Axes

Franz Kafka from National Library Israel


Franz Kafka once wrote: "A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us."

In my podcast episode "Ice and Axes - What Makes a Favorite?", I gave Kafka's words some lengthy thought and concluded they make a lot of sense.  I've since abandoned having "favorites" and resolved to evaluate books in this new light.  When I read now, I see if a book a) gives me a new idea, b) causes me think about an old idea in a new way, or c) changes my life in some other way.  This is how I personally define an "axe" book.

The books below comprise a partial list of my fictional "axes."  Some of them are carryovers from my old favorites list, while others - not quite fitting the "favorite" label - have still impacted me.

My "Axe" Novels - a non-exhaustive list in no precise order:

Comments

Stephen said…
I was intrigued by the "Classics | History | Axes| arrangement...Very interesting idea to have an axial category!
July 11, 2018 at 11:28 AM
Marian H said…
Thanks! :) It's a little quirky, but I liked Kafka's idea so much, I thought I'd just go with it.
July 11, 2018 at 9:06 PM
Beth said…
Til We Have Faces is on my list for someday. The Idiot is one Dostoevsky I haven't heard of -- I have read only _Crime & Punishment_/_The Brothers Karamazov_/_Notes from Underground_. _Notes_ is the one I remember best probably because I have read it more recently than the others.

Is there any chance you will revisit the ones that don't have reviews? I would be interested to see what you think.
April 9, 2019 at 12:05 PM
Marian H said…
Oooh, I'm happy for you you haven't read those two yet - the first time is quite an experience! Let me know what you think when you do...

I should update this page; I actually did a podcast review on the Alice books last year:
https://www.classicsconsidered.com/2018/03/finding-alice-from-wonderland-to.html

I also plan to re-read Jane Eyre and Sherlock Holmes soon, then I'll review them properly!
April 9, 2019 at 5:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When We Were Orphans - A Study in "Meh"

Image
It's London in the 1930s, and Christopher Banks has what most people want: his dream job.  After a childhood of playing detective with his best friend Akira, Christopher grew up to be one of England's leading private investigators, highly sought after both professionally and socially.  In spite of his success, he can't forget the life he left behind him in Shanghai, nor the fact that his parents remain missing there and unaccounted for.  Christopher's greatest hope is to go back to Shanghai to find them, even if it means returning to a war zone.  It turns out, however, that new relationships - including his love for a lonely socialite - make committing to his past the hardest case to solve. This book could not have had a more promising premise.  I've raved about the nuances of Empire of the Sun (another story about an English boy in Shanghai), and I know Ishiguro can be incredibly subtle .  I also love a good mystery with a Sherlock Holmesian characte...
Read more

My First Classics Club List

Image
So...contrary to my past practices, I am starting to embrace epic challenges.  Before this enthusiasm leaves me, I've decided to finally join The Classics Club and commit to reading 50 classics within five years. It's a pretty reasonable goal (ten classics a year), since I mostly read classics anyway.  But I'm making it more difficult by including some chunksters and books I've been putting off for years and some that fall under both (*cough* War and Peace ).  I also threw in some rereads that I keep meaning to return to.  The list also came out to 52 instead of 50 (sigh), but I'm only committing to 50.
Read more