Apeirogon
a novel about Israel, Palestine and shared grief, nominated for the 2020 Booker Prize
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4.3 • 12 Ratings
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIX FEMINA AND THE PRIX MEDICIS
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSBORO BOOKS GLASS BELL AWARD
WINNER OF THE PRIX DU MEILLEUR LIVRES ETRANGER
WINNER OF THE 2020 NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS
CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF 2020 BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER, GUARDIAN, i PAPER, FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, SCOTSMAN, IRISH TIMES, BBC.COM, WATERSTONES.COM
'A wondrous book. It left me hopeful; this is its gift' Elizabeth Strout
'An empathy engine ... It is, itself, an agent of change' New York Times Book Review
'A quite extraordinary novel' Kamila Shamsie
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How do we continue living once we have lost our reason to live?
Rami and Bassam live in the city of Jerusalem – but exist worlds apart, divided by an age-old conflict. And yet they have one thing in common. Both are fathers; both are fathers of daughters – and both daughters are now lost.
When Rami and Bassam meet, and tell one another the story of their grief, the most unexpected thing of all happens: they become best of friends. And their stories become one story, a story with the power to heal – and the power to change the world.
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'The book goes anywhere and everywhere. It is a delirious and thrilling improvisation, a jazz solo spun out of that meeting … A spectacular structure of stories about everything' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times
Customer Reviews
Such an irritating book - over-hyped
I can’t help feeling that this book has been praised simply because it tries to use a different format from the tried and tested chapter by chapter one. 500 chapters up, one in the middle (1001) and 500 chapters down to 1 again. Some are a single line, some a photograph. It irritated me (and my reading companion) far more than it entranced.
On the plus side, I learned a lot more about the situation in Palestine, and it certainly (negatively) influenced my opinion of the Israeli nation’s attitude to Palestinians and the strictures imposed on them in a land they had thought of as their own. You can see where the author is coming from.
So, no, not recommended. Ignore the professional reviewers; they wouldn’t spot a good read if it came up and hit them in the face with a brick.