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Robin's Reviews > Held
Held
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by
Celebrated Canadian poet and novelist Anne Michaels has somehow only just now found her way to my reading list. Held is a much anticipated novel for her readers, with more than a decade's time wedged between each of her novels.
The novel's form is fragmentary, and from the first it's clear the author is a poet. The lyrical prose is a pleasure, the fragments, though often short, are deeply thoughtful, and create a certain text density. The reader, despite all the space on the page, slows down to absorb what is being communicated.
This book will appeal to those who enjoy an immersion in ideas, and thematic explorations. This novel returns to the ideas of memory, love, the mystery of life, and science, to name a few. Likely it would be best read more than once, in order to really absorb all that's here.
The scope is wide; the novel follows generations of people, some of whose connections we can piece together, some, not so much. The form may be challenging in this respect. There is also the appearance of Marie Curie as a character, which I thought was a strange choice (not thematically, because she checks those boxes, I mean in terms of her being a known historical person in a dreamy tapestry of fictional characters) although perhaps I'm an outlier in that regard.
I have a great deal of admiration for Michaels' work. I'm not surprised that this would have taken years to create. My own preference, however, is for a less "idea driven" novel. As a reader, I am most excited by characters, not the authorial voice, which is quite strong here. One reviewer mentioned that sometimes Michaels' observations can be aphoristic, and that he prefers her more concrete writing, and that struck a chord for me.
That said, this is fine, artful work, and will delight and move many on a deep level.
3.5 stars (rounded up... always round up...)
The novel's form is fragmentary, and from the first it's clear the author is a poet. The lyrical prose is a pleasure, the fragments, though often short, are deeply thoughtful, and create a certain text density. The reader, despite all the space on the page, slows down to absorb what is being communicated.
This book will appeal to those who enjoy an immersion in ideas, and thematic explorations. This novel returns to the ideas of memory, love, the mystery of life, and science, to name a few. Likely it would be best read more than once, in order to really absorb all that's here.
The scope is wide; the novel follows generations of people, some of whose connections we can piece together, some, not so much. The form may be challenging in this respect. There is also the appearance of Marie Curie as a character, which I thought was a strange choice (not thematically, because she checks those boxes, I mean in terms of her being a known historical person in a dreamy tapestry of fictional characters) although perhaps I'm an outlier in that regard.
I have a great deal of admiration for Michaels' work. I'm not surprised that this would have taken years to create. My own preference, however, is for a less "idea driven" novel. As a reader, I am most excited by characters, not the authorial voice, which is quite strong here. One reviewer mentioned that sometimes Michaels' observations can be aphoristic, and that he prefers her more concrete writing, and that struck a chord for me.
That said, this is fine, artful work, and will delight and move many on a deep level.
3.5 stars (rounded up... always round up...)
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Julie wrote: "Ahhh. The name was familiar to me, but I wasn't sure why. I see now that this is the author of Fugitive Pieces. Have you read any of her poetry?"
Hi Julie! It's always great when you stop by one of my reviews.
I haven't read her poetry - this is the first time I've read any of her work. Have you read Fugitive Pieces or anything else she's written?
I just finished this myself. I felt much the same as you, but my review was not as eloquent. I agree, it needs more than one reading. Keeping up with the relationships and timelines was not an easy task.
Robin,I have not, but you know how I feel about poetry! If anyone who reads this comment is familiar with her poems and recommends a particular collection, please let me know.
xoxo
Diane wrote: "I just finished this myself. I felt much the same as you, but my review was not as eloquent. I agree, it needs more than one reading. Keeping up with the relationships and timelines was not an easy task."It's fun when our reading overlaps, Diane! I agree, it was difficult to figure out the relationships and the historical context at times. I'm discussing this with a group and some readers have identified characters as based on known persons (such as composer Arvo Pärt and photographer Eugène Atget) which has really added another layer of dimensionality for me.
Julie wrote: "Robin,I have not, but you know how I feel about poetry! If anyone who reads this comment is familiar with her poems and recommends a particular collection, please let me know.
xoxo"
Julie, I hope you let me know if you end up reading some of her poetry. Or maybe you might consider reading this novel as it's a poetic creation in many ways.
I usually like novels with a lot of space that require a slow read, but not so much ones of ideas. And I seem to have read a string of them lately. That said, I love the way this is written, Robin, and I can see a new word in our future, texdensity—kind of has a nice ring to it, no? ;)
Jennifer wrote: "I usually like novels with a lot of space that require a slow read, but not so much ones of ideas. And I seem to have read a string of them lately. That said, I love the way this is written, Robin, and I can see a new word in our future, texdensity—kind of has a nice ring to it, no? ;)"Oh, I think you've coined a new term, Jennifer. I like it!
Have you read any of her poetry?