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A very relevant book about the current situation of the world - immigrant and border issues, humanity and politics. Instead of wrote it in a heavy literature kind of way, Hamid had formulated the story with some magical realism (a door that can take you away from your place and bring you to another country), poetic romance, and a hint of adventure as well.
This is the kind of book that needs to be chewed slowly, that shows more than tells, and oftentimes let us play with our own interpretations. ...more
This is the kind of book that needs to be chewed slowly, that shows more than tells, and oftentimes let us play with our own interpretations. ...more
AUTHOR Hamid, Mohsin
TITLE Exit West
DATE READ 07/21/2018
RATING 4/B
GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Fiction/2017/Penguin/231 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE SA
CHARACTERS Nadia and Saeed -- refugees from an unnamed middle eastern nation
TIME/PLACE ??
FIRST LINES In a city swollen by refugees but still mostly at peace, or at least not yet openly at war, a young man met a young woman in a classroom and did not speak to her.
COMMENTS Lowe Mill book group choice. Beautifully written. Not overly fond of "magical ...more
TITLE Exit West
DATE READ 07/21/2018
RATING 4/B
GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Fiction/2017/Penguin/231 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE SA
CHARACTERS Nadia and Saeed -- refugees from an unnamed middle eastern nation
TIME/PLACE ??
FIRST LINES In a city swollen by refugees but still mostly at peace, or at least not yet openly at war, a young man met a young woman in a classroom and did not speak to her.
COMMENTS Lowe Mill book group choice. Beautifully written. Not overly fond of "magical ...more
I quite enjoyed the other of Hamid's books that I read, so not sure why it took me so long to finally get to this award-winner (probably my reflexive skepticism for award-winners...). It's a deeply humanistic fable that manages to pull off the tricky feat of telling a universal story of the modern refugee without resorting to sentimentality or bleak realist horror. Hamid has done a remarkable job of situating his story of a refugee couple in a world that's both exactly our own era and place, but
...more
I really liked listening to this book, read by the author. It really made me think about lots of things. Living in a war zone, living as a refugee. Loving in those situations, etc.
2019 Reading challenge, Week 36: A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list.
2019 Reading challenge, Week 36: A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list.
Jul 13, 2017
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