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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
Free download pdf