Exit West, Mohsin Hamid

 

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid was listed as one of the 10 best books of 2017 by the New York Times and that drew me to it.

Started: 12/11/2020
Completed: 12/11/2020
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: New York Times

Review:

This book is simply well written.  The turns of phrase merge cleanly with decent insights into people:

"[P]ersonalities are not a single immutable color...but rather illuminated screens and the shades we reflect depends much on what is around us."

In some ways, this is my favorite form of science fiction--what happens if a single scientific dream was realized?  It is interesting to consider this kind of thing.  This book is a good journey, but it is not a smooth journey (as one might expect).  It is a romance that stutters into a relationship and becomes a friendship of sorts.  It also speaks to the nature of both coming together and stepping apart.  In many ways it is a sad book, but it is also an interesting book.