Post 9

Lisbeth Salander is the heroine of the Millenium triology by Stieg Larsson. The triology is touted to be the best crime fiction of recent years.

And having just finished the three books back to back, I decidedly agree.

What is with a tiny girl who can smash a 100 feet guy who cannot feel pain. She has a photgraphic memory and belongs to an elite group of hackers.She can outsmart even the smartest people and spends a lot of time solving fermat's theorem. And oh by the way, she has a mysterious past, she has spent years in a mental hospital, is labelled as socially incapable and the likes.

Though it sounds far fetched, and is certainly the result of someone's very fertile imagination, you cannot help but root for Salander as she goes around mercilessly killing people.

That is what I find fascinating. A perfectly negative character who you kinda end up really liking. That is where the skill of the author lies.

Another remarkable thing about this series is the author's almost complete discard to tone things down a couple of notches. Rapes, murders are both spoken of very casually and described in a monotonic drab that funnily enough makes it all the more interesting.

The only problem i had with the trioogy is the excessive attention to detail. You end up reading paragraphs about a character who will never really do much in the book. So, yes, once you figure out the author, you will find your self skimming details about the police inspector who handcuffs the protagonist. Even if 3k workds are being spent on describing his career, you know he will not play a major role!

Anyways, having said that , I must say that I am not really a crime fiction girl, really no, but this one had me hooked. I have spent many content lunch hours in the office kitchen with this book.

I have this weird thing. When I finish a book i really like, I feel as if I am letting go of a good friend. Bidding him a good bye. I know, thats neurotic, but hey this is being typed by a girl who cannot sleep without reading and when sleeping she is more often than not hugging a big fat book

O Jerusalem!

It has been ages…or maybe it is the first time that I like a book so much. It was a desparate need for something to read that made me pick up this copy of ‘ O jerusalem’ a couple of days back. As it turns out I am so totally fascinated by the Jews and Jerusalem that it seems that the book is consuming every bit of my thought process.

The following is now one of my favourite bits in the book. It is a speech given by a lady called Golda Meir, who later became Israel’s 4th Prime Minister (She is, I gather the original Iron Lady ). Ms Meir had gone to the US to get the American Jews to donate money liberally. The American Jews were by now getting very weary of the constant demand for money that the Jewish community engaged in the Civil War (Arab Israel war of 1948). Before she went to US, $5 mn was expected, she went to US with a target of $25mn and when she came she had with her $50mn. Enjoy it J

“When I tell you that I have not come to the United States solely to prevent 700 thousand Jews from being wiped off from the face of the earth. During these last years the Jewish people have lost 6 million of their kind and it would be presumptuous indeed of us to remind the Jews of the world that 700 hundred thousand of them are in danger. That is not the question. If, however, these 700 thousand Jews survive, then the Jews of the world will survive with them and their freedom will be assured for ever. But if they do not, then there is little doubt that for centuries there will be no Jewish people, there will be no Jewish nation, and all our hopes will be smashed.
A Jewish state shall exist in Palestine. We shall fight for its birth. That is natural.
We shall pay for it with our blood. That is normal.
The best amongst us will fall. That is certain.
But what is equally certain is that our morale will not falter no matter how numerous our invaders might be. Invaders would come with cannon and armor. Against those weapons sooner or later our courage will have no meaning, for we will have ceased to exist.
I have come to ask the Jews of America for 24-30 million dollars to buy the heavy arms they would need to face the invaders’ cannon.
My friends, we live in a very brief present. When I tell you we need this money immediately, it does not mean next month or in 2 months. It means right now.
It is not to you to decide whether we shall continue our struggle or not. We shall fight. The Jewish community of Palestine will never hang the white flag before the Mufti of Jerusalem. But you can decide one thing- whether the victory will ours or the Mufti’s.”

When she came back David Ben- Gurion the 1st PM of Israel and the leader of the struggle for a separate Jewish state, had this to say to her -
“The day when history is written, Golda, it will be recorded that it was thanks to a Jewish woman that the Jewish state was born.”

Love
RP

P.S. I really want to visit Jerusalem now!