How do you pronounce “Kalle”?
Two syllables to rhyme with Sally?
One syllable to rhyme with pal?
Or maybe the double-L is like the “y” sound in Spanish?
Two syllables, but not like Sally.
Ka pronounced like CAR specifically how they say car in Boston.
lle pronounced like the le in LES Miserables.
Couldn’t think of an English word it would rhyme with.
BTW, Kalle is usually a nickname for the name Karl.
Also, Donald Duck in Sweden is Kalle Anka. Anka means duck.
So he’s Charlie the Duck?
A “Kalle Blomkvist” book was the first piece of detective/mystery litterature I can remember reading as a child, I can’t remember how old I was at the time though. Incidentally, I still haven’t read any book in the “Millenium” trilogy. I suppose I should give them a try, eventually.
I’d put down Ronia as Lindgren’s finest work. Although, Vildvittrorna (can’t recall their english name, they were those damn birds with screechy voices and, in the book, human faces) used to scare the shit out of me, especially in the movie.
No, we used to call him “Karl The Duck”.
I’m a little ways into book three (Hornet’s Nest).
Did/Does it make anyone else nuts the way these people are always turning off their cell phones for extended periods? This while they’re working with the police, and crazed/maniacal killers are on the loose?
Haven’t they ever heard of silent mode, so if you don’t want to hear the ring, you can at least look at the phone from time to time and see that you have 152 missed calls and 86 of them are from the police??? That might give you a clue that something’s happening that you need to know about?
I know exactly what you mean - though the books are set far enough back that I think the clamshell phone I had didnt have a vibrate, it could ring or be off. It was probably the cheapest tracphone I could buy if I remember =) I sunk my money into a killer PDA, I used it for ebooks and scheduling.
Amazing how cell tech has made the plots of a lot of books and movies obsolete, isnt it? No hard line? Just grab the cell … stuck in a car somewhere? Hear a strange thud, grab the cell …
Re: the phone thing.
Salander does it because she has mental issues, specifically she wants/needs full control over how much contact she has with other people. In the book, Michael wonders if she could have a touch of autism, which makes sense, in a way (not quite, though).
Michael does it because he is a bit of a technophobe, as well as a selfish asshole when he is working. This is expanded on quite a bit in the book, and Erika gives him hell for it a few times IIRC. When he is working, he only considers his ability to reach other people, he forgets that other people may have need to reach him. Hence his habit of turning on his phone, making a few calls, then turning his phone back off. After all, if he isn’t using it, why should it be on?
BTW, Blomkvist = " Small Branch in Flower". Swedes seem to be divided into people with “-ander” type names, people with descriptive nature terms for last names, and people named “Jonson”.
Yeah, mostly the underlined part WRT Blomkvist. (I understand about Salander.)
The thing is, when people are trying to reach you, it might be to tell YOU stuff YOU need to know to keep from being killed, or to fill out your story, or to answer questions you’ve asked them. So you can leave your phone on and it can STILL be all about you! Win-win.
Or, they can leave a message and whatever they have to say to you can be done on your schedule instead of theirs.
Both characters were written as introverts, turning phones off or not answering them is SOP.
I’m an introvert and often have my ringer off, but I do look to see if the message light is blinking from time to time. It just seems that in the middle of a manhunt/murder investigation, one should try to stay in the loop. Anyhoo…
My mother has a cell phone, for emergencies and looking after my son. Mostly she keeps it off> The thing is when she has my sometimes I need to contact her, about meeting up/dropping off etc.
If a 60 something Canadian woman who is not being chased by murderous ex spys and others cannot keep her phone on, how can Blomqvist?
Does it occur to your mother that the emergency might not originate WITH her but might necessitate someone getting in touch with her? I do not see any point in owning a cell phone if it’s not on. You can put it on silent and not answer it if you don’t want contact. *Okay… this has turned into a total hijack, so I’ll drop this line of chatter. Apologies for the rant. *
BTW, I’M 60-something… not an excuse.
Back to the books: The first one was hard to get into, but it paid off. The second one was riveting, full of action, lots of plot. I flew through it. The third one is spending a lot of time with the characters telling each other what went on in books one and two. Hoping it gets better, but I will definitely finish it.
Good a time as any to link to this Nora Ephron parody, in which “Kalle fucking Blomqvist” is the third paragraph.
OK, that made me smile.
That was funny.
Have a small nitpick about the directions in that story though.
Driving down Hornsgatan and across Bellmansgatan via Brännkyrkagatan, with a left onto Tavastgatan makes no sense.
Brännkyrkagatan runs parallel with Hornsgatan, so you would first have to turn left onto Torkel Knutssonsgatan and then right onto Brännkyrkagatan.
<minor correction>
It’s Villa Villekulla.
</minor correction>
Coming from that direction I would go up Hornsgatan, left into Torkel Knutssonsgatan, across Brännkyrkagatan, slightly right into Bastugatan and then finally right into Tavastgatan, but that depends on which part of Tavastgatan you are going to.
I got the impression the destination was east of Bellmangatan in that elbow on Tavastgatan. Going down Bastugatan would mean having to go all the way down to Pustegränd before turning right onto Brännkyrkagatan going west. But you can’t do that since Brännkyrkagatan is a one way street going east.
I think turning right into Brännkyrkagatan from Torkel Knutssonsgatan, is definately the best route.
In that case Brännkyrkagatan, across Bellmansgatan and left at Maria Trappgränd, would be the best route.