How stupid is Blomkvist??
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned it before, but really! Blomkvist had just discovered that Martin is a cold blooded serial killer (and also just the day before he’d been shot at numerous times) so what does he do? Without even taking a weapon, without telling anyone where he’s going, he goes over to Martin’s house and sneaks in through an open door. FOOL!!
Posted by Cass in Christchurch, NZ , 21 February 2011
24 comments on “How stupid is Blomkvist??”
seriously. and all the girls he messes around with? how can he not see that they are affected by him. he’s really very dull
Posted by me in meland ,
He knew that Martin didn’t know he knew. He pretty muh had to pretend everything was normal and ‘stroll’ in for a quiet chat I suppose but I’m more worried about the man having no fear taking on a serial rapist-killer without a backwards glance at the carving knives!
Posted by Kit in Yorkshire, UK ,
Blomkvist is naive in many ways. The fact that he further investigates Martin in this instance without police help (or any sort of defensive aid, as Kit above suggests) conveys his naivety. Furthermore, in his relationships with women, he appears completely oblivious. He is able to charm so many women and make them feel ‘safe’ yet cannot see how he affects them.
I have questioned exactly how ‘charming’ Blomkvist is. Yes, he is an extremely likeable character and Larsson so often describes him as being charming through the voices of his females characters yet I find there is very little evidence of said charm in anything he says or how he acts towards women. They just seem to shed their clothes whenever they see him coming.
Posted by Ro in Ireland ,
Larsson’s character blomqvist is kind of like himself–naive and not much of a planner. How could he leave his partner of 30 years with no legal protection? And if she really hwlped him with much of his plots and writing, it is doublely dumb. Did he think his family was going to take care of her?
Posted by A fan nonetheless in Fort Collins, CO ,
If you analyse the behaviour of characters in thrillers and expect them to behave like rational humans then you have no story. Stories depend on a certain suspension of disbelief. Lisbeth’s hacking skills, for example, defy belief, but we accept them because it drives the story, just as we accept faster than light travel and gravity aboard spaceships in the Alien series…
Posted by Eltham in Cardiff ,
seriously. and all the girls he messes around with? how can he not see that they are affected by him. he’s really very dull
Posted by me in meland , 25 February 2011
Meland
Blomqvist is FAR from dull, every chick within 200 yards is pulling him into bed lol, he’s a LEGEND!!!
Posted by Sykotoy in SydNey Australia ,
ooppss i see your point…I’m only on book 2 but keep wishing he’d tell Solander he loves her….fucking idiot…a hot, billionaire computor hacking, bike riding Nympho…JESUS MIKA!!!
WHAT you have here is a man who cant commit, and will never….he’ll screw a 1000 women, but end up old and lonely maybe…
Posted by Sykotoy in SydNey Australia ,
I don’t think many people consider writing a will if there are no children. He had no idea how rich this trilogy would make him. It is understandable to me that as freelance writer and activist, he had no will.
Posted by judy in halifax, NS Canada ,
If Blomkvist was that stupid he wouldn’t be playing “Spy vs Spy” with rogue Sapo agents in Book III, would he?
I didn’t like how long it took him to get to Lisbeth in book 2. He knew she was in trouble, he was on his way there, but he waited until she beat up everyone before he showed up. Not much of a hero, is he?
Posted by Toni in Sacramento ,
he had to bring in the Bjork report to his colleagues so that they could pass it on to Bublanski’s team. not to mention he made a wrong turn en route to Gosseberga
I could have cried at the end of the first novel when Lisbeth says to herself…why would he want me?
Posted by Gracie in Lock Haven, Pa ,
Eltham in Cardiv on 7 Mar 2011 commented that we accept Lisbeth’s unbelievable hacking skills on the same level as we accept faster-than-speed-of-light travel in sci-fi–simply as story elements necessary to “drive” the plot forward. Uh-uh Eltham, doesn’t work. Sci-fi sets up its own reality, which does NOT have to accord with the “real” world. Once the writer has declared warp speed travel and three-headed robo-assassins are part of the fictional world, we accept all that and go along with it.
But a novel which IS set in the real world has to be believable in terms of real-world values, and by THAT measure, Lisbeth’s talents are not believable. Larsson simply needed to work harder making her incredible skills an integral part of her character and actions. He didn’t, and this aspect of her high-tech talents is mechanical, imposed and not believable. Larsson has written a wonderfully readable yarn, but he DOES falter at times. Even homer nods. . . .
Posted by Spartacus in Vancouver, Canada ,
Hey Spartacus. Some hackers just hacked Honda and Sony. And you don’t believe Lisbeth could hack Blomkvist’s computer?
Posted by Tiny in Vancouver ,
yes he is rtupid we all know but about the salander unbelievable skills thing, i have to things to say. 1. i know a 15 year old who can hack a computer through facebook in under an hour and 2. look at mark zukkerburg the creator of facebook i mean did nobody watch the social network?
It is time to hack the servers of Social Intelligence Corp for monitoring our free right of expression and storing our thoughts for up to 7 years for resale.
I think It’s important to remember that all these women that MB is able to charm (apart from Erika) are all lonely women who have no social life or like the last lady (don’t want to spoil it if u haven’t read hornets) is a workaholic. I don’t believe it’s necessarily what he does, I think he is there at a time when they are vulnerable and he is safe and understands them just at the point they need someone.
Posted by MidgetJem in Cairns ,
I totally agree with the last comment. Blomkvist and many other character’s in the book are extremely fast players. They don’t brood as much as they end up in a situation. I actually felt that even though Larson may have tried to create multiple characters and personas in the book it was far too easy to realize that many of them have the same thinking undertone. Either a black undertone or a white undertone. There is a knights templar and a Zala club. Blomkvist is again within the Knights templar and he is instinctive, naive and a charmer as are the women who are within this group.
Posted by Apoorva in Ahmedabad ,
Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me!
Posted by M. Blomkvist in Stockholm ,
I think he’s a total dumb ass for blowing off Liz I felt so bad for her and I just wanted to go kick the shit outta him and cry later!
Posted by Pr1nce55 in VENTURA,CA U•S•A ,
Yes, Larsson is very much Blomkvist. I believe Larsson witnessing a rape when he was young and not doing anything made him and Blomkvist character very non threatening and agressive w/ women. And women who are vulernable are extremely attracted to that type of man who places no demands.
Posted by sonya in connecticut ,
I did perceive Micke as some kind of a wuss sometimes and a very naive person as everybody has remarked here. But then again, you can’t be good at everything…
Posted by Iantonia in Ottawa ,
Blomqvist REACTS to situations impulsively and is a bit slow on the uptake…a plodding intellectual.
Lisbeth snalyses information, CALCULATES threat levels at warp speed and formulates her responses to situations with maximum force. She knows she has to eliminate threats quickly and mercilessly.
Blomqvist is a bit of a tool, but he is non-threatening and non-confrontational. This makes him attractive to women…and to Lisbeth, too.
As for Larsson dying without a will, he did not take care of personal business and committed a great wrong with regard to Eva Gabrielsson. Anyone can die at any time. His relative youth was no excuse for his irresponsibility in this regard. His companion of thirty years deserved better. On the other hand, did she make a will? It would be interesting to know.
Posted by Jean Ferguson in Toronto, Canada ,
Blomkvist’s character, as intended by the author, was naive only. That’s the real thing. He is not perfect. But he’s a good journalist with a drive and skill who is at the same time a good and compassionate person. He does commit mistakes a lot of times, but that cannot take away his charm as a protagonist.
Posted by Devyani in Bhopal ,