Rating: 
Summary: This book deserves to be read and then re-read.
Review: This book does not reveal itself easily to the reader. I knew I was reading a beautiful book but my first reading was difficult, mostly in following the storyline, distinguishing the characters and keeping abreast of the shift in scenes. I had read several pages before I realized Ben was a new addition. His voice was too similar to Jakob's. Having mastered the author's devices, the second reading was sheer pleasure. Poetry, cloaking itself as prose brings about powerful images, ensnaring us until we are caught up in the poignancy of Jakob's deliberations. Much has been written about the horrors of the Holocaust, I do not think this was intended as more than a man's lifelong quest for meaning in a world that holds so much beauty and so much horror. It is only through love that he eventually finds solace for his tortured soul. And Ben, because of Jakob, realizes where he will find his own. It deserved the second reading and I imagine I shall read it yet again.
Rating: 
Summary: something to think about
Review: I am a teenager and I understand this book so I'm sure the people that call it boring or "flawed" didn't really think about it very hard. I have heard many accusations that this book was flawed or sloppy in the plotline. First of all, how can a book, especially one so poetic and deep, be flawed? It's like saying Picasso made a mistake in one of his paintings. If you see the plotline as being broken then you missed the point of the book. It takes you beyond the story, or at least it is supposed to in my opinion. The poetry of the book is a window to the deep meanings of the book. For example, the relationship between death and memory. The characters and storyline are only there to display the meaning. If you read this book, it is for the meaning, not the story, though the story is very moving. The best thing about Fugitive Pieces is that it is NOT TYPICAL. It's creative, emotional, and original; the ingredients for a true classic.
Rating:
Summary: A BOOK IN WHICH TO IMMERSE YOURSELF¿
Review: I read a quote somewhere to the effect that this was a book not so much to enter into, but to which the reader should surrender - and that's a very apt observation. There is beauty and depth in Michaels' writing - it's clearly an advantage to the years she's put in writing poetry. There are breathtaking passages on nearly every page - her prose is almost liquid in its richness. There's a rather negative review below that states 'Lyrical writing does not of itself make a great book or a great work of art' - this is a true statement, but there is SO much more to be experienced in this novel. Michaels' characters are vivid and alive - both those who are 'simple' and those who are deeper in their thought. Jakob's character permeates the entire book - even in the second part, which is narrated by Ben, after Jakob's death.Despite the fact that the Holocaust by its horrific nature plays a huge role in this story, this is not 'just another Holocaust novel'. Without bypassing the obscenities committed by the Nazis against the Jews (and anyone else they considered to be 'inferior'), Michaels has given the reader a story of survival and rebuilding - not so much the rebuilding of bridges and cities, but the rebuilding of lives and spirits. When Jakob witnesses - without seeing, hearing only peripheral sounds - the death of his parents and the abduction of his beloved sister, his heart is broken. Nothing breaks like the heart of a child - and it takes immense effort, support and time for it to heal again. Not only does Jakob manage, over the course of his life, to 'get past' the unimaginable atrocities he has experienced and seen - he grows in sprit in an incredible way, making leaps beyond what he might have accomplished if his childhood had never been 'interrupted' by the Nazis. There's another quote on the back of the book that notes that readers will feel compelled to quote sentences and entire passages of it to others, to read it aloud, to discuss its meanings and insights - I've already found this to be true. There is wisdom on every single page, and - despite some of the horrors depicted - an uplifting power that touches the spirit very deeply. FUGITIVE PIECES is an astounding work - I found it intelligent, illuminating, breathing, and above all, moving.
Rating: 
Summary: Page to page a beautiful novel
Review: This Toronto author was previously a poet and that is most certainly evident in her beautiful and lyrical writing style. This book is most definitely not overratted - it should be read over a few times in order for the reader to catch all the beauty of the book. The book seems incredibly slow paced at times, but is definitely not a book which I was sorry to have read. Do not read this book for plot, rather read this book for beauty. And in reference to a previous review: this story does NOT take place in a highly idealized society, it is exactly as Toronto was (and still is in many ways) in that post-war time period. A very free and frindly place and is highly realistic in terms of plot and setting. But I do agree as many others have stated, that at times, Fugitive Pieces is a slow moving novel. But this novel is difficult to put down because it is like a piece of poetry where you don't want to allow yourself to stop halfway through. It follows the life of a young boy named Jakob traumatized by the loss of his family and is taken in by a man named Athos. Athos has a close relationship with Jakob and what is different about this story is that it is not the typical "mentor" relationship between the two. Jakob learns from Athos, but this is never really through direct dialogue but more through observation of his life and actions. Jakob has an inability to let go and an inability to live in the present and remember the past; his journey is one that perhaps the reader can relate to in terms of how difficult is is to move on after tradgedy. The second part of the novel is beautiful as well, in this section it follows the life of Ben, a man who finds Jakob's life absolutely fascinating. He learns from Jakob as Jakob did from Athos; a beautiful (but at times predictable) parallel. This novel is not straight forward in any way, the more it is read, the more it is intererpereted and beautiful. The language is absolutely breathtaking. If you have a love of books and poetry, read this book. I highly recommend this novel, it is an example of great writing while exploring the delicate human condition and the importance of memories and love.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning lyrical prose to capture the imagination
Review: It is obvious from the first page, that Anne Michaels is a prize-winning poet. Her use of words is delicate, yet strong - there is never any question about what she means. This gripping tale of a young Holocaust survivor, will be my #1 book for 1998 - I am just sorry I have had it on my bookshelf for almost 2 years before reading it! The tale will survive, as it is a controversial subject with a universal theme - several themes actually - love, hate, survival, morality, man's inhumanity to man, science & nature vs nurture - one could go on forever. I intend to recommend reading this book to my book group, as it will certainly inspire a lot of worthwhile discussion. I particularly like the image of Athos 'giving birth' to Jakob, by withdrawing him from his hiding place in his coat, next to his body - & all the analogies & imagery that inspired. I can understand why some readers do not enjoy stories involving unfaithful husbands, & although Ben's affair with Petra is distasteful, I felt it had a real purpose: Ben was searching for more than his father's papers - Ben was, in many ways, a lost, incomplete person - I don't think we were meant to like what he did, just understand it. Many of the relationships may have seemed 'choppy' - but "get therapy" is a bandaid to a Holocaust survivor, or his family. I have rarely been so stimulated by reading a book - my imagination is still running overtime as words & phrases come back to haunt me.
Rating: 
Summary: Pale compared to The White Hotel
Review: Like others who've offered their reviews, this book was recommended highly to me by a friend. Perhaps if I had not already read The White Hotel, another novel by a poet with the holocaust as a theme, my opinion of this book would have been higher, but where the White Hotel successfully bridges the poetic and the narative, Fugitive Pieces fails. I was unconvinced by the endless parade of quasi-poetic aphorisms: "Every moment is two moments." "Complicity is not sudden, though it occurs in an instant." "There's no absence if there remains even the memory of absence." The author does not let the reader judge the meaning of the scattered recollections that make up this book, but insists on stating the meaning explicitly. I found this alienating, and I never felt at all immersed in this book. I do strongly recommend D.M. Thomas's The White Hotel, however.
Rating:
Summary: something to think about
Review: I am a teenager and I understand this book so I'm sure the people that call it boring or "flawed" didn't really think about it very hard. I have heard many accusations that this book was flawed or sloppy in the plotline. First of all, how can a book, especially one so poetic and deep, be flawed? It's like saying Picasso made a mistake in one of his paintings. If you see the plotline as being broken then you missed the point of the book. It takes you beyond the story, or at least it is supposed to in my opinion. The poetry of the book is a window to the deep meanings of the book. For example, the relationship between death and memory. The characters and storyline are only there to display the meaning. If you read this book, it is for the meaning, not the story, though the story is very moving. The best thing about Fugitive Pieces is that it is NOT TYPICAL. It's creative, emotional, and original; the ingredients for a true classic.
Rating:
Summary: Unbearably Beautiful
Review: No, this book is not a beach read, and is closer to the work of Thomas Mann than Nicholas Sparks. Like "A Death in Venice," Fugitive Pieces is beautifully written and almsot unbearably sad. What sets this one apart is that it isn't really about the Holocaust, but about the the power of love--shown in this case first through Athos, the geologist who rescues the narrator and later through the narrator's own poetry--to remember the dead and return to the world of the living, even from the very abyss of despair.
Rating:
Summary: Visionary and Poetic
Review: Fugitive Pieces is a visionary work of literature that contains some of the most sublime prose written in the English language. At its core, Fugitive Pieces conveys the deep and everlasting scars that come from having survived extreme loss and horror. The images of grief and the subtle stories of how this grief unfolds in the lives of those who have survived are compelling and genuine, and in this poetic novel we are given a portrait of survivors: their wounds and the possibility of their healing. When I consider this single line, I am reminded anew of regeneration in the face of despair: "Every cell in my body has been replaced, suffused with peace." I recommend this book most highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Sooo boring ....
Review: I was so excited about this book, but was greatly disappointed. Don't waste your time and money on this one. It has to be THE most boring book I've read in ages. And very difficult to read too. Unless if you're truly into poetry and poets, don't bother with this one. A huge disappointment. I want my money back!
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