Indeed, THE AX seemed to me much more goal-centric & micro-focused than
revenge-oriented and macro focused.
I'll also stick w/ my contention that THE AX is a serial killer novel. An
unorthodox one, to be sure, but his actions of killing in a sequential,
serial fashion seems to fit under the definition's umbrella.
Ron C.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com [mailto:rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Mark Sullivan
> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 3:40 PM
> To: rara-avis
> Subject: RE: RARA-AVIS: Re: Moratorium on serial murderer mysteries?
>
>
> I see your point, but I never got the sense he was thinking that globally.
I think he
> saw a problem and, once he set aside morality, came up with a very simple,
> practical solution that he followed. It's that practicality, that
coldness, that lack of
> any emotion like revenge that I found so disturbing, because it made
absolute
> perfect sense. For instance, I found it far more chilling than the
somewhat similar
> movie A Shock to the System, as there was some sort of personal animosity
in
> many of the movie's murders, but not in The Ax. He did not seek revenge
against
> those who had downsized him, he systematically took out those who stood in
his
> way. In other words, he became the cold system that had downsized him,
> downsized others preemptively. Ultimately, he wanted nothing more than to
return
> to the system. Now that I think of it, this is the downsizing version of
the Flitcraft
> story.Mark
>
> > To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> > From: jacquesdebierue@yahoo.com
> > Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:22:47 +0000
> > Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Moratorium on serial murderer mysteries?
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Mark Sullivan <DJ-Anonyme@...>
wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Is The Ax a revenge novel? Whom was he avenging? I saw it as a very
> practical means to an end, coldly pursued.
> > > Mark
> > >
> >
> > I see it as a revenge on the system. This guy is creating his own
"personal
> strategy" to defeat the system and, I think, exact revenge on it. The guys
he deletes
> are incidental. He reformulates concepts of "redundant" and "downsizing"
in a very
> personal and concrete way.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > mrt
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
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