A Palestinian, studying the Holocaust.” The men are united in their grief – they lost their daughters: Smadar, turned into “a scattered human jigsaw” at the age of 13 by a suicide bomber, and Abir, assassinated aged 10 by a trigger-happy member of the Israeli army. In 2009, he published the wildly successful Let the Great World Spin, which won a National Book award and the Impac prize and was translated into 40 languages.Īpeirogon takes its inspiration from the real-life friendship between a Palestinian, Bassam Aramin, and an Israeli, Rami Elhanan: “An Israeli, against the occupation. You don’t read Apeirogon so much as feel it – the particular tragedies are lived out in an ever-present moment of loss Is it absurd to suggest that a novel might succeed where generations of politicians have failed? Perhaps, but then Apeirogon is the kind of book that comes along only once in a generation. But perhaps that’s the point – the desperation of the situation has brought forth a work of art whose beauty, intelligence and compassion may go some way to changing things. Now each side has retreated into belligerent isolation, with Donald Trump gleefully fanning the flames of discord. In the optimistic 90s we had the Oslo Accords and a real sense that some solution to the conflict could be found through diplomatic channels. It feels as if the situation in the Middle East is always a reflection of its age. It’s a strange time for a novel as full-hearted as Apeirogon.
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