Book Short
‘Apeirogon’
by Colum McCann
By Stephanie Miller
To understand the macro story, you must hear the micro stories.
Apeirogon, by award winning author Colum McCann, focuses on the true story of two fathers of two dead girls, one Israeli and one Palestinean, both “collateral damage” in the unrelenting conflict that haunts daily living in Jerusalem. Telling the story of their grief is what both fathers do. Side by side they travel the country sharing their heartbreak and suggesting a radical notion: If both sides lay down their arms and talk, just talk and listen, then mutually agreeable peace can be found.
McCann richly weaves their stories with more stories – one thousand and one to be precise. The title, Apeirogon – a shape with a countably infinite number of sides – lends the book a construct. Some of the “chapters” are one sentence, some go on for a dozen pages. Some are just pictures. They span centuries, fiction, and truth.
The stories are strange and bewildering, as if you are glimpsing shadows out the window of a fast-moving car. Yet, they resonate. You consider a different perspective. The 1,001 stories slow the novel down, and that is a good thing. The point is there – just in front of us, so logical and poignant it’s almost painful, but constantly out of reach. Sort of like peace in the Middle East.
The stories talk about the daughters – celebrating their smiles, their mischievousness, how they loved their fathers, and were loved in return. Plenty are about torture – both during the Holocaust and in modern jails. Some explain how living under the constant threat of rebel bombings will warp your patriotism and sense of humanity. Others show how growing up without rights in your ancestral land might encourage you to fight back, with stones if you have nothing else. Some show the beauty of a dinner table with all your children home, whole, and happy.
Many involve birds – in flight, stalking prey, held captive, and used as symbols by religious and political leaders. Flight – a form of escape, a leveraging of the natural currents, a sense of control over your destiny – is a useful metaphor here.
There are stories about: Controlling a populous by restricting access to water. The sound of waves on a beach. Frustration at not being able to take your children to a beach due to harassment at checkpoints. The tragic death of a 19th century Dead Sea explorer. How soldiers are trained to follow orders – even to do monstrous acts. Parents sharing grief.
The result is a relentless drip, drip, drip of pain, fear, anguish, anger, as well as, somewhat miraculously, love, understanding, and friendship. In this, we receive the answer – a path to peace – from a story with a thousand sides.
Micro-shorts
‘Beneficence,’ by Meredith Hall (a Maine author!)
Aptly told in a triptych – before, during, after – this is the story of a family torn apart by tragedy trying to piece themselves together again. In a small town, on a remote Maine farm, the parents both try to escape their grief and guilt – one through infidelity, the other through invisibility. Finally, love, patience, and their children’s ragged and painful coming of age help the family find a kind of healing peace together.
‘Black Cloud Rising,’ by David Wright Falade.
A novelization of the true story that is mostly a footnote in the Civil War history, but a significant example of the contribution by Black soldiers – many ex-slaves – to the Union cause. It’s both a personal story of one officer’s struggle to lead without deference to the prejudice of his White father (and former master), and a collective story of the doubly dangerous duty Black soldiers undertook. They were enemies of the Confederates and viewed as enemies of many of the people they vowed to protect.
Bayside resident Stephanie Miller is a voracious reader and bibliophile. She spends a lot of time lost in the stacks of bookstores and libraries. Find her online @StephanieSAM
