Apeirogon: A Novel - Colum McCann

This is such a tough book for me to review! On paper it is exactly the type of novel I devour, and it is absolutely beautifully written, but there were times when my mind drifted off, and as much as I wanted to push myself to pick it back up again it was sometimes a struggle. I am glad I did though, because Apeirogon: A Novel is a very special book.

An apeirogon is a shape with a countable infinite number of sides, and this novel is exactly that: a story within a bigger story within a bigger story, a collection of stories woven together into one. A story with infinite sides. 

The author weaves many stories together, all based on true events and/or true stories. The book is divided into many very short vignettes and don’t really follow a specific timeline - there will be a few words on bird migration paths over Israel and Palestine, and then a narration of Mitterand’s last meal, followed by information on how one of the main characters, Rami, navigates the no mans land roads on his motorbike, and so on. The main thread of the novel revolves around Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin. They are real people, and what they live through is real, born on different sides of a border that was arbitrarily decided and moved, but brought together by the loss of a child, losses created by this conflict that never ends. Rami’s daughter Smadar was killed by suicide bombers in Jerusalem, Basser’s daughter, Abir, is killed by an Israeli soldier who shot a rubber bullet into the back of her head in the West Bank. Both men are part of the peace group Combatants for Peace. Both men use their experience to fight for an end to the ongoing hatred and death. 

As much as I was pulled to continue reading, and to finish the novel, and as much as the stories made my heart break (both because of how heartbreaking they are and because of my own experience living in Israel during the second Intifada), I still had trouble getting through the book. It is a colossal piece of work, a beautiful patchwork of a book, but sometimes I found my mind wavering elsewhere, and there were times when I just wanted to put it down and read something else. I think that maybe this is because of the way the book was written, because while everything comes together, it often feels like you are pulled in so many directions that you can never pin one down long enough to explore it completely. 

So this one was really hard for me to rate! I can’t rate lower than four stars because of how complex and interesting and important the story is. I think I may have found it easier to read in print rather than as an ebook, as there are fewer distractions that way. That said, I highly recommend this book to everyone, as it’s such an interesting conceptual novel, and an important collection of history and current events that help explain parts of the conflict that we don’t often hear about in regular news. 

I do feel that this book should come with a trigger warning though. There are very detailed and graphic descriptions of violent deaths, of what ZAKA do after a terrorist attack in Israel, etc, and while I personally think it’s important for everyone to understand these things, if you have lived in Israel/Palestine (or another country in conflict) and have witnessed anything like this it may not be for you. You never forget the sound of a bomb being detonated, nor the sounds of sirens that follow. 

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.