Beautifully written story. It transports you on a life journey from a numbing single holocaust incident and on though the continuing affected life of the individual involved and into the life bonding friendship/relationship with another. Poetic fluidity and evocative language, a gem to read over and over again.

I put off reading this book for a long time because I was going through a grieving period and I didn't want to read a book on a depressing topic, but now I'm sorry I waited so long. While I agree with other posters that the structure of this book is flawed, what magnificent writing!! I was just blown away by the beautiful prose. I can overlook the structural problems. Please give this one a shot, I recommend it highly. Well worth your time.

Perhaps one of the most influential books of my (granted short) life. Beautiful prose, storyline, everything. It is a MUST READ!

This is one of my favorite books. Because Anne Michaels is a poet, the scenery comes to life for the reader. This book is hopeful, devastating, and beautiful all at the same time. I would highly recommend it.

Fugitive Pieces is one of the greats of the Holocaust genre. With the Holocaust being such a complex and disturbing experience, only poetry and metaphor can begin to convey the sense of loss and destruction to a generation. Ms Michaels has written a beautiful book that I found engaging from start to finish. It is the hero's journey not only for the plot, but also for the way it resonates in the soul.

I have to agree with the reviewers who say this is a brilliant piece of work but flawed. It is extremely beautiful writing but I will admit to a certain impatience to finish this book and see where it is going because there's no flesh to the plot, nor are there meat to the characters. I read books about Holocaust survivors to remember the victims and their families, so they won't all remain nameless. It is a big part of our history as well as how it shaped our world today. This is a story about three men in different stages in their lives, how the Germans tried to erase their history, their past, and how they tried to survive in spite of it all. It's just a beautifully written story or stories, as you might say.

There's Athos, a Greek man who found Jakob hiding in the woods and brought him back to Greece with him. Jakob had seen his parents brutually murdered and his sister kidnapped. Ben is the son of two Jewish refugees in Toronto who never knew of his parents' great secrets till after their death. Some of the best pages in this novel are found in these pages ~~ 159-170 (the edition that I am talking of is the first edition) ~~ that is when the suffering of Jakob's people came alive and that is some of the most poignant pieces of work I have yet to read. It is very poetical and descriptive as a man remembers horrorifying scenes from his childhood. This is a man who struggled with survivor's guilt all of his life.

Here are some excerpts in case you need to find it: "The photos capture again and again this chilling moment of choice: the laughter of the damned. When the soldier realized that only death has the power to turn "man" into "figuren," his difficulty was solved. And so the rage and sadism increased: his fury at the victim for suddenly turning human; his desire to destroy that humanness so intense his brutuality has no limit."

"There's a precise moment when we reject contradiction. This moment of choice is the lie we will live by. What is dearest to us is often dearer to us than truth."

And lastly, probably my favorite passage in the entire book: "There were the few, like Athos, who chose to do good at great personal risk; those who never confused objects and humans, who knew the difference between naming and the named. Because the rescuers couldn't lose sight, literally, of the human, again and again they give us the same explanation for their heroism: 'What choice did I have?' "

That is why I give this book a five star. I will admit that there are times when I got impatient with the author's flowing writing style and wish that she would just get to the point. But when she makes her points (scattered throughout the book, mind you), she makes them intensely and skillfully.

This is a different book on the Holocaust, but one that should be read by all serious readers.

10-4-07

Fugitive Pieces is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It is clear to me that Anne Michaels is a poet. Nothing needs to be added to the words from Publishers Weekly: Searing the mind with stunning images while seducing with radiant prose, this brilliant first novel is a story of damaged lives and the indestructibility of the human spirit. It speaks about loss, about the urgency, pain and ultimate healing power of memory, and about the redemptive power of love. Brilliant!

Every other 5 star review said it for me. I also listened to the abridged version on tape because the language begged to be heard.. When I finished a portion I listened to only that portion then went back to reading the book. And so on..It was as if I were reading the libretto to an opera. It listens like one long epic poem. I have never read a book like this.

Every other 5 star review said it for me. I also listened to the abridged version on tape because the language begged to be heard.. When I finished a portion I listened to only that portion then went back to reading the book. And so on..It was as if I were reading the libretto to an opera. It listens like one long epic poem. I have never read a book like this.

The period in my title is both optional and essential. This rich and evocative book (much more an extended prose poem than a novel) is both about the situation of being buried alive by a traumatic past (the Holocaust), and about a spiritual trajectory that begins in death and ends in transcendent life.

As a child, Jacob Beer buries himself in the ground to escape detection in the Holocaust. He is rescued by a Greek archaeologist, who hides him in occupied Greece and then emigrates with him to Canada. Images of burial and unearthing recur throughout the book, whose theme is less the Holocaust itself than the challenge of coming to terms with the past sufficiently to make a life in the present. In the end, Jacob Beer, now a well-known poet, succeeds triumphantly, and joy in life blossoms out of memories of death. Anne Michaels is a poet herself, and at the beginning her style can seem overwrought for its subject. But she has created a book which, like Sebald's AUSTERLITZ and Thomas' THE WHITE HOTEL, approaches its vast subject obliquely through the non-linear accumulation of images, ultimately achieving a radiance which is all her own.

Other readers have commented on the fact that, three-quarters into the book, when Jacob's narrative ends, another character (Ben) is introduced, whose story has only incidental connections with Jacob's own. It is a risky device, but one that I personally find successful, since it does eventually come to reflect upon Jacob, while at the same time suggesting that his story is not the situation of one unique exception, but more the common experience of all those who have been touched by great trauma and must somehow emerge from its shadow to make new lives.

The period in my title is both optional and essential. This rich and evocative book (much more an extended prose poem than a novel) is both about the situation of being buried alive by a traumatic past (the Holocaust), and about a spiritual trajectory that begins in death and ends in transcendent life.

As a child, Jacob Beer buries himself in the ground to escape detection in the Holocaust. He is rescued by a Greek archaeologist, who hides him in occupied Greece and then emigrates with him to Canada. Images of burial and unearthing recur throughout the book, whose theme is less the Holocaust itself than the challenge of coming to terms with the past sufficiently to make a life in the present. In the end, Jacob Beer, now a well-known poet, succeeds triumphantly, and joy in life blossoms out of memories of death. Anne Michaels is a poet herself, and at the beginning her style can seem overwrought for its subject. But she has created a book which, like Sebald's AUSTERLITZ and Thomas' THE WHITE HOTEL, approaches its vast subject obliquely through the non-linear accumulation of images, ultimately achieving a radiance which is all her own.

Other readers have commented on the fact that, three-quarters into the book, when Jacob's narrative ends, another character (Ben) is introduced, whose story has only incidental connections with Jacob's own. It is a risky device, but one that I personally find successful, since it does eventually come to reflect upon Jacob, while at the same time suggesting that his story is not the situation of one unique exception, but more the common experience of all those who have been touched by great trauma and must somehow emerge from its shadow to make new lives.

Book I of "Fugitive Pieces" (the first 3/4 or so of the novel) was one of the best pieces of writing I have read recently. The author's background in poetry is clear in her writing style. Many of the lines were so beautiful that I read them over several times. The style of writing is such that often the images and feelings inspired by the words are more important than what the words actually say. The story itself, about the life of survivor Jakob Beer and his attempts to hold on to his origins, was moving.
However, Book II took a turn for the worse. Jakob has died suddenly (not a spoiler--a pseudo-news report on the first page of the book warns the reader that this will happen), and a narrator named Ben takes over. Ben has been influenced by Jakob's poetry--he himself is a child of survivors and has had a difficult relationship with his parents. For us to be reading Ben's life story seems strange, out of context, and beside the point. It is Jakob we actually care about, and Ben does little to resolve Jakob's story. I'm not sure what the author was trying to accomplish with such a tangential ending. But I would still recommend "Fugitive Pieces" because of the beauty of the writing, and because it does a fine job portraying the sadness and struggles of Jakob's life during and after the Holocaust.

This is truly a poet's book, and perhaps it is most moving in its line- by- line perceptions. What it seems to me to lack is a sustaining picture of situation and character which moves us to greater interest and knowledge as we read. I had the sense that once I understood the basic relationship between Jacob Beer and his Greek rescuer that there was no overall development.
I can be wrong.And I believe most readers would say I am.
This is one review I would not bet on myself on.

The writing style of this novel is either what confuses and bores readers or makes it a true masterpiece. Anne Michaels tends to use her poetic descriptions and talent to weave a story. What is most beautiful is that you can see the first half of the book mirrored into the second half. It has many pieces that come together in the end. She has a strong sense of imagery and command of the english language. This book has remained one of my favourites because of the way it is beautifully written.

This book is not for everyone. You must be able to appreciate different writing styles. Very sensory for a true poet at heart.

I've read many pieces dealing with Jewish persecution and the Holocaust (I'm not Jewish) which moved me, but this one reached me at a deeper level. It is, at once, compelling and emotionally draining ... AND it's a poignant story. Thanks to my book club for selecting it!