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A review by marthaguymaid
Apeirogon by Colum McCann
Did not finish book.
Let's be clear: this is not fiction and it's not a novel. Apeirogon is more a collection of facts about the death of two girls, the reaction of their fathers plus a host of other non-fiction snips about bird migratory patterns, Japanese nuclear bombings, tightrope walking, the invasion of Palestine ... the list goes on. It's like a scrapbook or a drawer full of ephemera. Some reviews promise that McCann brings all these hundreds of threads together at the end; I find that hard to believe but I'll never know.
The book is divided into around 1500 'chapters'. Some are several pages, some a sentence, some a blank space or a photo. I stopped at chapter 408 - almost halfway in terms of pages. I only persisted for that long because I fell into the trap that this is an important and worthy story, that readers are somehow lesser if they don't read this book (less intelligent, less humane, less tolerant, less interested in social justice).
It is a story the world should know and there are some moments of true emotional impact but ultimately, this book is a vanity exercise. The author has put literary tricks ahead of the reader. The structure obscures the story. There's none of the magic of fiction that will draw a reader in and carry them along, convince them to care about people they don't know.
Cut out the middle man and read/watch some of the many articles and interviews with Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin instead. They're the real story.
The book is divided into around 1500 'chapters'. Some are several pages, some a sentence, some a blank space or a photo. I stopped at chapter 408 - almost halfway in terms of pages. I only persisted for that long because I fell into the trap that this is an important and worthy story, that readers are somehow lesser if they don't read this book (less intelligent, less humane, less tolerant, less interested in social justice).
It is a story the world should know and there are some moments of true emotional impact but ultimately, this book is a vanity exercise. The author has put literary tricks ahead of the reader. The structure obscures the story. There's none of the magic of fiction that will draw a reader in and carry them along, convince them to care about people they don't know.
Cut out the middle man and read/watch some of the many articles and interviews with Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin instead. They're the real story.