lokroma reviewed Held by Anne Michaels
Review of 'Held' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Anne Michaels knows how to write but not how to tell a story. I finished the book because I loved reading the stunning, poetic imagery; but I was utterly unable to keep track of the characters or plot in this choppy multi-generational mishmash. The book goes back and forth in time and place without transitions, starting with an injured WWI soldier. The passages are separated by large spaces and often it's unclear how they relate to the story:
"The thin pale cotton of Helena's nightgown, worn sheer wih sleep; the faint shadow of her bare legs.
The young soldier, not more than two arm lengths away, continued to watch him without speaking.
The shadow of the bird's folding and unfolding, like a silk scarf in the wind, wings against the sky like the turning of a page inside out, a message passing between them."
It was a bit like reading …
Anne Michaels knows how to write but not how to tell a story. I finished the book because I loved reading the stunning, poetic imagery; but I was utterly unable to keep track of the characters or plot in this choppy multi-generational mishmash. The book goes back and forth in time and place without transitions, starting with an injured WWI soldier. The passages are separated by large spaces and often it's unclear how they relate to the story:
"The thin pale cotton of Helena's nightgown, worn sheer wih sleep; the faint shadow of her bare legs.
The young soldier, not more than two arm lengths away, continued to watch him without speaking.
The shadow of the bird's folding and unfolding, like a silk scarf in the wind, wings against the sky like the turning of a page inside out, a message passing between them."
It was a bit like reading a book of epigraphs. Michaels seems to be looking at the instersection of the mystical and the scientific, but I'm not really sure since she focuses so heavily on images at the expense of plot. I became impatient with the book toward the end when a couple of new characters were introduced and I had no idea which of the earlier characters they were related to. Her writing is exceptional though, and she has written a lot of poetry. Perhaps she should stick to that.