Fugitive Pieces (1997)
Who wrote it?
Anne Michaels (1958- ; active 1985- ), born Toronto, Canada. She attended the University of Toronto, where she is now a faculty member in the department of English. She is known foremost as a poet - beginning her career writing mainly in that medium, with collections The Weight of Oranges (1986) and Miner's Pond (1991) winning numerous awards and establishing her as one of the foremost Canadian literary talents.
Fugitive Pieces (published 1996) was her debut novel, born of a sense of "bumping up against the limits" of poetry and needing to make connections on a larger scale. It won numerous international awards, alongside the second Women's Prize. It took her nearly a decade to write, and its follow-up, and as yet only other novel, The Winter Vault (2009) took another thirteen to arrive.
Elsewhere though, she has continued to publish relatively regular volumes of poetry, as well as writing for the stage - including a collaboration with John Berger, Vanishing Points (2005), and a libretto for an opera - and publishing her first children's book, The Adventures of Miss Petitfour (2015). She became the poet laureate of Toronto in October 2015.
What's it about?
Fugitive Pieces is a novel in two sections, each focusing on a character's attempts to deal with trauma and loss relating to the Holocaust. Its first and longer section focuses on Jakob Beer, who as a 7-year old is the only person in his town to survive a round-up of Jews by invading Nazis. He is found by a Greek archaeologist, Athos Roussos, who take him into his care, moving him secretly to Zakynthos in Greece.
After the war, Athos and Jakob move to Toronto, where the focus shifts to Jakob's attempts to form relationships and move on in life. After initially failing with the "brilliant" Alexandra, who expects too much of him in terms of moving on, he finds a match in the shape of Michaela, who helps him (to some extent) to let go of his focus on his grief for his sister, Bella. Through this period Jakob also learns to embrace language as a tool for confronting his past, and becomes a successful published poet.
The second section focuses on Ben, the Canadian son of Holocaust survivors, who is an admirer of Jakob's poetry, and briefly overlaps with the latter via academic circles both move in. We learn about Ben's own life and relationships, as well as his relative disconnect with his parents and inability to fully penetrate their trauma. He ends the novel by visiting Greece on a mission to retrieve Jakob's journals after his death.
What I liked
I found this a really tricky one to review. It’s evidently the work of an absolute master of the art of poetry. There is a mastery of language and poetic economy on display on virtually every page.
It made me understand, more so than I think any Booker or Women’s winner so far, why judges end up having to read the winners multiple times to make a judgement. I’ve read this (like most other winners) just the once, and feel like so much of what’s in here would make sense only on a second or third pass. Michaels talks of revealing things slowly, and of making connections between things that happen on “page 100 and page 303” - which makes complete sense. This is essentially a long poem in novel form - see below for some of the inevitable frustrations a mere novel-lover like myself finds in this, though!
There are numerous moments of real impact scattered throughout the book. I often felt unsure of where it was heading, but the journey almost always built to a precise, gut-punch hit of impact. Its in these moments that the novel speaks most clearly - whether it’s speaking about the graphic horrors of the Holocaust, or the nuances of love and its collapse.
One of the most interesting characters for me (probably oddly) was Ben’s father in the second section. The resonance of his trauma is clearly demonstrated through a series of heartbreaking moments that require very little interpretation (unlike much of what happens elsewhere).
It certainly carries a sense of depth and profundity. It has gravitas. It uses highly eloquent language to tackle subject matter that words can often be seen as insufficient to fully render.
Ultimately I think its power probably lies in its somewhat enigmatic quality and the very active reading that this necessitate. These are “pieces” of something. Assembling what that something is may be impossible - in any case, much of the work is passed deliberately on to the reader.
What I didn’t like
As you may have already gleaned from the above, I didn’t find this easy going. I don’t think I was meant to, and nor do I think it’s meant to be enjoyed in the same way as your average novel.
At the same time, I do have limited patience for this style of writing. I can admire it, for sure, but to enjoy it is a challenge. Here and there I latched on to moments of beauty and insight, but in general I found its style hard to get on with.
The language is presumably purposefully elevated and complex - it’s designed to resist simple readings, that much is clear - but to someone who likes plain-speaking in literature, this too often verges on the pretentious.
It’s probably one of the first winners of either prize so far that has made me feel pretty stupid. I genuinely struggled with what was going on at various points. I’m sure this would be remedied by a re-read, but with so many other books to be read, do I have the energy for another run through this one? Honestly, no.
Food & drink pairings
Greek stuff, olives and that, I guess.
Fun facts
The title of the novel is taken from Fugitive Pieces, Byron’s first volume of verse, privately printed in 1806.
The novel was given movie treatment in 2007, by Canadian director Jeremy Podeswa, who is perhaps better known for stints directing prestige TV like Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under, True Blood and Dexter. It was reasonably successful on the critical front, winning awards at several major festivals.
Vanquished Foes
Margaret Atwood (Alias Grace)
Deirdre Madden (One by One in the Darkness)
Jane Mendelsohn (I Was Amelia Earhart)
Annie Proulx (Accordion Crimes)
Manda Scott (Hen's Teeth)
Alias Grace is already on my “to be read” list - any others I should check out?
The 1997 Booker went to Arunhati Roy’s excellent debut The God of Small Things.
Context
In 1997:
UK Labour Party returns to power for the first time in 18 years, with a landslide majority for Tony Blair
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
Scotland & Wales vote in favour of devolved Parliaments
In the US, Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State
K. R. Narayanan sworn in as Indian President - first member of the Dalit caste to hold this office
UK hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to China
Legalisation of divorce in the Republic of Ireland
Murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G.
Murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace in Miami
First broadcast of Channel 5 in the UK
Debut of Pokémon anime in Japan
IBM's Deep Blue computer defeats world champion Garry Kasparov at chess
Toyota Prius, first hybrid vehicle to go into full production, goes on sale in Japan
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Don DeLillo, Underworld
Philip Roth, American Pastoral
Ian McEwan, Enduring Love
Patrick Marber, Closer
Titanic
The Full Monty
Good Will Hunting
Daft Punk, Homework
Radiohead, OK Computer
Missy Elliott, Supa Dupa Fly
Life Lessons
Vague deep and meaningfuls - you can’t escape the past, love may or may not be the solution, etc.
Score
6.5
It’s a unique and thought-provoking thing, but not one that I ultimately managed to click with at first pass. I scored 1997 Booker winner The God of Small Things 9/10.
Ranking to date:
A Spell of Winter (1996) - Helen Dunmore - 8
Fugitive Pieces (1997) - Anne Michaels - 6.5
Next up
A random diversion to check out something else by Bernardine Evaristo, before I rejoin the Women’s Prize with Carol Shields’ 1998 winner Larry’s Party.
