Indian Readers discussion
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EXIT WEST _ BOTM DECEMBER 2017
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Mod
Will be joining in the discussion.
Finally a book that I nominated has won :)Will start in 3-4 days!
I loved this book. I found certain flaws too. Would love to discuss it.
I will be joining for this one... Happy that this one won!
Syl wrote: "I was mightily confused by Doors."Metaphors when used such meagerly do confuse! I just thought they were for convenience. If he'd spent too much time explaining the escape story, he would have lost the focus from the escapees. Which is why I think it was more to keep the focus intact.
I am somewhere 50% done with the book. Very different style of narration for me. And I am liking it so far.
Mod
Later I accepted doors as something akin to backyard entry to a so I try without proper visa and formality
An exceptional book, read it in the month of it's release itself. One of my best reads this year!
I will try to join in but only after 13th :)......
Syl wrote: "I was mightily confused by Doors."This reminds me of Neverwhere. I'll be wary of the mention.
I'm about 8% in and the Australia sequence seemed intriguingly odd to me. (view spoiler) The description strikes a good chord with me and I'm waiting to read what happens further into the chapters. Saeed and Nadia have a congenial personality.
I have a feeling that the Australia scene might come into play later on.Or it might be that the author intends to impress upon the reader, the relative normality that other parts of the world had at the same time as 'the city' was undergoing an upheaval.
Yes, I think so too. Or at least the man will make an appearance later? Such happenings in other places should find relevancy in Saeed and Nadia's storyline, I'd think?I like the narrative style so far. The writing reads easy and the events lucid to follow. I just get a little stuck at the fantasy parts (view spoiler) haha.
I've been going real slow.. Haven't reached any fantasy parts yet.
Mod
Syl wrote: "to me it looked like Magical realism rather than hard-core fantasy."Yep, that's the term, I guess.
I can understand now how it is more of magical realism.
Done! I liked it, but didn't love it. 3.5 stars.It took me a long time to complete reading in spite of it being a short book because of other commitments. In an era where most books are 400+ pages, it is nice to come across shorter ones. The author however has not compromised on the quality of his prose, which I enjoyed. However, the story seemed lacking in some aspects (to me).
Eager to hear everyone else's opinions. I do not want to post more right now as people might still be reading.
I read it like i read novels of khalid hussaini but with more discontent, hollow and burden that our land creates for its writers.He is famous for his grandma style of narration . His writing has improved a lot, but he still lags behind its contemporaries in creating clear surroundings. He never even tries get into his characters.
intresting points I captured.
1.story has some taste of “the grapes of wrath” .
2.Female protagonist , nadia seems more like lahori depiction of middle east girl.
3.Mohsin has failed in attempt to create middle eastern city where both characters fall for each other. At moment i felt he was describing lahore.
4.No doubt novel is depiction of realism of war atrocities.
Mod
I was thinking Syria and the recent immigration crisis!
Hurray! I completed all 12 BOTMs this year.EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid. A unique style of writing, which I think is the signature style of Mohsin Hamid, though I haven’t read any of his other books. This kind of writing, I haven’t seen in any other author. There are quite a few metaphors that are left to be unravelled by the readers. The setting is some internal war-ravaged country; I couldn’t quite put my finger on which country, except that it is an Islamic country. My guess is Afghanistan or some region of Pakistan, like Baluchistan, that is fighting to break away.
Read the full review here:
cdrsnmohanty.wixsite.com/surendra-nat...
Mod
You must be the only person in the group of 13000 odd to do so. 😊🏆🏅
Anushree wrote: "I loved this book. I found certain flaws too. Would love to discuss it."What were the flaws you saw?
Niveditha wrote: "I have a feeling that the Australia scene might come into play later on.Or it might be that the author intends to impress upon the reader, the relative normality that other parts of the world had..."
If the Australia scene had any significance to the entire story, I have clearly failed to see it.
Niveditha wrote: "Done! I liked it, but didn't love it. 3.5 stars.It took me a long time to complete reading in spite of it being a short book because of other commitments. In an era where most books are 400+ page..."
It's a short book. I completed it in a single day!
Niveditha wrote: "I was thinking Syria and the recent immigration crisis!"I was thinking some obscure country in southern Europe
Surendra wrote: "Hurray! I completed all 12 BOTMs this year."New here. May complete all 12 BOTMs in 2018!
Syl wrote: "Congratulations. You must be the only person in the group of 13000 odd to do so. 😊🏆🏅"
Thanks. I didn't imagine I would possibly be the only one to read all books. I guessed almost everyone reads every BOTM. But I had a wonderful since I joined IR.
Could we select BOTMs based on different themes/ categories/ genres each month? For instance, one month we nominate only horror genre, the next month maybe translated books, then Indian authors, then Booker Prize/ Pulitzer winners and so on. At the moment each month we have a mix to choose from.
Mod
Surendra wrote: "Hurray! I completed all 12 BOTMs this year.EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid. A unique style of writing, which I think is the signature style of Mohsin Hamid, though I haven’t read any of his other books..."
Seriously, wow! I think I read 3-4 books this year as part of BOTM on Indian Readers. I also read The Agony and the Ecstasy as part of the BOTM on the historical fiction group.
I imagined the home city of Saeed and Nadia to be Mosul Iraq, that was liberated by Isis this year.Did someone imagine Saeed as Naveen Andrews who played Sayid in Lost??
I think the location doesn't matter..I liked the book...I liked the way he carried forward the story especially the ending.I think this story could be related to our lives...It almost correctly points to our helplessnes in day-to-day relationships : though we want to mend our relations with others, it is not entirely upto us and external factors do play a big role..I was also impressed by the way he has described their gradual falling apart...touching and relatable
A wonderful book that is more of a political commentary in which two people in love are embroiled in. Read my full comments on my MyBooks on GR.
This is an extremely interesting book which touches up on the issue of civil war and migration.
The discussion leader is Niveditha.
BLURB
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 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.