What happens when your closet door suddenly leads to another part of the globe? What if passing through the doorway is a potential escape from danger? Would you take the risk for the unknown? Exit West explores this concept in a short, but moving novel centered on a young couple living in a war-ridden area of the world.
Nadia and Saeed meet as their city becomes engulfed in fighting. Despite the surrounding hysteria, they carry on with their lives. We can forget that while unspeakable travesties occur in distressed parts of the world– such as bombings and mass shootings – people also continue to live their lives – they get coffee, go on dates, and fall in love.
As the situation worsens, rumors intensify about doors turning into pitch-black portals linking two faraway locations. Once found, the window for use is small as the gateways can become guarded or restricted from the other side. After an emotional goodbye to their hometown and everything they ever knew, Nadia and Saeed receive passage to the other side.
What lays ahead for this couple is not an escape from adversity, nor a welcome into normalcy. The portals have disrupted global immigration and unsettled major cities from the US to Europe. Hamid intertwines the issue of mass migration and an all too familiar “us versus them” temperament into a very poignant novel. By describing the minutia along with frenzy, he creates relatable characters in a rather inconceivable situation (for most of us, anyway). I found myself often thinking how my wife and I would handle a given hardship or encounter.
Exit West is a very timely piece given the refugee crisis seen across the globe. The magical portals act as a catalyst for time travel forcing the socioeconomic effects of mass migration to become instantaneous. Through Nadia and Saeed, we experience the affect it has on people, cities and governments alike. This is an introspective read, where emotion becomes more important than plot.
This novel was a candidate for the Man Booker Prize and was Obama’s favorite book of 2017.
Verdict: Read it. (3/5 Stars)
Length: 240 pages
Quote: “…but that is the way of things, for when we migrate, we murder from our lives those we leave behind.”
Where: In bed next to a loved one
Also Try: No similar book comes to mind. Please let us know if you have a recommendation!
Buy Exit West HERE
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