by Bo Carpelan
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 de
ISBN: 9780810116177
388 pages
Published: 1998-01-01
Publisher: Northwestern University Press