Friday, May 25, 2018

Mohsin Hamid, Exit West **** 1/2

Exit West follows Saeed and Nadia as they fall in love while their home city descends into civil war and deal with the complications of living under the threat of violence. It is written in a very Saramago-esque style: the tone of a folk tale, long sentences, social commentary, offhand acceptance of magical elements, an empathetic take on terrible circumstances.

I especially enjoyed the first half, in which everyone continues with their day-to-day lives as the situation worsens. I also appreciated how Hamid tells Saeed and Nadia's story from beginning to end, and that their story was ultimately neither a fairy tale or a tragedy.
The apocalypse appeared to have arrived and yet it was not apocalyptic, which is to say that while the changes were jarring they were not the end, and people found things to do and ways to be and people to be with, and plausible desirable futures began to emerge, unimaginable previously, but not unimaginable now.

No comments:

Post a Comment