Citizendia

Axel Jensen

Axel Jensen by the piano. Photo: Robert E. Haraldsen
BornAxel Buchardt Jensen
February 12, 1932(1932-02-12)
Trondheim, Norway
DiedFebruary 13, 2003 (aged 71)
Ålefjær, Kristiansand, Norway
Cause of deathAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis
NationalityNorwegian
Known forAuthor
SpouseMarianne (?)
Pratibha (1934-)

Axel Buchardt Jensen (February 12, 1932 – February 13, 2003) was a Norwegian author. Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. (Trondhjem is a city and municipality in the county of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Events 1258 - Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. (formerly "Christianssand" is a city and municipality, and the capital of the county of Vest-Agder, Norway and of the geographical Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ( ALS, sometimes called Maladie de Charcot, or in the United States Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a progressive Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1258 - Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional From 1957 until 2002 he published both fiction and non-fiction texts which include novels, poems, essays, a biography, manuscripts for cartoons and animated films. Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Contents

Biography

Jensen was born in Trondheim. He first made his debut as a novelist in Oslo in 1955 with the novel Dyretemmerens kors (1955), but later he burned the entire storage of books.

In the 50's he and his girlfriend then,in 1958[1] wife, Marianne (later renamed Marianne Ihlen), lived on the Greek island of Hydra. Hydra (Ύδρα ˈiðra is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea between the Saronic Gulf and the Argolic Jensen was a close friend of the Canadian musician and poet Leonard Cohen. Leonard Norman Cohen CC GOQ (born September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Quebec) is a Canadian Singer-songwriter Jensen had a relationship with Cohen's girlfriend Lena. Marianne and Cohen lived a couple of years on Hydra after the break between Axel Jensen and his wife. There is widespread belief that the character Lorenzo in the novel Joacim (1961) is modeled after Cohen, but Jensen also told Cohen that Lorenzo was modeled after the Swedish novelist Göran Tunström. Göran Tunström ( 14 May 1937 in Karlstad &ndash February 5 2000 in Stockholm) was a Swedish author from

After some time, Jensen returned to Norway and settled in Fredrikstad. (previously Frederiksstad) (literally Fredrik's Town) is a City and municipality in the There, Noel Cobb, an English poet and student of psychology, came to interview him. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Soon he became sexually involved with Lena. Axel then left Fredrikstad and went to live in London.

Jensen suffered from a severe depression after the break-up with Lena. But in London he met the psychiatrist R. D. Laing and received therapy from him. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Ronald David Laing ( 7 October 1927 – 23 August 1989 was a Scottish Psychiatrist who wrote extensively on Mental illness After recovering, Jensen worked as an assistant at the institution Kingsley Hall. Kingsley Hall is a community centre in the East End of London. Laing was a close friend the rest of his life.

While attending an environmental conference in Stockholm in 1972, Axel met Pratibha, whom he married in India. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country After returning to Sweden the couple lived in Vaxholm outside Stockholm where they bought an old freighter, built in 1905, which they renamed Shanti Devi. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Vaxholm is a town in the Stockholm archipelago in central Sweden. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Shanti Devi is a Schooner (although recently rigged with a taller foremast previously owned by famous Norwegian author Axel Jensen and his Indian The ship was named after Pratibha's mother and means "The Goddess of Peace".

After restoring the ship with the help of good friends and its former crew, they finally set course for England in 1984. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) But due to a storm at sea they sought harbor in Oslo after a hazardous journey. (called Christiania from 1624 to 1878 and Kristiania from 1878 to 1924 is the Capital and largest city of Norway.

When Axel Jensen arrived in Oslo, he met his old friend, the writer Olav Angell. Together they wanted to transform Oslo into a city renowned for happenings on the scene of international literature. The plan was soon put into action, and Jensen became the front figure in a project which later developed into the Oslo International Poetry Festival, OIPF, occurring in 1985 and 1986. Oslo International Poetry Festival • OIPF • June 14 to 16th 1985 and August 14 to 20th 1986 Participants were among many other

On the 10th of August 1990 Shanti Devi set course for its final destination in Ålefjær outside Kristiansand. Shanti Devi is a Schooner (although recently rigged with a taller foremast previously owned by famous Norwegian author Axel Jensen and his Indian (formerly "Christianssand" is a city and municipality, and the capital of the county of Vest-Agder, Norway and of the geographical There Axel and Pratibha settled in a hundred year old school-house, and some years later they sold their old ship.

In the last ten years of his life, Axel Jensen was severely disabled from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ( ALS, sometimes called Maladie de Charcot, or in the United States Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a progressive He gradually became paralyzed, losing all his motor-coordination abilities. Gross motor coordination addresses the Gross motor skills walking running climbing jumping crawling lifting one's head sitting up etc Later, using a breathing-aid, he could neither write nor speak. During this period, he also led a tough campaign against what he termed "the health machinery" for the right to be nursed in his own home. Jensen wrote several essays and articles on this subject. Before the public health service provided the help he needed, private funding to pay for nursing was arranged by his close friends, including Leonard Cohen. His wife also used all of her available energy to nurse her husband until he drew his last breath in his home in Ålefjær.

Writing style

Apart from his first symbolistic novel, Dyretemmerens Kors, Axel Jensen's early novels mostly depict a young man that attempt to break away from his social and cultural background. These novels include Icarus: A Young Man in Sahara (1957) (a new 1999 edition is illustrated by Franz Widerberg), A Girl I Knew (1959) and Joacim. Some critics have argued that these early novels are influenced by Beat-authors like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. Jack Kerouac ( March 12 1922 &ndash October 21 1969) was an American Novelist, Writer, Poet, and Irwin Allen Ginsberg (ˈgɪnzbɝg (June 3 1926 &ndash April 5 1997 was an American Poet. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word The reason for this is that the novel's male main characters often try to escape from their obligations in a Western capitalistic society. Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where Instead they try to replace their former life with some sort of undefined spiritualism and fail miserably in their attempt.

Later Jensen departed from the realism in his early novels and began to move in a new direction by writing science fiction, poems, essays and manuscripts for cartoons. In this experimental phase he produced manuscripts for the psychedelic comic-strip Doctor Fantastic (published in the newspaper Dagbladet between March and July 1972), the science fiction comic strip collage Tago (1979), the animated movie Superfreak (1988) and a manuscript for a comic novel which is a caricature-rendering of the life of the French playwright and founder of pataphysics, Alfred Jarry. Modern psychedelia For "psychedelics" see Psychedelic drug. Dagbladet is Norway 's third largest Newspaper with a circulation of 146512 copies in 2006 15557 papers less than in 2005. 'Pataphysics ( French: 'Pataphysique) a term coined by French writer Alfred Jarry (1873 – 1907 is a Alfred Jarry ( 8 September 1873 &ndash 1 November 1907) was a French Writer born in Laval, Mayenne In the same period, Jensen also published a poem-collection with a hindu-theme called " Onalila - A Little East West poetry " (1974), an essayistic novel called Mother India (1974) and three autobiographical novels named Junior (1978) and Senior (1979) and Jumbo (1998). A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical

But Jensen is perhaps most famous for having written the science fiction novels Epp (1965), Lul (1992) and And the Rest is Written in the Stars (1995) illustrated by Pushwagner. Hariton Pushwagner (born Terje Brofoss in 1940 is a Norwegian Pop art artist With these novels, Jensen created a dystopian vision of the future, much in the tradition of Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Ray Bradbury. A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος alternatively cacotopia, kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 &ndash 22 November 1963 was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22 1920 is an American mainstream, Fantasy, horror, Science fiction and mystery Nevertheless, Jensen's novels also differ from these authors since the tragic vision in his novels is supplemented with comedy, setting an ambiguous and absurd tone. In this way, Jensen's novels are similar to the satirical and parodic novels of Jonathan Swift and Kurt Vonnegut. Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 Kurt Vonnegut Jr (November 11 1922 – April 11 2007 (ˈvɒnəgət was a prolific and genre-bending American Novelist known for works blending Satire, Black

Besides his fiction, Axel Jensen also published a series of articles and essays which focused on three main political and social issues. His collection of essays, God Does Not Read Novels. A Voyage in the World of Salman Rushdie (1994), is a critique of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie and a defense of the freedom of speech. A fatwā (فتوى plural fatāwā فتاوى in the Islamic faith is a religious opinion on Islamic law issued by an Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie Kt (born 19 June 1947 is an Indian - British novelist and essayist Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without Censorship or Limitation. Another political text by Axel Jensen is the article " A Children's Disease ", published in the anthology The Collective Fairytale. A Book about Norway, Europe and the EU (1994). This article discusses Norway's role as a future member in the European Union. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The third main issue that was of great concern of Axel Jensen, was how sick and disabled people are treated in a modern bureaucratic society. Two books containing articles on this subject was therefore published; The Deafening Silence (1997) and The Patient in the Centre (1998). All the articles are an account of how it is to suffer from ALS and at the same time not receive adequate help from the Norwegian welfare state. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ( ALS, sometimes called Maladie de Charcot, or in the United States Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a progressive This article refers specifically to the Welfare state of the United Kingdom.

Among his political writings, Jensen also found the time to write a biography on the mythical guru G. I. Gurdjieff which is titled Guru - Glimpses from the World of Gurdijieff (2002). George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (Գեորգի Գյուրջիև Γιώργος Γεωργιάδης Георгий Иванович Гюрджиев (or Gurdjiev) January In addition to this, Jensen was also the co-writer with Peter Mæjlender on his own autobiography, called Life Seen From Nimbus (2002).

Axel Jensen received a literary prize from the Austrian Abraham Woursell Foundation in 1965 for his novel Epp. In 1992 Jensen was given the annual literary award from the Norwegian publishing house Cappelen for his novel Lul. For his essays on Salman Rushdie, he received the Carl von Ossietzky-award from the International PEN-club in 1994 and an award from The Freedom of Expression Foundation in Norway. Carl von Ossietzky ( October 3, 1889 &ndash May 4, 1938) was a radical German pacifist and the recipient of the 1935 For the "Postsecondary Education Network International" see PEN-International International PEN, the worldwide association of

Bibliography

Novels

Other works

References

  1. ^ Kari Hesthamar (2005). Leonard Cohen Site - Interview with Marianne. Retrieved on 2008-02-12. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the
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