Axel: A NovelNorthwestern University Press, 1998 - 374 sider 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 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. |
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Åbo Aino Ainola Anna autumn Axel Axel's Bo Carpelan brännvin breath childhood closed cold dark dead death Diary Doctor Wargentin door dream Elin empty eternal everything eyes face Father fear feel felt Finland-Swedish Finnish forest Fourth Symphony gaze gleaming glowing hand happiness head hear heard Helsingfors Hjalmar Hufvudstadsbladet hypochondria inside insomnia invisible Janne Janne's Jean Sibelius Kajanus Kalevala Kullervo laughed leaned light listen live loneliness looked Masku Mother mouth move Mozart Nådendal night Olga one's pale perhaps piano play quiet Rakel remember Robert Kajanus Russian scent sense shadows shouts Sibelius silence singing sitting sleep slowly smell smiling snow someone song sound St Petersburg standing stood strange student caps suddenly summer Swan of Tuonela talk Tammerfors things thought town trees turned round Viktor Rydberg violin voice walked wind window words