A quick summary of the final few chapters of this novel in point form:
- Jakob and Athos move to Toronto
-Athos is a teacher, Jakob learns English
-they make some friends who are also Greek
-Athos dies
-Jakob grieves for about 10 pages
-finishes Athos' books
-meets girl
-gets married
- starts having nightmares again
-she leaves him
-he goes back to Greece to find answers
- can't find any, goes back to Toronto, meets a new girl, gets married
-HUGE PLOT TWIST! No, not really, switches narrative to another man named Ben
-he's a big fan of Jakob's poetry
-goes to find Jakob's poetry
-finds them
-has an affair with an American
-reflects on his marriage, Jewish people, and his whole life
THE END
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
My Thoughts so far
My thoughts as I near the end of this novel are plain and simple. This book is the most boring book I have ever read. Is it well written? Most definitely. But it is written in a way that sucks all interest out of me. It started out promising, but the premise and shine of the novel wore off real quick as she (Anne Michaels) took the main character Jakob's suffering and sadness to a whole different level. Instead of interesting dialogue, we are treated to boring dialogue, where in most cases (most specifically when Athos and Jakob are talking to Athos' friends) you have no idea who is talking. When they make the move to Toronto, they go to places without so much as a simple explanation to why they are going there. Why are they going on this walk near the lake? What is it's purpose? What is going on? These are the thoughts that went through my mind as I read this book. All in all, if I were to grade this novel out of 10, I would give it a 5/10. If we were talking thumbs up, perhaps a thumb down would suffice. Gold stars? Not for this novel, maybe a silver star. In conclusion, I am thoroughly disappointed in this novel. Our Grade 11 novel "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley was easier to read and understand; and I thought THAT book was the worst book I have ever read.
Critical Article Summaries
First Critical Article Summary: "Fugitive Pieces"
1. syntax. "Fugitive Pieces." (2003): n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2010
http://everything2.com/title/Fugitive+Pieces
This critical article is really an in depth summary of many different elements that were done well and stood out to the user "syntax". He/she analyzes the plot, setting, characters, and specific points in the story that can be connected to the real life events that were happening during the book.
2. No author. "Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces". n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2010
http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/cpjrn/vol41/preface.htm
This critical article analyzes every detail about the novel very well. To summarize one very good paragraph about how Jakob's sub-conscience is related to the day the Nazi's ripped through his "wooden" door into his house, the author describes how Jakob has a connection to wood. He spends the next few days in the forest, surrounded by the creaking sounds of the trees swaying back and forth. He listens intently Athos as he describes the great mystery of wood.
3. Smythe, Robert. "A rare, beautiful book, special in many ways." (2005): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
http://www.epinions.com/review/Fugitive_Pieces_by_Anne_Michaels_and_narrated_by_Peter_Marinker_and_narrated_by_Neil_Munro_and_narrated_by_Diego_Matamoros/content_174391529092
Fugitive Pieces is filled with poetic language, and amazing, detailed setting and imagery. The theme of loss seems to stay in your head during and after reading. It took her a long time to write this book. It is a wonderful book that shows us all the possibilities of the human spirit and heart.
1. syntax. "Fugitive Pieces." (2003): n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2010
http://everything2.com/title/Fugitive+Pieces
This critical article is really an in depth summary of many different elements that were done well and stood out to the user "syntax". He/she analyzes the plot, setting, characters, and specific points in the story that can be connected to the real life events that were happening during the book.
2. No author. "Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces". n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2010
http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/cpjrn/vol41/preface.htm
This critical article analyzes every detail about the novel very well. To summarize one very good paragraph about how Jakob's sub-conscience is related to the day the Nazi's ripped through his "wooden" door into his house, the author describes how Jakob has a connection to wood. He spends the next few days in the forest, surrounded by the creaking sounds of the trees swaying back and forth. He listens intently Athos as he describes the great mystery of wood.
3. Smythe, Robert. "A rare, beautiful book, special in many ways." (2005): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
http://www.epinions.com/review/Fugitive_Pieces_by_Anne_Michaels_and_narrated_by_Peter_Marinker_and_narrated_by_Neil_Munro_and_narrated_by_Diego_Matamoros/content_174391529092
Fugitive Pieces is filled with poetic language, and amazing, detailed setting and imagery. The theme of loss seems to stay in your head during and after reading. It took her a long time to write this book. It is a wonderful book that shows us all the possibilities of the human spirit and heart.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
3 Critical Articles
1. syntax. "Fugitive Pieces." (2003): n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2010
http://everything2.com/title/Fugitive+Pieces
2. No author. "Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces". n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2010
http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/cpjrn/vol41/preface.htm
3. Smythe, Robert. "A rare, beautiful book, special in many ways." (2005): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
http://www.epinions.com/review/Fugitive_Pieces_by_Anne_Michaels_and_narrated_by_Peter_Marinker_and_narrated_by_Neil_Munro_and_narrated_by_Diego_Matamoros/content_174391529092
http://everything2.com/title/Fugitive+Pieces
2. No author. "Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces". n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2010
http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/cpjrn/vol41/preface.htm
3. Smythe, Robert. "A rare, beautiful book, special in many ways." (2005): n. pag. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
http://www.epinions.com/review/Fugitive_Pieces_by_Anne_Michaels_and_narrated_by_Peter_Marinker_and_narrated_by_Neil_Munro_and_narrated_by_Diego_Matamoros/content_174391529092
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Fugitive Pieces Blog Entry (Chapter 2)
Jakob resides in Athos's house in Zakynthos, Greece to escape and hide from the Nazi and Fascist regime, where, "we lived close to the sky." (Fugitive Pieces, page 17). Here, Jakob tries to live a normal life. Jakob realizes that there are many Jewish people who live in Greece, and that the Germans generally leave them alone. He is still haunted by what had happened. His family was just murdered by the Nazis in front of his own eyes, and the images have stuck in his mind the entire time he's been with Athos. Athos is an archaeologist and a geologist, and has many books in his library. When Athos isn't wandering about, looking for people he knows that have been affected by the war, he reads to Jakob and tells him about his life. He tells him of his father, who shipped valuable red dyes for shoes and cloth. Athos learned a lot of his knowledge from his father, and passed along the stories to Jakob. At first, Jakob does not follow the new found languages of both Greek and English. But as he spends more time with Athos, English and Greek become his new languages. However, the more he uses his new found language, he realizes that they are also erasing his memory of his past. When Athos first rescued him, Jakob relied heavily on the memories of his family, particularly of his sister, Bella, to get through every day life.
But as the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into years, and all the while Jakob read more and more, he not only lived in his broken world, but he lived in other worlds. "Because of Athos, our little house became a crow's nest, a Vinland peathouse. Inside the cave of my skull oceans swayed with monstrous ice-floes, navigated by skin-boats. Mariners hung from mizzen-masts and ropes made from walrus hide. Vikings rowed down the mighty rivers of Russia." (Fugitive Pieces, page 29).As time moves on, the Italian and German armies start to invade Greece, and more specifically, Zakynthos. Athos makes Jakob spend most of the days up on the roof top, just so that if the military did enter the house, Jakob would not be found. "Alone on the roof those nights, it's not surprising that, of all the characters in Athos' tales of geologists and explorers, cartographers and navigators, I felt compassion for the stars themselves." (Fugitive Pieces, page 54).
So far the novel is picking up. There is more dialogue, and as I have started Chapter 3, "Vertical Time", we learn more of the characters themselves.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Survey of Authors & Secondary Sources
1. Author: Anne Michaels Title: Fugitive Pieces
2. Before this book, I had never heard of Anne Michaels. It was only in Grade 11 English that I heard of her, and it was then that we read the excerpt of "Fugitive Pieces". Reading that excerpt made me want more, as it "left me hanging", and the opportunity to read it for this ISU was perfect.
3. Anne Michaels is the author of three highly acclaimed poetry collections: The Weight of Oranges (1986), Miner's Pond (1991), Skin Divers (1999), her first novel, Fugitive Pieces (1996), and her latest novel, The Winter Vault (2009). She was born in Toronto, Canada in 1958. She attended Vaughan Road Academy, then later attended the University of Toronto, where she earned a B.A. degree in English. She has won many awards due to her literature in both poetry writing, and novel writing. Michaels currently resides in Toronto, working on her next novel.
4. As previously stated before, Anne Michaels is the author of several pieces of literature; her highly acclaimed poetry collections: The Weight of Oranges (1986), Miner's Pond (1991), and Skin Divers (1999), as well as her only two novels Fugitive Pieces (1996), and, The Winter Vault (2009).
5. Anne Michaels writes very in depth, and adds a human element to her literature. She always adds elements that the reader can connect to, and makes her novels come to life with realistic settings and plots. She spent 9 years developing Fugitive Pieces into the multi-award winning novel it is, by incorporating real life stories.
6. Themes that Anne Michaels visits in the novel are grief, finding strength in tough situations, and remembering better times. Throughout the novel, Jakob and characters he meets all deal with grief differently. In Jakob's case, the theme of grief and how he deals with it also includes the other two themes listed. He deals with his grief by remembering the better times when he was with his family, and carries the happy memories of his sister to get him through daily life. He finds strength in small things, such as listening to Athos tell stories. This gives him the strength he needs to continue to try to live the best life possible in the circumstances that surround him.
7. Anne Michaels writes with a very poetic, narrative style. Authors that come to mind that she reminds me of are of course Shakespeare, for his poetic style of writing, and J.R.R. Tolkien. She reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien simply because he used a very different style of writing from other authors, where his novels were more of a very long, descriptive poem. All three authors use imagery as well, to help give the readers a vivid image of the stories in their heads.
2. Before this book, I had never heard of Anne Michaels. It was only in Grade 11 English that I heard of her, and it was then that we read the excerpt of "Fugitive Pieces". Reading that excerpt made me want more, as it "left me hanging", and the opportunity to read it for this ISU was perfect.
3. Anne Michaels is the author of three highly acclaimed poetry collections: The Weight of Oranges (1986), Miner's Pond (1991), Skin Divers (1999), her first novel, Fugitive Pieces (1996), and her latest novel, The Winter Vault (2009). She was born in Toronto, Canada in 1958. She attended Vaughan Road Academy, then later attended the University of Toronto, where she earned a B.A. degree in English. She has won many awards due to her literature in both poetry writing, and novel writing. Michaels currently resides in Toronto, working on her next novel.
4. As previously stated before, Anne Michaels is the author of several pieces of literature; her highly acclaimed poetry collections: The Weight of Oranges (1986), Miner's Pond (1991), and Skin Divers (1999), as well as her only two novels Fugitive Pieces (1996), and, The Winter Vault (2009).
5. Anne Michaels writes very in depth, and adds a human element to her literature. She always adds elements that the reader can connect to, and makes her novels come to life with realistic settings and plots. She spent 9 years developing Fugitive Pieces into the multi-award winning novel it is, by incorporating real life stories.
6. Themes that Anne Michaels visits in the novel are grief, finding strength in tough situations, and remembering better times. Throughout the novel, Jakob and characters he meets all deal with grief differently. In Jakob's case, the theme of grief and how he deals with it also includes the other two themes listed. He deals with his grief by remembering the better times when he was with his family, and carries the happy memories of his sister to get him through daily life. He finds strength in small things, such as listening to Athos tell stories. This gives him the strength he needs to continue to try to live the best life possible in the circumstances that surround him.
7. Anne Michaels writes with a very poetic, narrative style. Authors that come to mind that she reminds me of are of course Shakespeare, for his poetic style of writing, and J.R.R. Tolkien. She reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien simply because he used a very different style of writing from other authors, where his novels were more of a very long, descriptive poem. All three authors use imagery as well, to help give the readers a vivid image of the stories in their heads.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Book Choice Submission
The title of the Novel I chose is "Fugitive Pieces", by Canadian author Anne Michaels. The date of publication is 1996, and there are 294 pages. It has won countless awards, and has even been made into a film.
I chose this book because of all of the choices there were, this was the most interesting. In Grade 11 English, we read an excerpt from "Fugitive Pieces" in our text book. It seemed intriguing at the time, and now that I have the opportunity to read it, I snatched the opportunity.
So far the book is somewhat confusing, but after I read a couple of passages over, I realized that all I need to do is pay attention to the shifts in time. Once I re-read the "confusing" parts, I understood what was going on in it more, and am now starting to like it much more.
In the first chapter, the narrator, and main character Jakob Beer, re-counts why he's running away. He is a Polish boy, who's family has just been murdered during by the Germans during World War II. He runs during the night, but sleeps during the day. He feels his family's souls inside him, and uses that as incentive to keep going and run from the Nazis to find freedom. As he runs, he meets up with a man named Athos, a Greek man who helps Jakob out of the country, and brings him back to his home in Greece.
The author is influenced by the real life poet Jakob Beer, who survived the Holocaust, and translated posthumous writing from the war (finishing the stories of those who died during the war). Before Beer was struck and killed by a car, he was finishing his memoirs. Anne Michaels took these memoirs, and wrote "Fugitive Pieces", with mostly fact fused with some fiction.
A theme that has been carried out throughout the novel so far is how Jakob relies on his memories of his family to get through the days. He constantly pictures his sister when he gets scared, so he can calm down and feel safe. A theme that also seems to be forming is strength. Jakob and Athos stay strong together to make it through every day, when danger is always lurking.
I have only found one secondary source so far is a short analysis of the book by Colin Stuart (http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=6&edition=&ts=73A7663F312472A1DA78B3D75D5E9793_1286038817375&start=1&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B70911192). He gives a brief summary of the book, and another analysis of the themes and correlations he made throughout the novel. When he says "Throughout the novel, the correlation between humanity and earth is emphasized", it gives me more reason to read more in depth into the novel and re-read passages so I can fully understand the novel better.
"Athos said: "We must carry eachother. If we don't have this, what are we..."' (Fugitive Pieces, Page 14). This spoke to me because it adds to the theme I have found, which is strength. This line occurs when Athos and Jakob arrive in Greece, after Athos rescued Jakob from the impending doom of the Nazis. Athos speaks this to have Jakob feel safe, and know that Athos will look out for him. This starts the strong bond between the two, much like that of a father and son.
I chose this book because of all of the choices there were, this was the most interesting. In Grade 11 English, we read an excerpt from "Fugitive Pieces" in our text book. It seemed intriguing at the time, and now that I have the opportunity to read it, I snatched the opportunity.
So far the book is somewhat confusing, but after I read a couple of passages over, I realized that all I need to do is pay attention to the shifts in time. Once I re-read the "confusing" parts, I understood what was going on in it more, and am now starting to like it much more.
In the first chapter, the narrator, and main character Jakob Beer, re-counts why he's running away. He is a Polish boy, who's family has just been murdered during by the Germans during World War II. He runs during the night, but sleeps during the day. He feels his family's souls inside him, and uses that as incentive to keep going and run from the Nazis to find freedom. As he runs, he meets up with a man named Athos, a Greek man who helps Jakob out of the country, and brings him back to his home in Greece.
The author is influenced by the real life poet Jakob Beer, who survived the Holocaust, and translated posthumous writing from the war (finishing the stories of those who died during the war). Before Beer was struck and killed by a car, he was finishing his memoirs. Anne Michaels took these memoirs, and wrote "Fugitive Pieces", with mostly fact fused with some fiction.
A theme that has been carried out throughout the novel so far is how Jakob relies on his memories of his family to get through the days. He constantly pictures his sister when he gets scared, so he can calm down and feel safe. A theme that also seems to be forming is strength. Jakob and Athos stay strong together to make it through every day, when danger is always lurking.
I have only found one secondary source so far is a short analysis of the book by Colin Stuart (http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=6&edition=&ts=73A7663F312472A1DA78B3D75D5E9793_1286038817375&start=1&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B70911192). He gives a brief summary of the book, and another analysis of the themes and correlations he made throughout the novel. When he says "Throughout the novel, the correlation between humanity and earth is emphasized", it gives me more reason to read more in depth into the novel and re-read passages so I can fully understand the novel better.
"Athos said: "We must carry eachother. If we don't have this, what are we..."' (Fugitive Pieces, Page 14). This spoke to me because it adds to the theme I have found, which is strength. This line occurs when Athos and Jakob arrive in Greece, after Athos rescued Jakob from the impending doom of the Nazis. Athos speaks this to have Jakob feel safe, and know that Athos will look out for him. This starts the strong bond between the two, much like that of a father and son.
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