Hello again,

I had such a great time discussing my last read with you all that I thought I would come back with my first book of 2018 (though I did cheat and start this book in 2017 haha).

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

I will preface this by saying this is my first book by Mr. Hamid so I cannot speak to the entirely of his work. However, this piece in particular I was not a fan of at all.

I found the writing style to be irksome and tedious. There were numerous passages of intense run on sentences spanning from half of one page onto the top quarter of the next. It was exceptionally difficult for me to read these, as it made the flow of the passage feel forced. As if there was something the author intended to say in these passages and in writing in this style he was forcing you to accept that message in his way, instead of leading the reader to natural thematic elements or plot lines. I don't know exactly how to pin point why this bothered me so, it felt so assuming.

The story itself is quite inventive and I did find the beginning half of the book to be horrifically beautiful. The war zone stories, the realism of the characters experiences was wonderful. However, the mystical/illusionary nature of the second half of the book really took away from that story for me. It felt like two different books, each with great ideas that were mashed together. Because of this, I felt the characters never truly developed as much as I had expected or hoped, and the story felt flat.

Maybe I had expectations for this book created on my own accord that didn't pan out, but honestly this book didn't work for me. However, my friend is exceptionally excited to read it so I'm going to mail it to her and hope she finds in this story what so many have.

I may read something else from Mr. Hamid in the future, but I won't be re-reading Exit West.

What did you all think of it? It seems like a universally loved novel so I'd love to hear what made it so special for you or not so special for you if you weren't a fan of it. discussion