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Fugitive Pieces - Anne Michaels
Fugitive Pieces
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Fugitive Pieces is a novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels. First published in 1996 by McClelland and Stewart, it was awarded the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, Orange Prize for Fiction and the Guardian Fiction Prize. It is written in two sections, called Book I and... show more
Fugitive Pieces is a novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels. First published in 1996 by McClelland and Stewart, it was awarded the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, Orange Prize for Fiction and the Guardian Fiction Prize.

It is written in two sections, called Book I and Book II. The first follows the story of Jakob Beer, who as a Jewish child in Poland narrowly escapes being killed by the Nazis. He is rescued by a Greek geologist, Athos Roussos, who adopts him and takes him to live on Zakynthos in Greece. After the war the pair emigrate to Toronto. The novel follows Jakob's life as he marries and goes through life. The second book is written from the perspective of an admirer of Jakob's poetry, Ben.

The novel is written in a poetic style with persistent layers of metaphor, often called forth via Athos Roussos. Roussos' paleobotanical research involves peeling back physical layers of archaeological strata as well as temporal layers of change and decay. The novel explores themes of trauma, grief, loss, and memory, as well as discovery both personal and scientific.

The novel has been made into a feature film produced by Robert Lantos through his Toronto-based Serendipity Point Films Inc. It opened on the opening day of the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. It is directed by Jeremy Podeswa based on his original screenplay adaptation of the Michaels novel. It stars Stephen Dillane as Jakob Beer and Rade Šerbedžija as Athos.  
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Format: papier
ISBN: 9780679776598
Publisher: Vintage
Pages no: 294
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Beyond Strange New Words
Beyond Strange New Words rated it
4.0 Fugitive Pieces
A haunting, poignant tale of the Holocaust and its aftermath in the lives of generations as perceived by survivors and their descendants as well as the people around them. The topic itself and the way Michaels handles it deserve five stars. However, the entanglement of people's life stories, intertw...
even with nougat, you can have a perfect moment
even with nougat, you can have a perfect moment rated it
0.0 Fugitive Pieces
I'm hovering between four and five for this. A million stars for the sections narrated by Jakob, but I was less fond of the latter two or three narrated by Ben. Still, reading some reviews, I was expecting something more obfuscating than what I got. This hit my sweet spot of lyrical but intelligi...
The Book Magpie's Nest
The Book Magpie's Nest rated it
0.0 Fugitive Pieces
I'm hovering between four and five for this. A million stars for the sections narrated by Jakob, but I was less fond of the latter two or three narrated by Ben. Still, reading some reviews, I was expecting something more obfuscating than what I got. This hit my sweet spot of lyrical but intelligi...
Mellkoh
Mellkoh rated it
4.0 Fugitive Pieces
I picked this book up at a used book sale some time ago without really knowing anything about it other than what the liner notes indicated. Once I owned it, I'd hear it referred to by people as a sort of reference point for other writing, but had so many books on my "to read list" it hadn't quite ma...
Mellkoh
Mellkoh rated it
4.0 Fugitive Pieces
I picked this book up at a used book sale some time ago without really knowing anything about it other than what the liner notes indicated. Once I owned it, I'd hear it referred to by people as a sort of reference point for other writing, but had so many books on my "to read list" it hadn't quite ma...
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