I stopped listening about a third of the way through as I was finding it quite difficult to follow, the writing is beautiful and I did plan to come back to it but it has since been archived. This may be one where reading a physical copy is better for me so hopefully I can come back to it in that format.

This was such an important read for me. I didn't really have much of an understanding of the Palestine/Israel conflict and I feel like I learned such a lot from this book. I felt like we got to know and understand the two main characters well, and I felt as though I went on their journey with them. The structure of the book is a little unusual, with 'chapters' (don't know what else to call them!) that range in length from a normal short chapter right down to a few words. I thought this worked well, and really gave impact to those one line entries. I think as a physical book this may have been a 5 star for me. Firstly I think it would just work better to read rather than listen to as there was a lot of information for me to absorb, and it is on the heavier going side. Secondly, and I know it's the author narrating, but the narration didn't quite work for me. I found the emphasis on sentences was not quite right for me, and there were a lot of pauses mid sentence which disrupted the flow. However, that's very much just my opinion, and for someone else the audiobook might work perfectly for them! Overall very glad I read it, and I will be recommending it to people.

Very complicated for an audiobook, not an easy listen which made it hard to get through.

That said, I love this author and it was read beautifully, such prose deserved more attention than the usual audiobook offerings.

In fact, I've now got an actual printed version and will look forward to spending more quality time with it!

A life-changing book.

Rami Elhanan is an Israeli. In 1997 his daughter Smadar was killed when suicide bombers attacked Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem. Smadar was buried next to her grandfather, Matti Peled, known as the Peace Fighter. Jews and Palestinians attended her funeral. However, Rami’s drive to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians only came after meeting Yitzchak Frankenthal. His son had been kidnapped and murdered by Hamas. Instead of taking revenge, Yitzchak founded The Arik Institute for Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace.

Bassam Aramin is a Palestinian. The Israelis imprisoned him for seven-years for terrorism. While in prison Bassam watched a film about the Holocaust and it changed his perspective of Jews. Bassam befriended his (Israeli) guard and used his time in prison to learn Hebrew and gain an understanding of the Jews. After leaving prison Bassam became a founding member of Combatants for Peace – a group consisting of both Jews and Arabs made up of parents who have lost children during the Israeli/Palestinian conflicts.

Almost ten years to the day, after Rami’s daughter was killed Bassam’s daughter Abir, aged ten, died when an Israeli Defence Force soldier’s bullet fired at the entrance to her school hit her. This terrible murder solidified the bond between the two men, making their friendship even deeper and they have travelled the world talking and encouraging people of all religions and nationalities to unite in trying to change the thinking of governments in both Israel and Palestine.

Rami and Bassam are the main protagonists of Apeirogon but like the meaning of the word, there is so much more to the story. I had the privilege to receive an audible copy to review. Colum McCann has used the story to tell us not just of these two men’s fight for peace between the two nations that make up Palestine/Israel but add to our understanding of the Holocaust, and the Jews returning to Israel. The Palestinians having land removed from them and being forbidden to travel through what is now called Israel unless they have specific permission from the Israeli government. Likewise, Israelis banned from entering Palestine.

There were times while listening to the book that I not only gasped with shock but also shed tears listening to the pain caused by this terrible relentless conflict.

Colum McCann has used a method no other author that I know of has ever used before. The chapters go from one to a thousand then decrease again from five hundred back to one. Some chapters might have just one word while others several paragraphs. Hidden in these chapters are all sorts of extraordinary pieces of information, some you might think to have no bearing on the book, but then a bit further along you’ll get that aha! Moment and remember what was said maybe just with one word.

I want to start this book again. I normally only read Kindle editions of books, but a Kindle can’t give this book the respect it deserves. I want a book so that I can open it at any page and soak up the words written on that page – remembering what came before or after them. This is truly one of the most outstanding books I’ve ever had the privilege to read.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received an audible copy to review.

The book is very beautifully written and McCann reads equally beautifully. That said, I think the novel is so packed with imagery, with things to think about and ponder over, it was quite hard to do it whilst just listening. There's a loosely sketched plot but the real point of the novel is the emotional and psychological unpacking and the explorative beauty of language. I think personally, I would prefer to read a written version of the book, think, soak up and engage, and then listen to the audiobook to visit again the world and the characters. The audiobook asked too much of me in my lockdown exhausted state. My brain couldn't process, analyse and enjoy all at once whilst listening. I will definitely return to the audiobook because I do think McCann reads it so wonderfully and it flows just like poetry, making it a pleasurable auditory experience, but first I will grapple with it in a form where I can pause and consider at my own pace.

One man is from Israel, one man is from Palestine. Both have, sadly, lost a child as a result of the conflict. One daughter is shot, the other is killed by a bomb. Both men tell their stories. The devastation feels so real, as does the sorrow of loss. The format is unusual and the book is intertwined with historical references, musical memories and, rather strangely, birds. I found this a heartbreaking read. I listened to this as an audio book and I enjoyed the narration by the author. Thank you to Colum McCann, Net Galley and Bloomsbury UK Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to the audiobook while reading the hardback version. On starting this book and being presented with an impressive amount of detail, I made a conscious effort to read slowly. A heart-rending read/listen of the unexpected friendship of two men, one a Palestinian, the other an Israeli, brought together by the tragic deaths of their young daughters.

I was introduced to Colum McCann while browsing the Edinburgh Book Festival online programme and tuned in to watch him discussing this book with Palestinian writer and lawyer Raja Shehadeh.

The layout of Apeiogon is unique with short numbered sections, some just an impactful sentence. This format worked well for me as it is easy to pick up/put down reading/listening in bitesize chunks. The book was packed with so many interesting facts that I kept stopping to research.

Standout facts:
Jerusalem-born artist Sigalit Landau and her Salt Crystal Gown, Created Deep Under the Dead Sea.

Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist who walked between Jerusalem's Arab and Jewish sectors on a tightrope, releasing a dove for peace mid-way.

Artist Emily Jacir fired at 1000 books in a shooting range to commemorate the 1972 assassination of the Palestinian intellectual Wael Zuaiter.

I knew very little about this part of the world, certainly an eye-opener, providing me with a greater understanding of the conflict.

Since I heard about the novel I was excited to read it and was looking forward to the audiobook being narrated by the author.

Unfortunately I felt the writing style was a little disjointed, the short chapters and the lists really pulledme away from the story and made it feel a little disjointed and confused.

I think the narration style worked for the piece and I would be keen to pick up other work by McCann in the future.

The most exhilarating audiobook I have ever heard. First a confession. I normally steer away from books read by the author. Too often, their reading voices seem to take away from the voices I have imagined for them in my head. But this time, it was all quite the reverse.

Colum McCann is a stylist who knows how to compel you to engage both on and off the page. APEIROGON is, as has been said so many times elsewhere, is a master work. On the page the story of the friendship between two fathers, one Israeli, the other Palestinian, united by their grief for beloved children lost to a pointless conflict seers into the reader. But when read aloud it soars beyond the specifics of the two tragedies at the centre of this particular Israeli-Arab conflict and becomes a universal chorus lamenting the senselessness of senseless loss and senseless conflicts the world over. This is due in part to the impeccable, forensically sensitive poetry on the page and in part to the fact that it is being delivered in the lyrical tones of an accent that listeners the world over associate with conflict and loss. By virtue of his Northern Irish accent, Colum McCann's authority is established. We know this is someone with insider knowledge of communities separated by artificial lines in the sand, communities with people who - whether want to choose sides or not - have no choice but to go in the face of the irrevocable and self-perpetuating tragedies and traumas that ensue.

APEIROGON is a triumph. An elegiac prose poem, a history lesson, and a glimpse into a possible future imagined by two fathers who have lived through the unimaginable.

Within a few minutes of listening I had ordered the hardback of this title, along with several of Colum McCann's back catalogue.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me hear an advance release of this title.

Masterful and, at times, very unusual and original. It feels like this may be regarded as a classic in the future. One of the most astonishing novels I've read in years.

I found a this could be fascinating book. I really love the way that the apparent on a multidimensional infinite sided shape was able to convey the meaning and ceiling and events that occurred in this story. Addressing the Israel Palestine situation using two main characters and their life events in some very short and some very long chapters enabled the reader to see so many dimensions of the same situation from different angles viewpoints and moments in time.
This was a fascinating audiobook to listen to on my commute and I often wonder at the end of the day what I would discover the next day. Would highly recommend the best book or the order book because the narrator was fantastic.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review .

This is my first read from McCann (he’s also on narration duty - his Irish accent is an added bonus ☺️) and I love the way this has been written. Short numbered non-linear segments not only cover the main topic of the book, but also politics, genocide, trauma, war, terrorism, bereavement, grief, anguish and that’s all from the first quarter of the book! It brought tears to my eyes on many occasions.

There’s a lot going on in the book. A lot. Not only are you forced to confront the horrors of a war between two sides, where it’s the everyday ordinary people that pay the full price, McCann draws on extensive research into practically anything.

This is heartbreaking as you follow Bassam and Rami’s grief, but their unlikely friendship and shunning of violence and retaliation is just amazing. But their relationship shows that there is hope.

A really good read (or listen) that for me got a little confusing as it jumped across time and merged snippets of fact and fiction. Definitely one to recommend.

Realistic and heartbreaking but random, repetitive and jumbled. I understand the lives lead by the two main characters Bassam and Remi match the rhythm of the book but I found it too disjointed. That and all the lists took too much flow away for me to enjoy it.