斯蒂格·拉森(Stieg Larsson)是瑞典作家与新闻记者。他曾任职于瑞典中央新闻通讯社,并于工作之余投身反法西斯主义的活动。1995年,他创办了Expo基金会,并自1999年开始担任基金会同名杂志主编。由于他长期致力于揭发瑞典极右派组织的不法行为,多年来一直受到或轻或重的死亡恐吓与威胁。“千禧”系列小说中总是积极捍卫社会正义、不求个人名利的男主角,几乎就是拉森本人的化身。
拉森从2001年开始撰写“千禧”系列小说。2004年完成三部曲后,他竟不幸于11月因心脏病突发辞世,来不及看见该系列的第一部在2005年出版,以及此系列小说畅销全球的盛况。“千禧”系列引发阅读热潮,雄踞欧洲各国畅销书排行榜,且历久不坠。2008年2月,拉森入选英国《每日电讯报》“一生必读的五十位犯罪小说作家”;2009年,拉森被选为“欧洲最具冲击力十大畅销小说家”。2010年4月10日,英国《书商》杂志公布了当周英国大众畅销书综合榜单,拉森的“千禧”系列小说全部上榜,分列第一、第三和第七。BBC称,2010年将是斯蒂格·拉森之年,不仅因为上述作品将陆续推出“千禧”系列小说的英文版,其传记的英文版和其他作品的英文版本也即将推出。
“千禧”系列由《龙文身的女孩》、《玩火的女孩》、《捅马蜂窝的女孩》组成,它以《千禧年》杂志的男记者米克尔·布卢奎斯特(Mikael Blomkvist)和叛逆少女丽思贝丝·萨兰德(Lisbeth Salander)的侦探经历为线索,通过炉火纯青的悬疑小说写作技巧和颇具爆点的社会批判主义,俘获了读者,一举取得畅销佳绩。2010年6月的统计数据显示,此丛书已被译为30多种语言,在全世界40多个国家销售了四千万套。亚马逊网上书店称其电子阅读器Kindle自2007年面市以来,拉森成为第一位其作品电子版书籍销售超百万本的作家。
英式发音 适合精听
第一部
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 龙文身的女孩
讲述一位神奇的女黑客和一位记者之间的故事。1966年的12月29日,16岁的少女哈丽特·范格尔神秘消失。四十年后一位名叫米克尔·布卢奎斯特的记者接受了一项特别任务:商业巨头亨里克·范格尔委托他去调查范格尔家族的过去。关于哈丽特的一切都被笼罩在迷雾之中。米克尔辞去了他在《千禧年》杂志的工作,并得到一位名叫丽思贝丝·萨兰德的女黑客的帮助。两个人逐渐发现范格尔家族的历史充满了黑暗而血腥的谜团……
Prologue A Friday in November
楔子 十一月的一个星期五
It happened every year, was almost a ritual. And this was his eighty-second birthday. When, as usual, the flower was delivered, he took off the wrapping paper and then picked up the telephone to call Detective 1)Superintendent Morell who, when he retired, had moved to Lake Siljan in Dalarna. They were not only the same age, they had been born on the same day—which was something of an irony under the circumstances. The old policeman was sitting with his coffee, waiting, expecting the call.
“It arrived.”
“What is it this year?”
“I don’t know what kind it is. I’ll have to get someone to tell me what it is. It’s white.”
“No letter, I suppose.”
“Just the flower. The frame is the same kind as last year. One of those do-it-yourself ones.”
“Postmark?”
“Stockholm.”
“Handwriting?”
“Same as always, all in capitals. Upright, neat lettering.”
With that, the subject was exhausted, and not another word was exchanged for almost a minute. The retired policeman leaned back in his kitchen chair and drew on his pipe. He knew he was no longer expected to come up with a 2)pithy comment or any sharp question which would shed a new light on the case. Those days had long since passed, and the exchange between the two men seemed like a ritual attaching to a mystery which no-one else in the whole world had the least interest in 3)unravelling.
这事每年都会发生,几乎成了惯例,而今天是他82岁生日。当花照例送达时,他拆开包装纸,拿起话筒打电话给退休后便搬到达拉纳省锡利扬湖的侦查警司莫瑞尔。他们不只同年,还是同日生,在这种情况下可说是一种讽刺。这位老警官正端着咖啡,坐等电话。
“东西到了。”
“今年是什么花?”
“不知道是哪一种,我得去问人。是白色的。”
“没有信吧,我猜。”
“只有花。框也和去年一样,自己做的那种。”
“邮戳呢?”
“斯德哥尔摩。”
“笔迹呢?”
“一如往常,全部大写。字迹整齐端正。”
说完,话题就这么结束了,两人将近一分钟没交谈。退休警官往后靠坐在厨房椅子上,抽着烟斗。他知道对方已不期望他发表什么有力评论或提出某个尖锐的问题,以给此案带来一线曙光。那样的日子早已过去,如今两人的对话仿佛一场谜样的仪式,只是这世上除了他们之外,没人有兴趣去解开这个谜。
影讯:Filming began in early 2008, and Men Who Hate Women (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) opened in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland in February-March, 2009. So far, it has been seen by more than 2.5 million people in those countries. In Norway and Denmark it is the most viewed Swedish film ever. By August, 2009, the film had been sold to 25 countries outside Scandinavia, and had been seen by more than six million people in the countries where it was already released. The total gross worldwide as of July 29, 2010, is $102,739,768.
第二部 The Girl Who Played with Fire 玩火的女孩
《龙文身的女孩》中谜样的女子萨兰德,在《玩火的女孩》中成了全瑞典最恶名昭彰、引人议论的通缉犯!两名即将为《千禧年》杂志撰写惊人报导的自由撰稿人以及一名声誉良好的律师,在家中惨遭谋杀,凶器上遗留的竟是萨兰德的指纹。她过去不可预测的暴力行为,使她理所当然地成了涉嫌重大的危险分子,但不管警方设下多严密的防线,她却像人间蒸发般消失无踪。人真的是她杀的吗?她又究竟躲到哪去了呢?还会有下一个牺牲者吗?随着案情挖掘愈深,萨兰德不为人知的黑暗过往也逐渐揭露……结局将令你再次震惊又心疼!
She hated the smell of him!
She hated his silence!
She hated his voice!
She hated him!
She hated his touch!
She saw his mouth move, but she shut out the sound of his voice. She did not want to listen. She did not want to answer. She heard him raise his voice, a hint of 4)irritation at her failure to respond. He talked about mutual trust.
After a few minutes he stopped. She ignored his gaze. Then he shrugged and began adjusting her leather straps. He tightened the 5)harness across her chest a bit and leaned over her. She twisted, suddenly, to the left, away from him as abruptly as she could and as far as the straps would allow. She pulled up her knees to her chin and kicked hard at his head. She aimed at his adam’s apple and the tip of her toe hit him somewhere below his jaw. But he was ready for that and turned away, so it was only a light blow. She tried to kick again, but he was out of reach. She let her legs sink back down onto the bed. The sheet slid down onto the floor. Her nightdress had slid up above her hips.
He stood still for a long time without saying a word, then he walked around the bed and tightened the foot restraint.
She tried to pull her legs up, but he grabbed hold of one ankle, forced her knee down with his other and fastened her foot with a leather strap. He went around the bed and tied down her other foot. Now she was 6)utterly helpless.
He picked up the sheet from the floor and covered her. He watched her in silence for two minutes. Then he turned and left, closing the door behind him. She heard him 7)bolt it, which was totally unnecessary, because she had no way of getting free from the bed. She lay for several minutes looking at the narrow strip of light over the door. Then she moved and tried to feel how tight the straps were. She could pull her knees up a bit, but the harness and the foot restraints grew 8)taut immediately. She relaxed. She lay still, staring at nothing.
It was her 13th birthday.
她恨他身上的气味!
她恨他的沉默!
她恨他的声音!
她恨他!
她恨他的触碰!
她看到他的嘴在动,但她在脑子里屏蔽了他的声音。她不想听,她也不想回应。她听到他在提高嗓门儿,这表明他被她不予应答的态度激怒了。他提到了相互信任。
几分钟后,他停止了说话。她对他盯着自己看视而不见。接着,他耸了耸肩,开始调整绑在她身上的皮带。他把围在她胸前的皮带紧了一下,朝她弯下了腰。她扭动着身子,突然用力转向左,在皮带拉力允许的范围内尽力转离他。她把膝盖抬至颚下,用力向他的头踢去。她朝他的喉结踢去,脚指尖踢到了他下巴的某个地方。但他早有防范,转过头去,所以那一脚踢得很轻。她想再踢,但已经够不着了。她任由自己的双腿瘫在床上,床单滑到地板上。她的睡衣滑到臀部。
他站在那里很久,一言不发,然后,他从床边绕过来,拉紧了她脚上的绳子。
她想缩起脚,但他抓住她的一只脚踝,用另一只手把她的膝盖往下压,把她的脚用皮带绑起来。然后,他再绕到床的另一边,绑住她的另一只脚。现在,她彻底绝望了。
他从地板上捡起床单,盖到她身上,他默不作声地看了她两分钟。然后,他转过身去,走了,并且在他的身后关上了门。她听到他用门闩把门闩上。这一动作本来没有必要,因为她根本没有办法从床上解脱。她在床上躺了几分钟,双眼紧紧盯着门上方透进的一缕光亮。接着,她动了动,想看看皮带到底有多紧。她可以把膝盖往上抬一点点,但脚上的绳子随即绷紧。她放松下来。她静静地躺在那里,两眼发直。
那天是她十三岁的生日。
第三部 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest 捅马蜂窝的女孩
萨兰德成了政府严密通缉的杀人犯!她受到了政府的密切监视,并面临三起谋杀案和一起谋杀未遂的起诉。在记者布卢奎斯特的帮助下,萨兰德不仅要证明她的清白,还需要证明和谴责政客的腐败。
影讯:The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest was released on November 27, 2009 in Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark and in Finland in January, 2010. The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest are set to be released in the United States in 2010 by Music Box Films.