Forgiveness (novel)

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Forgiveness is the last volume in a three-volume series of crime novels by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson , which was published posthumously between 2005 and 2007 under the title Millennium Trilogy . The thriller was released in Swedish in 2007 under the title Luftslottet som sprängdes (Eng. "The castle in the air that was blown up") and has been translated into various languages. An English version was released under the title The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest . The German first edition, translated by Wibke Kuhn, was published by Heyne Verlag in 2008 , and a paperback edition there in 2010 . Over 31 million copies of the trilogy have been sold worldwide.

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Bellmansgatan 1 , Mikael Blomkvist's apartment in Stockholm

After the violent encounter with her father Alexander "Zala" Zalatschenko, who is treated in the second part of the Millennium Trilogy , Lisbeth Salander is seriously injured in the Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg . Her father also survived the argument and is two rooms down in the same hospital.

At the same time, former and current employees of the Security Police (SiPo) are meeting and planning further steps to cover up the Zalachenko affair. Since the latter is not prepared to cooperate and threatens to publish compromising documents, the former, long-retired head of the “Section for Special Analysis” of the SiPo, Evert Gullberg, who is suffering from cancer, goes to the hospital where Zalachenko is lying and kills him with a headshot. Then he kills himself. Almost at the same time, Gunnar Björck, deputy head of department at the security police, was killed, this murder disguised as a suicide.

Meanwhile, Mikael Blomkvist ensures that Salander can contact him with the help of a smuggled Internet-enabled HP Palm, despite being banned from visiting her by the public prosecutor , and, thanks to her network in the hacker scene, support him in his research. Blomkvist's sister Annika Giannini, who is a lawyer , is already building a defense concept for Salander, who after her recovery expects to be charged with various crimes, including serious bodily harm, trespassing, burglary and illegal possession of weapons. The public prosecutor's office and the so-called Zalachenko group within the “Section for Special Analysis” want to ensure that Salander is admitted to closed psychiatry for an unlimited period of time . The psychiatrist Dr. Peter Teleborian, who already “treated” Salander as a child, took care of her admission and later her incapacitation, is willing to be of service to them.

Salander writes a report on the events that should only be handed over to her lawyer and the public prosecutor immediately before the trial. In addition, she manages to expose a stalker belonging to Erika Berger, the former editor-in-chief of Millennium who is still friends with Blomkvist , so that he can be rendered harmless.

The section's staff want to remove any evidence that could be used against them. Since Blomkvist has now amassed a large amount of evidence and the liquidation of all copies of a compromising report has failed, the security police (SiPo, the section) are planning to eliminate him too. Erika Berger and Blomkvist are spied on by the SiPo by monitoring their phones and installing bugs in Blomkvist's apartment. However, with the help of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Blomkvist can monitor his own apartment and thus has access to material which proves that the section is involved in illegal activities.

The section plans to have Blomkvist and Berger killed by contract killers in a restaurant, but the alarmed police can intervene just in time. In addition, the section tries to damage Mikael's reputation and thus reduce the credibility of Millennium's planned publications about their machinations by breaking into his apartment and depositing cocaine and cash there. But the private security company commissioned by Mikael to guard his apartment is able to thwart the action afterwards.

When Salander has recovered to the point that she can be discharged from the hospital, she has to defend herself in court. The investigating public prosecutor Ekström, who has become a willing tool of the section, tries Salander with the help of the expert Dr. To have Teleborian assigned to a closed department. Although Salander can provide specific information about the previous abuse in psychiatry and through her former guardian Nils Bjurman, the prosecutor accuses her of paranoid confusion. However, the defense can produce a copy of Salander's medical record that proves their information. When defense attorney Giannini shows the rape video with Bjurman in the courtroom, the judge and the lay judges realize that Salander is credible. Meanwhile, Salander's friends, hackers Plague, Trinity and Bob the Dog, have all of Dr. Teleborian's computer copied and handed over to Salander's defense attorney Giannini via Blomkvist. This can prove that the report was written before Dr. Teleborian could speak to Salander.

Since Dr. Teleborian's computer also found child pornography , the psychiatrist is arrested by the police in the courtroom. As a result, the prosecutor's strategy collapses and Salander is acquitted on all counts and declared legally competent.

While the trial is ongoing, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution arrests all members of the section one after the other.

After Zalatschenko's death, Salander can inherit his property and property. However, she does not want to inherit. Only the building of a disused brick factory arouses their interest. Zalatschenko's factotum , her half-brother Ronald Niederman, who is being wanted for police murder, is hiding there. When Salander goes there, there is a showdown between the two. Ultimately, Salander Niederman can nail to the floor with a pneumatic nailer . She incites the rocker gang on him and then informs the police.

Character analysis

Mikael Blomkvist

Mikael Blomkvist, the main male character, is a talented journalist and a partner in the monthly magazine Millennium . Professionally, he is often on the edge of his existence. A marked persistence is part of his working style. He also tends towards perfectionism , whereby he isolates himself from his environment. Blomkvist meets Salander and is fascinated by the woman and her fate. He expresses his affection in helpfulness, although the public has turned against Salander. Blomkvist has numerous relationships, including with Cecilia Vanger, Erika Berger and Monica Figuerola, but is not capable of lasting relationships. Together with Salander he has Hans-Erik Wennerström as a common enemy.

Lisbeth Salander

Lisbeth Salander, the second protagonist, is exceptionally intelligent and headstrong. With the help of her skills (including photographic memory) she has made a fortune, partly through illegal measures through computer fraud on the industrialist Erik Wennerström. She is described as a slim and petite person with a penchant for black clothing. In terms of her sexual orientation, she is bisexual, for example she has a relationship with Mirjam Wu. Some associate it with Satanism . Salander is a computer hacker and campaigns for abused women and against the arbitrariness of the authorities. She herself had a traumatic experience of abuse in her childhood, which makes it impossible for her to testify to the police or psychiatrists. Apart from Mirjam Wu, Salander has no other caregivers and lives very isolated. She falls in love with Mikael Blomkvist, but does not admit her feelings towards him.

Awards

Adaptations

radio play

The novel is available in German in a radio play version on sound carrier in a production of the WDR with Ulrich Matthes, Sylvester Groth and Anna Thalbach. This radio play was published in 2011 by the Cologne publisher Random House Audio.

Audio book

Forgiveness was released on phonograms in 2009. The title was read by Dietmar Bär . The translation was done from Swedish by Wibke Kuhn. Thomas Krüger and the publisher Schall & Wahn from Bergisch Gladbach were responsible for the reading version and direction. In 2012 an unabridged version was published by Audible , read by Dietmar Wunder .

expenditure

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Forgiveness" in the catalog of the German National Library
  2. ↑ "Forgiveness" as a paperback in the catalog of the German National Library
  3. ↑ Dark past, review by Bianca Reineke
  4. ↑ a b literature, interpretations, explanations, character analyzes & backgrounds
  5. ↑ "Forgiveness" as a radio play in the catalog of the German National Library
  6. ↑ "Forgiveness" as an audio book in the catalog of the German National Library