned to Salander case
• Birgitta Miåås
• Jerker Holmberg: Police office who specializes in crime scenes
• Ferguson
• Strängnäs
• Oswald Mårtensson
• Dr Jesper H. Löderman
• Maria Ottosson
• Gunnar Björck: Journalist named as a John in upcoming sex slave book
• Samir
• Andrew Wiles
• Gulbrandsen
• Per-Åke Sandström
• Nicklasson
• Curt Andersson
• Jeremy S. MacMillan: Salander's real estate lawyer
• William F. Knight
• Hugo Svensson
• Lotta Karim
• Magnus Lundin: Biker
• St. Stefan: Psychiatric hospital
• Tamara
• J. F. Milton
• Olof Palme
• Joy Rahman
• Birger Nordman

Quotes edit see section history

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• “She could not tell the difference between Sven-Ingvars and Nick Cave, but steel drums fascinated her. It seemed hardly feasible that anyone could tune an oil barrel, and even less credible that the barrel could make music like nothing else in the world. She thought those sounds were like magic.”

• “Salander felt like a bag of bananas that had been left too long in the sun.”

• “The opportunity makes the thief.”

• “She stared at him for a whole minute and decided that she did not have a grain of feeling left, because it would have been the same as bleeding to death.”

• “I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.”

• “There were not so many physical threats that could not be countered with a decent hammer, Salander thought.”

• “From a purely physical standpoint she did not have a chance, but her attitude was that death was better than capitulation.”

• “It proved once that no security system is a match for a stupid employee.”

• “She saw him drenched with gasoline. She could actually feel the box of matches in her hand.”

• “Usually it’s other people who don’t give a shit about me.”

  Lisbeth Salander

• “You’ve got an attitude problem and you treat people like dirt when they’re trying to be your friends. It’s that simple.”

  Dragan Armansky

• “Files are one thing. People are something else.”

  Dragan Armansky

• “I’m a cynic. I believe that everyone has it in them to kill another person. In desperation or hatred, or at least to defend themselves.”

  Dragan Armansky

• “Well, I don’t know who’s dumber – the police or the newspapers.”

  Cilla Noren

• “It's a tremendous assault on human rights, and the girls involved are so far down society's ladder that they're of no interest to the legal system.”

  Dag Svensson

• “Nobody was innocent. There were only varying degrees of responsibility.”

  Narration, Lisbeth Salander

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Enskede: Where Svensson & Johansson live.
• London
• Sandhamn
• Norsjö
• Schweden
• Norrland
• Gibraltar
• Karlstad
• Uddevalla
• Lundagatan: A street in Stockholm where Salander used to live.
• Stockholm, Sweden: Capital of Sweden
• Grenada: Former British colony in the Eastern Caribbean located between Barbados and Trinidad.
• Goteborg (aka Göteborg): Second largest city in Sweden. Located on the west coast.
• Sodertalje: A town in Sweden where a crime was committed.
• Nykvarn: A town in Sweden.
• Tallinn: Capital of Estonia. A town involved in human trafficking into Sweden.
• Odenplan: A town in Sweden where Bjurman lives.
• Hedestad: A small town where Blomkvist was involved in investigating a disappearance two years ago.
• Kvarnen: A club Salander used to frequent.
• Mosebacke: The street where Salander has a secret apartment.
• Hornsgatan: Street in Stockholm
• Slussen: A street name.
• Caribbean: Where Salander takes a vacation.
• Uppsala: City in Sweden. Famous for its renowned university.
• Soder: Block in Stockholm.
• Gotgatan: One of the longest streets in Stockholm.
• Norsborg: A town where Salander lived when she was a teenager.
• Strangnas: One of the towns where the police are watching for Salander.
• Kungsholmen: Where Inspector Bublanski's police office is located.
• Sodermalm: Block in Stockholm
• Gamla Stan: Old Town in Stockholm

Organizations edit see section history

• Millenium Magazine: A Swedish magazine, run by Mikael Blomkvist and Erika Berger.
• Svavelsjo M.C.: Motoclub Svavelsjo is a biker club in which members are known criminals.
• Sapo: The Swedish secret police. The accurate name is SÄPO, an abbreviation for Säkerhetspolisen, which in direct translation means The Security police.
• Evil Fingers: a band in the 90s

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Aftonbladet: A daily Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta. Started in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden, it is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic region. The newspaper is owned by Schibsted (Norwegian media group) and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. In 2006 the paper had 1,425,000 daily readers (Orvesto research 2005:2), circa 15% of the Swedish population.
• Maundy Thursday: A religious holiday also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. It is a Christian feast that happens on the Thursday before Easter, commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles.
• Kalle Blomkvist: Original Swedish name of fictional character Bill Bergson, created by Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. A Swedish boy with a penchant for detective work. Mikael Blomkvist is compared to this child detective because of the first mystery he solved by observing strange activities of his neighbors.
• Pippi Longstocking: (Swedish Pippi Långstrump) is a fictional character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, and adapted into multiple films and television series. Nine-year-old Pippi is unconventional, assertive, and has superhuman strength, being able to lift her horse one-handed without difficulty. She frequently mocks and dupes adults she encounters, an attitude likely to appeal to young readers; however, Pippi usually reserves her worst behavior for the most pompous and condescending of adults. She turns white around the nose whenever she gets angry, which in view of her superhuman strength thankfully happens very rarely. And like Peter Pan, Pippi does not want to grow up.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Violence Against Women: This is a major theme throughout the Millennium Trilogy.
• Dysfunctional Family: ALMOST ALL the family situations represented in this story are dysfunctional in a variety of ways.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and followed by The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Stieg Larsson (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Dorothée de Bruchard (Translator)
2. Reg Keeland (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Amazon.com's Best Books of the Year (November 2009: Editors' Picks, #7)
• Best Swedish Crime Novel Award (2006)
• Amazon Best of the Month (July 2009)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PT9876.22.A6933 F5713
• Dewey: 839.738

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Strong violence and sexual content. Not for young teenages. PRETTY HARD STUFF.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Mystery
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Suspense
• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › Scandinavian
• Books › Computers & Internet › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction
• Books › Computers & Internet › Security & Encryption › Forensics

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: Official website.
• Steig Larsson: Author's official website.
• The Girl Who Played with Fire - Wikipedia Page: Film

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Flickan som lekte med elden (2009) (IMDb): Swedish language film, translates to "The Girl who Played with Fire"

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history