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Summary: Pieces of Time
Review: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels was a great book that focused on one of the most interesting views an author can. "Time" is seen throughout the book as a foundation and a focal point for the life of Jacob Beer. The author uses great descriptive passages such as, "every moment is two moments" to convey the message that time is everything. The author descriptive almost poetic way of expressing her and the life of Jacob is uncanny and incredibly interesting. Although the book is sometimes hard to follow, the full-circle view that you as a reader come to realize is remarkable. I would definitely recommend Fugitive Pieces to anyone who is looking for a good book that takes thought and imagination to understand.
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Summary: A masterpeice or just a collection of words?
Review: "Time is a blind guide." When a novel starts out with such a line something clicks inside the mind that says, "Wow! This is going to be a GREAT book!" Wrong. After the first chapter, the book begins to deteriorate from the makings of a masterpiece into a collection of randomly picked words and ideas. The book is a biography of the life of Jakob Beer, a victim of the Nazi reign in Europe. After having his parents and sister murdered while he was still in the house, he flees into the swamps and forests in the near countryside. He meets a Greek archeologist who takes pity on the little boy and brings him home with him to Zakynthos. The book follows Jakob's life from this point on and illustrates the role which language plays in his character. One of the main downfalls of the book was its shift in character. The book is about Jakob Beer's life-his struggles, conflicts, and resolutions to the things which life has dealt him. In book II, the second portion of the novel, Anne Michaels abruptly leaves Jakob and brings in a never before heard of character named Ben. This section adds almost no worthwhile reading, it confuses, and even angers the reader. The questions "Who is this guy, Why am I reading about him?" and "Who cares" beg to be answered. Another negative aspect of the book is that it has many sections to it that play no important role in building or shaping the character of Jakob Beer. Lulls in the plot and boring commentary are woven throughout the book. Just about the only thing that keeps this book from being a complete failure is that it is very thought provoking, begging the reader to examine and interpret Jakob's insights. Many of the quotes can be taken both literally and/or symbolically, and by just thinking about them, one can realize or have a revelation of things he never thought of before. Each time a realization is made, the reader gains a little more depth to his own character, and also gains a bit more appreciation of the book. Over all, this book was fairly dull and not worth the time spent trying to keep one's-self awake while reading it.
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Summary: Memory through Language
Review: In Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels does a wonderful job of describing situations in an intriguing mannor. Her quotes and statements through out the book keep the reader constantly thinking more deeply into things. Michaels uses these quotes and statements to show the readers how an event such as the Holocost can effects someones life so greatly. Jakob, the main character, had to struggle with the effects of loosing loved ones and over coming the sorrow of the Holocost. One way Jakob is able to get on with life, and live the way that any person can after the tragic incident is through learning a different language. In this book, I saw a huge gap between the first Jakob we met and the Jakob at the end of the book. Language really caused Jakob to open up to different cultures. It also helped him to look at life differently, and change the way his memeories made him feel. Learning the a new language was like begining with gaining memoreies all over for Jakob. This book had many interesting points of view. Michaels does a great job of causing readers to look more deeply into situtations and see the effect things can have on ones life.
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Summary: Fugitive Pieces Review
Review: Anne Michaels does an excellent job of captivating her audience in the first chapter. Her use of imagery through nouns such as language, tongue, memory, and silence portray the characters and their emotions. For instance, Jakob uses language to escape from his memories in an attempt to hide from his past. Book 2 of the novel, however, I did not find so captivating. The speaker takes a one-eighty and changes from Jakob to Ben. It almost seemed as though Michaels had finished the novel at the end of Book 1, but had a page minimum she had to first meet before she could call it good. I still, however, rate Fugitive Pieces as a four-star novel because of Michaels vivid use of imagery and the excellent literary work in Book 1.
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Summary: Overcoming Boredom for Tragedy
Review: I was assigned to read this book for an English class at my school and I probably wouldn't have read it on my own, and if i didn't read it I don't think I would have missed much. This book contained many good life themes about love and tragedy, but throughout the book they were lost in the endless sea of words that caused the reader to fall asleep. Only in certain portions of the book did I feel that I was half interested in what was going on. The only bright spot of this book to me was the heroic story of a scared young Jewish boy who grows up to realize his dreams and conquer his own fears. I would only recommend this book to very diligent readers who do not get bored with meaningless details. If you are not one of those readers do not read this book, for the meaning will become lost when you fall asleep. There are many other books out there that deal with the same issues, the difference is they convey it in a much better way.
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Summary: Read this Book! by Lauren Prim
Review: Thsi book is so intruiging! I loved it I lot. It used great imagery and had an awesome and unique structure to the way the book was written. Ann writes with a great meaning towards this book with love and memmories and how it affects Jacob Beers life and Ben's life. Jacob and Ben both have memories that upset them. But, for Jacob he is loved by Athos and starts his life over( but still has awful memories that won't go away, but wonderful memories that fade, not completely, after time). Ben find that even though his past with his family wasn't great, he can still give what he needs most,and that is love. Both characters are put to the test with their awful pasts, but can pull through their lifes and start over with a little bit of love. I also love how Ann tries to correlate the lives with both characters to vcreate a unique form to this story. Ann took a regular old story and added depth, meaning, and value to it. This is a great book and should be read by all who love sad, happy and meaningfull storys that create and impact on your life. Don't miss this one!
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Summary: Is "Fugitive Pieces" really worth the reading?
Review: "Fugitive Pieces" was a book that I thought was not worth my time because it was a really hard book to read, understand and some of the imagery used was hard to figure out. I think that other people like this book just because it it hard to read, so they think it must be good. This book tries to correlate two readers to be the same, but it just makes the story more confusing. The beggining of this book was really intruiging and touching when Jakob was narrating about how he found a new "family" and "fatherly figure",Athos who made gave him a new life to start over from his terrible past. But when the other narrator,Ben, started narrating, it confused me and made me think how worthless this book really is. It seems to me like Ann Micheals took a stroy and tried to add meaning and value to were their is none. So, overall this book is not worth your time.
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Summary: Fugitive Pieces Review- Dena Boone
Review: The novel, Fugitive Pieces, is an example of outstanding literature that takes a hold of readers and makes an impact on their lives. Anne Michaels uses effective language that takes the reader through specific events of the Holocaust and tells of its effects on the characters throughtout this novel. Fugitive Pieces focuses on three main characters, their families, and their struggles through life, love, memory, and silence. I recommend this novel for individuals who are interested in history as well as Michael's talent for portraying characters in powerful ways.
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Summary: Fugitive Pieces Review by Jackie Kopetz
Review: Fugitive Pieces is an excellent work of literature that deals with pieces of people's lives. This novel focuses on people's perceptions of reality based on their life experiences. It deals with three contrasting characters whose lives are very different as a result of their life experiences. Through this novel it also becomes evident that they each place a largest portion of themselves in different places. I especially liked this book because Anne Michaels is a very descriptive author and she uses a great deal of imagery that aids in keeping the reader's attention. She also conveys the power of language and silence through situations that the characters face. The way that Michaels is able to convey the power of language through this novel is truly intriguing.
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Summary: Fugitive Pieces--Jessica Newhouse
Review: I thought this was an interesting novel filled with deep insights, and profound quotes. It did a wonderful job of portraying the effects that something as horrifying as the Holocaust can have on a person. It shows what the main character, Jacob, had to deal with and learn to overcome. This novel has a lot to say about the power of language, the power and impact of silence, the human need for belonging and love, and truth. Anne Michaels addresses these issues, but leaves them open ended. For this, I think Fugitive Pieces is a pretty good novel, however, it is often slow-moving and without action.
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