Har du lagt mærke til, at i mange krimier figurerer der en original, en person (oftest mandlig), som på en eller anden måde er anderledes; et let offer som uundgåeligt havner på listen over mistænkte?Her er et udvalg fra min 2009-liste:
Inger Frimansson, De nøgne kvinders ø: Udviklingshæmmede Adam
Camilla Läckberg, Stenhuggeren: Morgan, Aspergers syndrom
Karin Fossum, Se dig ikke tilbage: Raymond, mongol
Martin Edwards, The Coffin Trail: Barrie, Aspergers syndrom
Stieg Larssons trilogi; Lisbeth Salander med Asperger-træk.
Hvilke bøger har du læst, hvor en af de mistænkte er mentalt udviklingshæmmet?
Har du lagt mærke til, at Aspergers syndrom er ´kommet på mode´?
Odd Man out.
Have you noticed that in many crime stories there is an ´oddball´, a person (usually male) who is different somehow, an easy target who is almost inevitably one of the suspects?
From my own reading list of 2009:
Inger Frimansson, Island of the Naked Women: Adam, mentally retarded
Camilla Läckberg, The Stone Cutter: Morgan, Asperger´s Syndrome
Karin Fossum, Don´t Look Back: Raymond, Down´s Syndrome
Martin Edwards, The Coffin Trail: Barrie, Asperger´s Syndrome
Stieg Larsson´s trilogy: Lisbeth Salander, Asperger´s Syndrome
Which novels have you read where one of the suspects is mentally deficient somehow?
Have you noticed that Asperger´s Syndrome seems to be ´in´ these years?
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8 kommentarer:
I think you can safely blame the popularity of characters with Asberger's on Mark Haddon. I started noticing more and more characters with autism and Asperger's after "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" was published.
Yes, you may have a point, but Stieg Larsson cannot have read Haddon´s book from 2003 before he created Lisbeth Salander. Martin Edwards just might have read it as his is from 2004. Camilla Läckberg could be inspired by any of them though most likely her countryfellow.
Very interesting, Dorte. I think it's safe to say that this is a trend. I'm wary of going there, myself--too much research! :)
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
er, though actually people with Asperger's wouldn't consider it a mental deficiency. Just a difference.
As it happens, we were reading Haddon's book in a class I teach this week and on Friday watched Amanda Bagg's film, In My Langauge among other fun things.
In my most recent mystery and the one being published this spring there's a minor character (the narrator's brother) who is autistic. As part of a much-needed major overhaul of the original draft my agent suggested getting rid of that character, but he had too much to do with who the narrator is, so I couldn't. Turned out to be a good thing I left him in since a lot of readers said they really liked him.
Elizabeth: I agree that one should be cautious, but in the case of Asperger´s I could probably do it as my son is an Asperger. I don´t think I would want to, though. Martin Edwards and Stieg Larsson do it well, I think, but Läckberg´s Morgan is a bit of a stereotype (e.g. she repeats some of his characteristics far too many times)
Barbara: I wrote ´mental deficiency´ because I was not able to come up with a better term. As I just told Elizabeth, our son is an Asperger, and anyone calling him ´mentally deficient´ must be someone who is jealous. He studies math at the university, and most of the time he gets top grades.
I think it is very interesting that you have been writing about an autist. I really liked ´Rainman´ - it gives a more nuanced view on autism than many other sources.
Published in this spring - that means 2010, I suppose?
Was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime about a person with Asperger? I haven't read it.
I don't know why my mind is a blank at the moment in regards to your question about suspects. I know you're right, I just can't think of an example.
Beth, I haven´t read "The Curious Incident.." either, but I know the detective is an Asperger. I have been meaning to read it, but opinions are divided so it isn´t exactly a top priority.
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