The Economist 14Mar2020

68 Books & arts The EconomistMarch 14th 2020

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olum mccann’s newnovelrefers at

onepointtothe“JerusalemSyndrome”:

themessianicdelusionsthat“proximityto

theholyplaces”caninduceinpilgrimsto

thecity.Foreignwritersandartistsoften

displaytheirownversionofthismania.It

consistsinorderingthedividedpeoplesof

theHolyLandtorecognisehowmuchthey

haveincommon(inhistory,heritage,cul-

ture,evengenetics)andinstructingthem

toliveinpeace.

Irish-born but long resident in New

York,MrMcCannknowseverypitfallthat

awaits the moralising traveller keen to

swelltheregion’s“corny”and“trite”rhet-

oric“ofjustice,ofkinship,ofreconcilia-

tion”.Fromitsmysterioustitleonwards,

theobliquestorytellingof“Apeirogon”,his

seventhnovel,shunstheconventionsof

thehigh-mindedoutsider’sreportage.Yet,

forallhissophisticated artistry,theau-

thorityofthisworkoffictionrestsulti-

matelyonitstruth.

MrMcCanndidnotinventtheentwined

destiniesofBassamAraminandRamiEl-

hanan.Rather,theirreal,conjoinedlives

inspiredthis“hybridnovel”,whichweaves

documentary and imagination into its

toughlylyrical fabric. Both bereavedfa-

thers,thepairoffriendsdecidedthat“the

onlyrevengeismakingpeace”.Broughtup

inHebron,MrAraminwasa Fatahmilitant

whoservedsevenyearsinjailbutsoonset

out“topithimselfagainsttheignoranceof

violence,includinghisown”.In 2007 anIs-

raelisoldierkilledhisten-year-olddaugh-

terAbirwitha rubberbulletasshebought

sweetsintheWestBanktownofAnata.

MrElhananisanIsraeliwhosefather,a

Holocaustsurvivor,immigratedfromHun-

gary,butwhosemother’sfamilyhadlived

inJerusalemforsixgenerations. Hamas

terroristskilled his13-year-old daughter

Smadarin 1997 ina suicide-bombattackon

thecity’sBenYehudaStreet.Buthepro-

gressed from viewing Palestinians as

threatsfrom“thedarksideofthemoon”to

acknowledging“theequalityofpain”.First

in Combatants for Peace (Mr Elhanan

foughtinthreeofIsrael’swars),theninthe

Parents Circle that brings together be-

reavedfamiliesfrombothsides,theduo

havesoughtthroughtheiractivismtore-

placetheclearlinesofenmitywith“the

tangleofknowingeachother”.

Journalistsandfilm-makershavetold

theirstorybefore.MrMcCann,too,co-op-

erated closely with the friends. “Apeiro-

gon”, though, wraps the facts of their jour-

neys, and their griefs, into an elliptical and

fragmentary narrative. It situates their

quest for hope within the art and landscape

of Israel-Palestine and the “smashed jig-

saw” of rival histories. “Geography here is

everything,”MrMcCannwrites.Hismo-

saic of 1,001 colourful, enigmatic para-

graphsrangeacrossthesceneryofa mili-

taryoccupationthatstiflestheWestBank

like“therimofa tighteninglung”and,for

Palestinians,“deprivesyouoftomorrow”.

Thereaderglimpsesthemen’szigzag

routethroughlossintopeacemakingvia

vivid,jaggedtesseraeofprose.Meanwhile,

imagesofflight,fluxandmovement—in-

volvingmigratorybirds,watercourses,art-

works,even weaponiseddrones—offera

hawk’s, or dove’s, eye view of the seething

cauldron that the novelised Mr Elhanan

calls a “condensed everywhere”.

An “apeirogon”, the geometric term that

becomes Mr McCann’s key metaphor, is a

shape “with a countably infinite number of

sides”. The patchwork pattern of this novel

matchesthepolyhedralcomplexityofthe

pastsitevokes.With“onestorybecoming

another”,“Apeirogon”insistson“thesheer

simultaneityofallthings”.Theresultsare

frequentlybeautiful,sometimesbaffling.

Theimageryoftendazzles,butplainerpas-

sagesthatinhabitthemen’smindsasthey

wrestleagainstrageandbitternesstowards

an“ethicofreciprocity”havethegreatest

emotionalpower.Atthecoreofthisfractal

fictionisa simple,radiantmyth:“Thehero

makesa friendofhisenemy.” 7

Fiction of reality

Brothers in arms

Apeirogon.By Colum McCann. Random

House; 480 pages; $28. Bloomsbury; £18.99

T

heblastsflungdebrisintotheskyand

ruckedthesea-floorlikea rug.Theflash

fromthelargest—which,at 15 megatons,

was1,000timesstrongerthanthedetona-

tionthatflattenedHiroshima—wasvisible

inOkinawa,2,600milesaway.Radiation

fromitsfalloutwasdetectedincattlein

Tennessee.Theatomic-bombtestsonthe

Marshall Islands from1946-58 were an

awesomedisplayofAmericanmight,and

ofmankind’spowertoreshapetheworld.

Their effects lingered long after the

mushroomcloudsdispersed.Ratesofcan-

cersoaredamongislandersdownwindof

thefallout.Therewere stillbirths and “jel-

lyfish babies” (children born without

bones,andskinsotranslucent their hearts

couldbeseenflickering within). Yet, as Da-

vidFarrierreportsin his thoughtful book,

thefullimpactofthis “carnival of atomic

energy”cannotyetbe known. The half-life

oftheplutonium-239 released in nuclear

reactionsis24,100years—several times the

lengthofrecordedhistory. In fact, Mr Farri-

erwrites,thoseblasts will constitute one of

humanity’smostenduring signatures, leg-

ible“atbothpolesand on every continent,

inlake sedimentsand ice cores, in tree

ringsandlivingtissues”.

In“Footprints”he asks what material

traces, or“futurefossils”, will remain of

whatissometimesknown as the Anthro-

pocene,theepochin which people have

heldswayovertheenvironment. His ex-

plorationstakehimfrom Shanghai, a me-

gacityof24mpeople, to the tomb-like hush

ofa laboratoryinTasmania that analyses

Antarcticice.Heranges from the deep past

tothefardistantfuture to tell the story of

humankind’slasting imprint.

Despiteitssobering theme, Mr Farrier’s

proseglitters.Hisjourney takes in marvels.

He meetsapoetwho aspires to encode

verseintothednaof Deinococcus radiodu-

rans, a hardybacterium that is nearly un-

killable; inscribingits genome is an at-

tempt“nottopreserve information but to

Future histories

Fragments and ruins

Footprints:InSearch of Future Fossils.By

DavidFarrier.Farrar,Straus and Giroux; 320

pages;$28.FourthEstate; £16.99

Blasts from the past

A journey through the lasting traces of human civilisation