Lisbeth and Me

 (Picture from the Swedish film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

I admit it: I'm fascinated with Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander.

Do we have anything in common?
Lisbeth is Swedish, thin to the point of anorexic and petite.
I'm from an Italian background, chubby and tall.
Lisbeth is bisexual.
I'm heterosexual.
Lisbeth has abilities that make her an invaluable investigator.
I have none of those abilities.
Lisbeth trusts no one.
I trust everyone.

Maybe she fascinates me because of the differences...maybe.
But even more than that I love the fact that she's been independent and fought for her rights since she was 12. She bowed to no one. Larsson writes her as a person with a strong sense of who she is and how she fits into a world that gave her no reason to trust anyone; therefore, leaving her to live a life alone.

The life alone has always been a favorite theme of mine. I've written several short stories about it: a man living on the median of a highway, a woman who lives in a secret room under a library, a woman who walls herself into her apartment to keep herself safe from the outside world. In fact Larsson has Lisbeth do just that metaphorically - wall herself away from others, keeping her distance - because of the lack of trust.

Maybe I secretly long for that room lined with books, an easy chair and a good reading lamp. No one to bother me; a cat on my lap. But is it more than that?

Maybe if I was in my twenties now, I would be more like her and less like...well...like me. Maybe if I'd had the abusive family life...well, more abusive...like Lisbeth. My rebellion in the middle 1960s was to be a Beatle fan. My rebellion if I were in my twenties today? The piercings, the tattoos, the solitary life.

The solitary life? Living inside one's head, inside a computer, inside books.
Even now, at 63, I can see how enticing that can be...

Lisbeth has a dragon tattoo.
I have a tattoo but of the Triple Goddess.
Okay - similarity.
 And I can see myself living inside my head...