Axel
by Bo Carpelan
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Description
In the 1930s, Finnish poet Bo Carpelan found mention of his great-uncle Axel in a biography of the composer Jean Sibelius. This friendship is the genesis of Carpelan's fictional diary of Axel's dual obsession with music and with a man who, unlike him, had enough confidence in his creativity to compose his own. In Carpelan's novel, set during Finland's struggle to escape Russian domination, young Axel's life is full of melancholic introspection communicated only to his diary. The short show more entries describe his adolescent antagonism toward healthier and more joyous peers, and his embarrassment at his futile attempts to coax beauty from his violin. His unrelenting disappointment and self-effacement give way after meeting his hero Sibelius, as Axel's search for meaning and an aesthetic ideal becomes forever linked to the unfolding of the composer's musical genius. show lessTags
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Continuing my crash course in all things Finnish, I've just completed the poet Bo Carpelan's elegiac novel, Axel. Based on the life of Carpelan's great uncle Axel, the novel consists of short narratives about that uncle's life interspersed with entries from his diaries. Axel, deeply moved by music, is unable to either record the music that comes to him during his sleepless nights or to continue playing the violin. What appears to be hypochondria and other nervous disabilities cripple him. In his sorrow and frustration, but also in his sensitivity, perceptiveness and humor, the narrator calls to mind the Kafka of the diaries. The bright spot in his life, which we follow from 1868 until his death in 1919, is his friendship with Sibelius. show more Love of art, sadness, yearning and, ultimately, peace: all are exquisitely rendered in what must be a master-piece of Finnish literature. show less
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Finlandia Prize Nominee
262 works; 3 members
Author Information
65+ Works 563 Members
Bo Carpelan has long been a highly productive poet, critic, novelist, and author of children's books. Carpelan's poetry follows in the tradition of the early Finland-Swedish modernists. Overall his work evokes the infinite complexities of life. (Bowker Author Biography)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Axel
- Original title
- Axel
- Original publication date
- 1986
- People/Characters
- Axel Carpelan; Jean Sibelius
- Important places
- Finland
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 839.7374 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures Other Germanic literatures Swedish literature Swedish fiction 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PT9875 .C35 .A9413 — Language and Literature German, Dutch and Scandinavian literatures Swedish literature Individual authors or works 1900-1960
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 62
- Popularity
- 493,748
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.00)
- Languages
- 7 — Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Swedish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 15
