Fugitive Pieces

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Summary: Unforgettable and beautifully written masterpiece
Review: This is a rare gem of a book. The words and the two intertwined stories will be forever etched in my soul. It's a must read for anybody interested in the power of language and memory.

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Summary: "Fugitive Pieces" - Anne Michaels
Review: More often than not, I found myself reading Anne Micheals' Fugitive Pieces whilst sitting on the London tube (District/Circle line between Bayswater and St James Park). I lost count of exactly how many odd looks I got from people who watched this 6'6, 25 year old in a suit weeping quietly to himself. It's honestly one of those books that will remain embedded in my mind for the rest of my life. Without making it sound too much like a cliche (I think that means "watch out, here comes a cliche") it's a book that has probably had more of an impact on me than any other piece of literature. Michaels has a gift few writers possess. I have often been upset about finishing a book - letting go of the characters - but I've never before actually tried to ration myself to avoid finishing it. That Anne Michaels took ten years to write this book is obvious. If her next offering takes that long, it will be worth the wait.

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Summary: Fugitive Pieces A Great Read
Review: Fugitive Pieces is not just a story but a glorious celebration of the English language. The author shares an extensive knowledge of various topics and paints vivid pictures. The story is unique and captures the reader. It is not a happy story but one that keeps the reader rapidly turning pages to see what happens next

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Summary: This is the most beautifully written book I have ever read.
Review: Anne Michaels has an amazing gift of prose. This book is about absence and memory and loving. It moved me as no other book has before. I cried and I ached. She is truly a gifted story-teller. I can't wait to read her other works

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Summary: Fugitive pieces wins Orange prize for fiction
Review: Last Wednesday in London Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces beat Annie Proulx's Accordion Crimes (the hot tipped favourite) to win the Orange Prize for Fiction -- the most valuable British literary prize. Since I was chair of judges I can tell you that Fugitive Pieces is the most outstanding work of fiction by a woman worldwide we read this year. Buy it and see

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Summary: Words flow like dark honey down bare skin...
Review: If I were asked to describe Anne Michael's first novel, I would have to admit I didn't read it. For this is not a novel to be simply read. The words flow like dark honey down bare skin, and I tasted every one of them. A journey through memory and pain, hope and elation, where beauty is found and lost, where it heals and yet offers the contrast against which we measure the horror. This is the story of a child who through his loss finds lifelong friendship and the gift of language but finds this is not enough to end his pain. But through the simple beauty of love he is born, ' I fell in love to the tinkling of falling silverware'. Anne Michaels offers unequalled images and mystical deep emotions in this her Trillium Award winning novel. More than just another book about loss and pain, this novel sets the new standard for poetic prose

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Summary: The ravages of war, and the redemptive power of language.
Review: Poet Anne Michaels' debut novel is a beautifully written, ambitious book about the power of language and love to redeem what has been destroyed by the catastrophe of the Holocaust. Jacob Beer, the fictional poet whose memoirs make up the bulk of the narrative, loses his family to the Nazi death camps, and survives only because he is hidden in a cupboard as his family is dragged from their home in Poland. He is found wandering in the woods by a Greek archeologist/geologist named Athos, who smuggles the boy to a Greek island, where he hides for the remainder of the war. The novel's power lies in the force of the author's language--startling images, pithy phrases about the nature of loss, love, and longing--and in Jacob Beer's compelling voice. The latter part of the novel, narrated by the son of Holocaust survivors who finds redemption through Jacob's written legacy, is less convincing, although still well rendered. Put in simplistic terms, the love of a good woman and poetic language save both men. Despite some minor flaws, Fugitive Pieces is one of the year's best books. It is currently on the best seller lists in England and Germany, was a huge best seller in Canada, and should be another winning entry for Knopf in this country. The market is currently flooded with novels and memoirs about the Holocaust, and if you have to pick one, this poetic tour de force should be it

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Summary: I couldn't read this book slow enough, magic on every page
Review: For those who don't read poetry this is a cheaters method. Heartbreaking and beautiful, one of the best books I have ever read.

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Summary: An elegant book about the post-Holocaust era? Yup.
Review: Winner of 6 Canadian literary awards, author Anne Michaels constructs the story, set in post-Holocaust Poland, of a 7yo boy's journey to healing and redemption via the age-old power of love - but not conventional love, this time. No, it's love for an old man and for ancient botanical history.
The story begins during the war when Jakob, the protagonist who has recently seen his family murdered by Nazis, is discovered by a Greek geologist who spirits him off to Greece and hides him till the end of the war. There Athos, the Greek, helps Jakob recover from his psychic wounds by teaching him about the flora and fauna of ancient eras.
A stunningly beautiful story that leaves a powerful afterglow.

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Summary: Beautifully lyrical and poetic first novel
Review: Anne Michael's multi-award winning first novel, "Fugitive Pieces" is a beautifully lyrical and poetic account of the memory of loss sustained during the Holocaust years. The two stories that run in parallel to one another (Jakob's and Ben's) are inextricably bound by the common source they draw upon. Jakob Beer, poet and translator, is rescued by Greek geologist, Athos, but cannot escape his memories which haunt him throughout his life. He is a damaged soul and irredeemably lost to the past. Alex, his first wife, couldn't save him, so she left him. He finds redemption in Michaela and is released from the prison of his memory by his dead sister, Bella, who relaunches him to the land of the living. Ben, whose parents are survivors of the Holocaust, seeks therapy from the writings of Jakob, and eventually comes to terms with their own damaged lives. "Fugitive Pieces" is essentially a novel of interiors. There is a barely recognisable plot and hardly any dialogue. Dazzlingly colourful images fly across the pages of descriptive prose which approximate poetry. To savour all of its rich linguistic qualities, readers are advised to proceed slowly and allow the images to build in your mind. You will be richly rewarded.