The image above is Idhra, Greece, and to the right is a photo of the reconstructed site of Biskupin, Poland: similar to our Barkerville.
Having read Fugitive Pieces, I am rather dissappointed with the last third of the book concerning the way it was structured. I was moving right along until page 201 when I had to ask myself; " Who is this and where am I?" Reflecting back, I now see the rest of the book from p.201 on, as a separate novel that refers back to the first section before page 201. Even though I believe I now understand why the author did this, I also at the same time believe it could have been done in such a way that the reader did not feel so lost at this point in the book. Of course, the author could have and probably did want the reader to feel lost at this point to emphasize how it must have felt for Jacob or Ben or one the other characters to feel, but for me the feeling of not knowing what was going on totally blinded any insights I might have had as to having felt as the characters did.
Having said that, I realize that in our society we have been raised to expect our stories (in whatever form) to end in certain ways and usually with happy and positive or "resolved" endings, and in real life, stories do not always end that way. Fugitive Pieces does not end this way, so one could argue that it portrays more of a realistic look at what effects war can have on people - even penetrating through different generations. Though the character Jacob does appear to reach some acceptable (to himself) level of healing with help from Michaela, the character of Ben, whose parents were directly involved in the war, does not. Ben seems to be confused about the women in his life and Jacobs life as he leaves Naomi and then is not faithful to her when he sleeps with Petra, who interestingly enough reminded me of the description of Jacob's sister Bella. It also looked as though Ben thought he needed to find love in Greece in order to help him find Jacob's books, and it was because of Petra that he did find the journals - what was the author trying to say with that? I felt I was diving too deep and I had to come up for air.
Fugitive Pieces was an interesting read and for an overall theme I felt the author was trying to express her belief that war doesn't just mess up the lies of those involved, but also can mess up the lives of future generations. I believe the "entering of the fog" beginning on page 201 was done on purpose as the author believed the story was following too much of a path towards a traditional ending and she wanted to steer away from that. By sending the reader into "the fog" and then not revealing how Jacob and Michaela never made it back to the house, and ending with Ben's issues not resolved; forces the reader to focus on the message of the novel: the evil resulting from war can persevere for generations.
3 comments:
Great discussion, Jim! And wonderful photos - I really like how you find these visual representations for the novels that we are looking at. I think that you are right about Fugitive Pieces in that it does require us to dive too deeply, and then we feel like we need to come up for air. This is a book that makes us think, all the way through.
Your criticism of the last one third of the book is a common one - that piece of the book does feel disjointed. Interestingly, the more often I read the novel, the more that I think this is okay, perhaps necessary even. The structure certainly doesn't let us slide into any sort of complacency as we sort out our thoughts. I suppose that whether or not this structure works for us as readers really depends on the reader - the jury is out, and we will not agree:) Perhpas, in the end, I have been seduced by the book after all.
I am so glad that you noticed the similarities in the descriptions of Bella and Petra! I noticed the same thing too...isn't that fascinating?
I also felt that Ben was soo much like Jakob, so, what is Michaels trying to say with this?
Maybe in her own way, she has reincarnated Jakob and Bella in order to finally bring them together at some point...
i'd like to think not...since they have sex...but who knows?
you're right jim - you said:
"in our society we have been raised to expect our stories...to end end in certain ways and usually with happy and positive or 'resolved' endings."
I have been struggling with this in ALL the novels in this course. Actually, it's been a struggle with ALL the novels that I've had to read for Blanca!!! And yes, life is not all cut-and-dried with happily ever afters. For me, it's the romantic side of my personality that LOVES to see the happily ever afters. I get all warm and fuzzy inside and think "good, at least someone somewhere has a good life" even though i'm watching or reading a piece of fiction. :-)
I agree with your statement that the author was perhaps trying to say that war affects future generations as well. We sometimes get caught up in the stories of people who have suffered horrendously in war. We forget that it doesn't end there - it does affect future generations and Ben is a perfect example.
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