6/20/2023 0 Comments Engel patricia![]() ![]() But these ideas aren't abstractions, and Engel's characters aren't flat. Its fragmented, summary-focused form clearly prioritizes ideas - how do we define home? Family? Safety? - above all else. To be clear, Infinite Country is not meant to center on character. This is an unusual choice, and an impressive one. Engel sometimes lingers in her characters' inner lives, but only Talia gets a scenic outer one. Infinite Country relies more on detailed narrative summary than on conventional scenes. ![]() Engel packs a lot of event and emotion into a slim novel. In swift chapters that bounce between characters and chronologies, Engel moves from Talia's parents' courtship to their emigration to their forced split, and traces their fight afterwards to survive as individuals, and as a family. Infinite Country is less concerned with Talia's quest to reunite with her family, though, than with the choices and circumstances - and cruel immigration policies - that led to their initial separation. ![]()
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