Fionnáin reviewed Apeirogon by Colum McCann
One side less than infinity
5 stars
Colum McCann took on a near impossible task here: Apeirogon is at least oral history, contemporary fiction, social history, protest, politics, polemic and philosophy. It is written in 1,001 short pieces, in homage to the Arabian Nights' 1,001 stories, which is also referenced throughout. The central story is that of two real-life people that McCann spent a long time with in Israel and Palestine: Bassam and Rami, best friends from the two places who both lost daughters and became members of the pacifist group 'Combatants for Peace'.
While this is their story, beautifully told, it also weaves and winds in moments of international politics and social theory. Some are broadly fictionalised, some historical accounts, some documentation.
An apeirogon is a shape with countably infinite sides, a perfect symbol of an unfathomably complex story. I cried several times at the heartbreaking loss of both fathers, and what their inner peace cost …
Colum McCann took on a near impossible task here: Apeirogon is at least oral history, contemporary fiction, social history, protest, politics, polemic and philosophy. It is written in 1,001 short pieces, in homage to the Arabian Nights' 1,001 stories, which is also referenced throughout. The central story is that of two real-life people that McCann spent a long time with in Israel and Palestine: Bassam and Rami, best friends from the two places who both lost daughters and became members of the pacifist group 'Combatants for Peace'.
While this is their story, beautifully told, it also weaves and winds in moments of international politics and social theory. Some are broadly fictionalised, some historical accounts, some documentation.
An apeirogon is a shape with countably infinite sides, a perfect symbol of an unfathomably complex story. I cried several times at the heartbreaking loss of both fathers, and what their inner peace cost them. I learned more than I expected in a work of fiction. And although there are flawed moments in such an ambitious project, they do not spoil the wonder that this book is.