Havurah Shalom

Author: Colum McCann
Fiction/496 pages

Bassam is a Palestinian Muslim who was imprisoned by Israeli officials for seven years. Rami is a Jewish man who was born in Israel and married into a well-heeled family that has some social capital in Israeli politics. They inhabit a world of conflict that colors every aspect of their lives, from the roads they are allowed to drive on to the schools their children attend to the checkpoints, both physical and emotional, they must negotiate.

But their lives, however circumscribed, are upended one after the other: first, Rami’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Smadar, becomes the victim of suicide bombers; a decade later, Bassam’s ten-year-old daughter, Abir, is killed by a rubber bullet from an Israeli soldier. She is taken to a hospital. The doctors feel she can survive if she is transferred to a better hospital. Due to the roadblocks, traffic, and bureaucracy, her ambulance is delayed for over an hour. She arrives at the new hospital where she dies not long after.

Rami and Bassam had been raised to hate one another. And yet, when they learn of each other’s stories, they recognize the loss that connects them. The two men come together, across the animosity and violence of their respective home nations, over a shared desire to spread a message of education, understanding, and the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Together they attempt to use their grief as a weapon for peace. These two men travel the world calling for the end of the Occupation and the fighting between Israel and Palestine. Their one small act starts to permeate what has seemed an impermeable conflict for generations.

Colum McCann met Bassam and Rami on a trip with their non-profit organization, Narrative 4. McCann was moved by their willingness to share their stories with the world, by their hope that if they could see themselves in one another, perhaps others could too. With their blessing, and unprecedented access to their families, lives, and personal recollections, McCann began to craft Apeirogon.

It is worth noting that an apeirogon is an infinitely sided object. It may seem an odd title for the book. McCann uses historical records and interviews to reconstruct the story of the two men, their lives, and the lives of their family, which is the central story. McCann also includes many relevant historical events, anecdotes, quotes, and myths. There are numerous references to literature, cinema, and philosophy. He emphasizes the interconnection of everything and everyone. Something that seems to have two sides—the continual fighting between Israel and Palestine—is complex and infinitely-sided.

Ultimately, Apeirogon is a timely novel about war, violence, grief, forgiveness, and the human connection between everyone despite our differences. The novel expands to cross centuries and continents, stitching together time, art, history, nature, and politics in a tale both heartbreaking and hopeful. The novel received positive reviews and was longlisted for the Booker prize in 2020

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