Hey, I was going to comment on the Asperger, or lack of, diagnosis. Did Thom assume this (like the bureaucracy in the book) - Thom?

Of course I could have read right over it. Sure not going back to find out. I've said for a long time I've learned more about life and people from fiction than from anything said to be fact. Of course good documentaries are of limitless value, if we are given only the raw data.

Great books...even if you don't care about any deeper meaning.

did anyone see the movie?

To add to the first letter - though it doesn't need my endorsement - an interesting point of reference in all three books is the series "Pippi Longstocking," any reading of which can serve to frame Lisbeth Salander as a person.

I loved the novel, but one problem I had with it was this half-diagnosis of Asperger's. A primary characteristic of those on the autistic spectrum is the inability to interpret facial expressions and social cues. Lisbeth, on the contrary, is extremely perceptive at reading other people, however introverted and anti-social she may be.

Considering that the character is horrifically abused, I have to say--isn't that enough? More than enough explanation for distrust of other people and social isolation. Asperger's seems like piling on.

I read all 3 of the books and they sure are page turners. I saw the 2 movies.They stay true to the books but as one commentator said "it's a different medium". I think that Asperger's syndrome was mentioned as a possibility but there was no real diagnosis. Her outstanding memory and gifted computer use (hacker)suggests Asperger's but her physical and mental abuse should be considered contributing factors when evalutating her behavior.
No real conclusion was reached.
I listen to Thom Hartmann and love his program.

I don’t know why you assume I’ve had no experience with those with Asperger’s. I babysat a boy diagnosed with the disorder for several years and found that the assumptions most have about the condition were flat-out wrong. This child was highly intelligent, funny, creative, and sensitive to others. No, he didn’t socialize like other boys, and in many ways I found this to be a positive attribute in his case. But he did socialize, and was a trustworthy friend, although the same could not be said for the children he tried to befriend. I’ve also known adults diagnosed with Asperger’s, as well as a mother trying to deal with a child diagnosed with low-functioning autism (at 13 she does not speak or repond to others, and has an obsession with breaking windows).
 
My problem is the biological model, first, and a general obsession with “normalcy” in our culture, second.   

 
My point was that referring to Lizbeth as having Asperger’s is just one example of defining someone’s behavior as abnormal and then to refer to that abnormality as a “brain disease,” something that has no real scientific basis.  The medical response to Asperger’s is anti-depressants and atypical antipsychotics, along with social conditioning.  Society’s response is shunning on the one hand and valorizing on the other in such cases as Asperger’s and my diagnosis, bipolar I.
 
I had my first manic when I was prescribed an SSRI, and what followed was years of pain far worse than my original symptoms.  The mental hell I endured as a result of a constantly changing battery of med cocktails is beyond description, and the social effects were enormous, including losing a career, a marriage, and nearly my child. Stupidly, for ten years I continued to believe that the psychiatrists would “get it right” soon, any day, week, or year now.  It is from this experience that I have formed my opinion of psychiatrists and psychotropic medications. 
 
A year and a half ago I started to realize that those in my support groups were also being given ever-shifting med cocktails, and were also degenerating month by month.  I looked into alternative treatments and alternative ways of looking at my condition.  I took myself off the meds and have gradually gotten much better.  I do take over-the-counter meds, lithium orotate and St. Johns Wort, which keep me even and far less depressed than when on the meds, although I suspect it will take some time to get over the trauma of the decade-long med-induced pain, the cruelty routinely inflicting upon me because I was suffering, and a general fear of people finding out my diagnosis, at the cost of the career I have managed to build from the ashes—a fear that prevents me from being open to most people.  I’ve begun to explore why I began falling into deep depressions at the age of 20, and to consider that perhaps this was more an effect of living in a highly dysfunctional world. 
 
The mental illness we should be focusing on is sociopathy, which seems to be the new normal, and anyone who isn’t fine with a sociopathic system may well be susceptible to mental pain, alienation, an inability to socialize “correctly,” etc. 
 
I don’t pretend to understand the autism spectrum personally beyond knowing people diagnosed with the condition.  I can’t get into anyone else’s head.  And I don’t pretend to know to what extent any so-called mental disorder is the result of genetics, social conditioning, traumas, or the chemicals we ingest.  But I do know that my experience with psychiatry was a disaster, and that I would warn anyone away from psychiatrists.  My experiences and those of many others, as well as extensive reading on the subject, have informed my conclusion that psychiatrists don’t know what the hell they’re doing, and in more cases than most would suspect, do far more harm than good.  If this is what you consider “the height of massive, arrogant, self-satisfied ignorance,” then so be it.  I wish you well. 
 

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