Exit West: A Novel
A New York Times Bestseller and winner of the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. Exit West follows remarkable characters as they emerge into an alien and uncertain future, struggling to hold on to each other, to their past, to the very sense of who they are. Profoundly intimate and powerfully inventive, it tells an unforgettable story of love, loyalty, and courage that is both completely of our time and for all time.
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Exit West by Moshin Hamid
231 pages
What’s it about?
Nadia and Saeed meet at a night class and are instantly attracted to each other. Their relationship develops at the same time their city is slipping into a civil war. We watch as Nadia and Saeed’s lives change to accommodate the fighting, “War in Saeed and Nadia’s city revealed itself to be an intimate experience, combatants pressed close together, front lines defined at the level of the street one took to work, the school one’s sister attended, the house of one’s aunt’s best friend, the shop where one bought cigarettes.” As the fighting gets worse Nadia and Saeed take advantage of a magical door that leads out of the country. They walk through and emerge in London. In the second half of the book Hamid explores what it means to be a refugee looking for a home.
What did it make me think about?
So many thoughts about this one- mainly what a phenomenal writer Mohsin Hamid is! Also, how does he write such long, beautiful sentences? I appreciated “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”- but “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” is one of my favorite books in recent years. I was so eager to read this small novel and it did not let me down. “Exit West” is a tale of our time. It made me think of Syria and all those trapped amongst the fighting. No magic doors are available there, and yet many people find a way out. Moshin Hamid reminds us of the cost of leaving home, the cost of welcoming others in, and gives us hope that humanity will find a way.
Should I read it?
Yes- what a timely book. Shouldn’t we all take a little time to think about the plight of the migrants?
Quote-
“Perhaps they had decided they did not have it in them to do what would have needed to be done, to corral and bloody and where necessary slaughter the migrants, and had determined that some other way would have to be found. Perhaps they had grasped that the doors could not be closed, and new doors would continue to open, and they had understood that the denial of coexistence would have required one party to cease to exist, and the extinguishing party too would have been transformed in the process, and too many native parents would not after have been able to look their children in the eye, to speak with head held high of what their generation had done.”
If you like this try-
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid
Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
Exit West by Moshin Hamid
231 pages
What’s it about?
Nadia and Saeed meet at a night class and are instantly attracted to each other. Their relationship develops at the same time their city is slipping into a civil war. We watch as Nadia and Saeed’s lives change to accommodate the fighting, “War in Saeed and Nadia’s city revealed itself to be an intimate experience, combatants pressed close together, front lines defined at the level of the street one took to work, the school one’s sister attended, the house of one’s aunt’s best friend, the shop where one bought cigarettes.” As the fighting gets worse Nadia and Saeed take advantage of a magical door that leads out of the country. They walk through and emerge in London. In the second half of the book Hamid explores what it means to be a refugee looking for a home.
What did it make me think about?
So many thoughts about this one- mainly what a phenomenal writer Mohsin Hamid is! Also, how does he write such long, beautiful sentences? I appreciated “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”- but “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” is one of my favorite books in recent years. I was so eager to read this small novel and it did not let me down. “Exit West” is a tale of our time. It made me think of Syria and all those trapped amongst the fighting. No magic doors are available there, and yet many people find a way out. Moshin Hamid reminds us of the cost of leaving home, the cost of welcoming others in, and gives us hope that humanity will find a way.
Should I read it?
Yes- what a timely book. Shouldn’t we all take a little time to think about the plight of the migrants?
Quote-
“Perhaps they had decided they did not have it in them to do what would have needed to be done, to corral and bloody and where necessary slaughter the migrants, and had determined that some other way would have to be found. Perhaps they had grasped that the doors could not be closed, and new doors would continue to open, and they had understood that the denial of coexistence would have required one party to cease to exist, and the extinguishing party too would have been transformed in the process, and too many native parents would not after have been able to look their children in the eye, to speak with head held high of what their generation had done.”
If you like this try-
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid
Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
Something felt a bit lackluster in this book. Loved the concept of combining the migrant story with the hope for something better being possible through the addition of magical realism, but the story dragged now and then. Some beautiful poetic passages can be found throughout, though. Would've been three stars, but unlike some reviews I've seen, I actually liked the lack of a happy or sad ending and brought up my rating.
I loved the style in which this book is written. It’s very dry, yet poetic and thought provoking. I thought there would be more to the story, but it is still haunting and I think will stick with me for a while.
Read by the author, this audiobook provided a window into the actual life of refugees. It was an eye opening novel, full of the reality of life in a war torn locale, yet lyrical and quite poetic.
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