Apeirogon by Colum McCann
Apeirogon by Colum McCann was read by the Suffolk library reading group in April 2021.
It tells the story of 2 real life fathers, brought together by the conflict in the Middle East, both suffered the loss of a child but one is Israeli and the other Palestinian. Rami Elhanan, Jewish, was a graphic designer. His daughter Smadar was killed by a suicide bomber in 1997. Bassam Aramin, Palestinian, a past political prisoner became a Peace studies scholar. His daughter Abir was killed by a plastic bullet in 2007. They were brought together in their loss through the Parent’s Circle organisation. They do talks about their loss and the conflict in Israel. McCann summed up Bassam – “His story was his duty and his curse”. He tells it for them in this book.
The reading group enjoyed Apeirogon. They found the telling of this Israeli/Palestinian story ‘mind-blowing’ and ‘culturally fascinating’. It was a heavy and detailed read with a mixed layout of chapters and detailed facts. There were shocking imagines of death set against the normality of everyday life. The characters were very well written with ‘fantastic angular and complex relationships’. The friendship between the 2 men and their families; and how they dealt with their terrible losses together kept me reading. It brought discussion about the conflict here in Northern Ireland and how the two compared. Very thought provoking - More so because the book was based on fact and these were real people with real stories.
Submitted by Tinya for Suffolk library reading group
