'An apeirogon is a shape with a countable infinite number of sides. There is no one viewpoint. But this does not mean an anything-goes relativist stance.' Photo: Apeirogon book cover.
Apeirogon: A novel by Colum McCann
Author: Colum McCann. Review by Harvey Gillman
This book moved me in a way that few novels have ever done. I could only read a few pages at a time, so powerful was the effect on me. I was often close to tears.
Apeirogon is based on the experience of real people in actual circumstances. Rami is an Israeli whose daughter was killed by a suicide bomber. Bassam’s daughter Abir was shot by Israeli border police. Both had been brought up to consider ‘the other side’ as less than human; both were transformed by an encounter with the suffering of their so-called enemies. One life was changed by the sight of a Palestinian mother carrying a photo of her murdered child. The latter was changed by seeing a TV programme about the Holocaust. A deep friendship ensues, strengthened when Abir is killed. Their lives and words became a witness for peace and humanity.
An apeirogon is a shape with a countable infinite number of sides. There is no one viewpoint. But this does not mean an anything-goes relativist stance. The book is shot through with compassion, as all the characters are seen as victims and activists, understandable in the light of the circumstances of their lives, but also as moral agents. It is comprised of 1,001 short chapters, referencing One Thousand and One Nights. Some chapters have one line, some are empty spaces. It is not linear and space and time are abolished. It reminded me of a kaleidoscope, constantly shifting, small observations, histories and details all echoing the larger themes – like music with theme and variations. The writing is astonishing in its beauty and its pathos.
At the centre of the book we hear talks given by Rami and Bassam. Rami speaks of the Arabs around him as he saw and objectified them as a younger man: ‘And if they were ever anything other than objects, they were objects to be feared, because, if you didn’t fear them then they would become real people. And we didn’t want them to be real people, we couldn’t handle that.’ Bassam reflects: ‘My enemy was that: my enemy. He could have no pain, he could have no feelings.’ Then he watched a Holocaust film and his life was changed. ‘Once I thought we could never solve our conflict… we would continue hating each other forever, but it is not written anywhere that we have to go on killing each other. The hero makes a friend of his enemy… When they killed my daughter, they killed my fear. I have no fear. I can do anything now.’
This is the core of the novel, but gives little idea of its vast range of references. It is a landscape traversed by eccentrics, poets, explorers, a high wire walker, seekers all against all odds. I could feel, smell, almost touch the landscape described. As a novel it is revolutionary, being a reconstruction of real events, told with poetic intensity, where the most disparate events reflect in many differing ways eternal questions of grief, death, compassion, and solidarity.
Comments
The book was powerfully serialised on Radio 4 back in March (no longer available).
How fascinating to hear of the written style reflecting the complexity of the multifaceted story and characters.
Thanks, Harvey.
By helengamsa on 14th August 2020 - 15:21
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