May 2022 Book Choice
Apeirogon by Colum McCann
This novel brought out many different emotions from the group. The book is based on a true story of a friendship of two men – an Israeli and a Palestinian – who were brought up to hate each other’s race but who were united by the grief of the killing of their daughters in the Israel / Palestine conflict by the opposite side. It shows how the two men are now journeying together, because of their grief, and striving to find the road to a peaceful future.
The book has a large number of stories weaving through it and describes the limitations under which both sides live daily, both emotionally and physically. It is written in 1001 chapters; some are only one single sentence long and some of the group felt it took a while to get used to this fragmented structure. The group’s opinion was divided about the book itself, with some members describing it as beautifully written, very creative and a wondrous read which had them thinking deeply about all aspects of it. Other members, whilst acknowledging the skill of the author in his writing and research, felt it was a very harrowing and difficult book to read and that some of descriptions were given in graphic detail.
It is a hard hitting and powerfully written book and the group were divided in recommending it; some recommended it very highly and others recommended it only to those people who had done some research before starting it. The groups average score for the book was 7.