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Exit West

Mohsin Hamid

Start date: June 1, 2020

Finish date: June 29, 2020

Discussion: Monthly Bonus Reads

Why we're reading this: June Bonus Read: World Refugee Day

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
[close] June Bonus Read: World Refugee Day

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

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What Members Thought

Aug 22, 2017 Chris Blocker rated it really liked it

Shelves: booker

Exit West is an impressively rendered, sensitive and timely novel. It tackles the issue of the refugee crisis in a way that feels remarkably current. There's a freshness to this story that is often lacking in other stories of this style. Given its subject and the ways it's skillfully depicted, I think this novel has a decent-to-good chance of taking this year's Man Booker Prize. But, in my opinion, it's lacking something, a result of taking a few shortcuts and arriving at its destination posthas Exit West is an impressively rendered, sensitive and timely novel. It tackles the issue of the refugee crisis in a way that feels remarkably current. There's a freshness to this story that is often lacking in other stories of this style. Given its subject and the ways it's skillfully depicted, I think this novel has a decent-to-good chance of taking this year's Man Booker Prize. But, in my opinion, it's lacking something, a result of taking a few shortcuts and arriving at its destination posthaste.

Exit West is the shortest of this year's nominees. Unfortunately, I think this is its greatest flaw. While the settings and language are all written in vivid detail, the characters and relationships suffer from the novel's brevity. Despite their strong potential as characters, Saeed and Nadia never seemed fully developed to me. There could've been another fifty pages exploring these characters, a hundred pages developing their stories; instead, their journey is presented in a story that takes only a few hours to read. The further their journey took Saeed and Nadia, the more distant I felt from them.

There's also a bit of disconnect in Hamid's device of using magical doors to journey from one country into another. I see the potential in the story for such a device. I see how it could also free up the author some. I'm not going to argue against the author's choice to use it. Personally, it just added a second level of disconnect. The stakes were not high enough. There was a sense that anytime things were about to get really bad, they could hop on a magical door and journey to some place that was a little better. If only this were true.

In most ways, I think Exit West was a great novel. Unfortunately, where it was lacking was perhaps the most significant: it was light on heart. I was mesmerized by the language, entranced by the scenery, and stimulated by the questions implied, but I never felt much for the characters themselves. And for a story which promises to be a love story, I'm not convinced they felt much for one another.

Man Booker Prize 2017:
Though this will not be my favorite amongst this year's nominees, I see Exit West as a potential winner. Its presentation of the migrant issue tied with its gorgeous prose and fast-moving plot make it a very strong contender. Of the book's I've read so far, this one has, in my opinion, the greatest likelihood of going all the way. I'll be surprised if it doesn't make the shortlist, but I've been surprised before. ...more

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Jun 22, 2017 Katrisa rated it it was amazing

This book is beautifully written - like there were lines I read where I just had to put the book down for a second to process. It was a lot different than I thought it was going to be. This is no great love story - it's a real love story - with all the delicate heartbreak that goes with real love stories.
The way Hamid introduces the idea of a world without borders is interesting to say the least! Though much of the narrative focuses on refugees fleeing from war torn nations, the "doors" also op ...more

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Nov 10, 2017 ColumbusReads rated it really liked it

immigration - refugees - a love story - dystopian - civil war - portals

Lofty beginning, tepid ending

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Nov 28, 2018 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, 2018, audio, i-own, unnamed-bookclub

I find this one very hard to review - I've waffled between 3 and 4 stars, but ultimately I think it was beautifully written. The doors or portals were totally unexpected for me, and took a bit of getting used to - but were an interesting device to portray the migration or immigrant experience. What genre is this? Magical Realism, Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Literary Fiction? All of the above maybe. I finished the audio version - read by the author - it was beautifully done. His voice was very soothing ho ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 eHawk rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Such an interesting magical look at migration and relationship through tragedy and refugees.

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Feb 02, 2018 Paula S rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, src-winter-2017-18, magical-realism, third-world-problems

Interesting novel about the a young couple falling in love and having to escape escalating violence in their home country. The author uses magical realism to put the focus on the immigrant experience, and I thought it was rather well done.

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Nov 15, 2017 Phyllis | Mocha Drop rated it liked it · review of another edition

A tale of two lovers trapped in a war-torn country. We witness their relationship challenges as the stresses, losses, and strains abound. Their challenges, suffering, and desperation are relayed in elegant prose. Their journey is buoyed by touches of magical realism and the resilience of the human spirit.

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