Exit West
Books | Fiction / Political
3.7
(859)
Mohsin Hamid
FINALIST FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE & WINNER OF THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR FICTION and THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE “It was as if Hamid knew what was going to happen to America and the world, and gave us a road map to our future… At once terrifying and … oddly hopeful.” —Ayelet Waldman, The New York Times Book Review “Moving, audacious, and indelibly human.” —Entertainment Weekly, “A” rating The New York Times bestselling novel: an astonishingly visionary love story that imagines the forces that drive ordinary people from their homes into the uncertain embrace of new lands, from the author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and the forthcoming The Last White Man. In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair, and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through. . . . Exit West follows these 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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More Details:
Author
Mohsin Hamid
Pages
256
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2018-02-27
ISBN
0735212201 9780735212206
Community ReviewsSee all
"I loved this book. It took me on a journey, immersed me in a culture with which I am unfamiliar and exposed me again to the restlessness of human migration. Nadia and Saeed meet as young adults in a war-torn mideast country. We watch their relationship, chaste and chaperoned, blossom as their country falls apart. The two fall in love as their houses get bombed, and they begin to move from country to country — through some mysterious portals — as they try to find welcome in new countries. Their relationship flows and ebbs. A strong depiction of destruction, pursuit and regrowth. I could not wait to return to the book, a stark contrast to books I cannot wait to end."
"A sobering account of loving, and growing apart against the backdrop of dystopian magical realism. The “doors” are a unique way of addressing the various forms of trauma and self discovery that comes with human migration. Looking through the scope of love gained, love lost, and love found, I felt a profound sadness and appreciation for each of the main characters’ arcs. Paired with beautiful prose, this story adds a unique element to a very real and tragic part of the human experience. "
"I can see where this writing style could put off readers, but it worked here. Engaging for the first half, but it kind of fell flat for me, then ended well enough. Liked it-didn’t love it. Relationships with realistic plots amidst the refugee experience with a scotch of metaphorical magic. Try it if you’re looking for something a little different, but don’t get caught up in reading reviews. I think that kind of ruined my enjoyment here. "
K N
Krissy Nikitas
"The writing style simply wasn't for me. This is less of a dystopia story and more of rediscovery and redirection of people. Author spent a lot of time writing the signifigance of each think in a long and winded way that I felt took from experiencing the story rather than add to it. Maybe my mistake was expecting a dystopia novel and it's not.. quite that. "
"Favorite book of 2017."
S c
Sam chapnick
"I really wanted to like this book. I was drawn to the story line and was excited to see the direction it would go. But it left me disappointed. I felt no emotional attachment to any of the characters and I took nothing away from this book after finishing it. I felt like it had a lot of potential to be so much more than it ended up being."
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