Where does the book exit west take place

Im not sure thats entirely accurate, but the language in the book does have, to me, this reader, striking style that reminds me of. Exit west, by mohsin hamid mohsin hamids new novel imagines a country, never specified, swollen with refugees from an ongoing conflict and a series of mysterious doors that. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Against this background, nadia and saeed dont stand much of a chance. A novel about refugees that feels instantly canonical. At the moment, i think your chances of doing this legally are slim or none. Exit west by mohsin hamid book club discussion questions. At the forefront this is a novel about the refugee crisis, and worlds turmoil, right now when you read it youll notice where the books different settings are yet set in an alternate near now where people can escape through random doors which take them to other countries. Exit west begins in an unnamed middle eastern city that is on the verge of war. It seems a stroke of great fortune when nadia and saeed access a door that takes them to a greek island. On another note, saeeds suggestion that prayer is personal and that everybody has his or her own way of practicing religion is worth keeping in mind, since exit west is a book that explores the ways in which different cultural and religious practices differ and intersect with one another. Mohsin hamid, exit west hamish hamilton, 2017 mohsin hamids most recent novel, exit west 2017, focuses on the concept of belonging in relation to place and space in a politically unstable global landscape.

His pauses often mean there will be a switch, even a. Its also interested in examining romantic connections and intimacy. Mohsin hamids exit west reflects migration as a story. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one.

The city, or as it is often called saeed and nadias city, is unnamed within the text, though many readers will be. The book describes how saeed and nadia, who are refugees, have to settle down in a completely new place along with many other refugees. Exit west author mohsin hamid answers your questions. All we have to do is step through it and meet them. And i thought, what would happen if your body could move as easily as. Exit west does not lead to utopia, but to a near future and the dim shapes of strangers that we can see through a distant doorway. Its a gorgeous, simple style, the sentences long and winding, and by the end of the book its impossible to imagine exit west could have. Early in exit west, saeeds family spends a pleasant evening outside with their telescope, until the sound of automatic gunfire, flat cracks that were not loud and yet carried to them cleanly.

The pakistaniborn mohsin hamids fourth novel, exit west, takes the current middle eastern migrant crisis and injects a wizardry, an allegorical urgency, that declares this book s. The coercion paves into a completely alien concept of what home means, something saeed and nadia face in mohsin hamids 2017 novel, exit west. Why does this scene take place in japan, a country which is not mentioned again for the. This study guide consists of approximately 52 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of exit west.

Relevant and illuminating, exit west will help you not only understand and empathize with the realities of what we see played out on the news every night, but inspire you to take action. The character of saeed in exit west from litcharts the. A brief, polemical fable that puts the reality of the refugee crisis into sharp relief. Saeed and nadia, the two central characters in mohsin hamids fourth novel, exit west, meet at the beginning of the book, at a night class.

Its, i have seen exit west described as a fairy tale. Mohsin hamids dynamic yet lapidary books have all explored the convulsive changes overtaking the world, as tradition and modernity. Responding to the shocking reality of the recent us election, aleksandar hemon wrote in the village voice, for me, the symptom of that experience is a constant traumatic alertness, a terrible, exhausting need to pay attention to everything and. Saeed and nadia meet while taking an evening class on corporate identity and product branding in an unidentified middle east city at an unidentified place of education. If you are the publisher or author of this book and. Discussion questions for exit west the new york times. But in pakistani author mohsin hamids new novel, they escape by enchanted door. The door they go through takes them to mykonos, where they are among. When nadia and saeed learn that the magical doors do exist, and can in fact take.

When i was three, my family left pakistan for california. His pauses often mean there will be a switch, evenmore when i listened to this author read his own work via audio, i learned what he was doing. It was published in 2017 and was shortlisted for the 2017 man booker prize. Im not sure thats entirely accurate, but the language in the book does have, to me. Exit west is a work of political fiction by pakistani author mohsin hamid, who also wrote the reluctant fundamentalist and how to get filthy rich in rising asia. In fact, they both like mykonos and think that it is indeed a beautiful place, but. Exit west is an authentic story of identity, placelessness, love and loss, and is undoubtedly a. This is something that has been building my whole life. With exit west i think mohsin hamid does something quite spectacular. He breathes exquisite life into what, in many ways, has been reduced to a contentious issue, and to call the result heartbreaking and moving feels almost trite. The writing is spare and sometimes reads like gospel. Exit west out march 7 takes place in an unnamed city where islam. Beth chapple when i listened to this author read his own work via audio, i learned what he was doing.

Nadia was not certain what exactly she was feeling, but she was certain it had force. In the new year, citizens around the world will argue over the fate of. We rate books on the discussion the book prompts, likability, readability, and gamesthemes. Mohsin hamids exit west imagines a new way out for. Replacing the second person address or narrative apostrophe that characterises the pakistani authors earlier works. Exit west is an intoxicating epic of slender build. What effect does the subtle acceleration of violence have on the reader. The book tells a story about how it is to come to a new place and how different places treat the refugees quite differently. Overall, this book came out rated at a 5 on an average of ten, coming in.

The book was named by the new york times as one of the 10 best books of. Mohsin hamids exit west is a story about migration and refugees, focused on a young couple fleeing a. The mayors book club had selected the man booker prizeshortlisted exit west as one of three titles for the city to read in 2018, all on the. The country it takes place is unnamed, but one part makes it sound as if it is in asia somewhere. When i looked the book up, i found comments like this. Exit west author mohsin hamid answers your questions pbs. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. A young couple, saeed and nadia, are falling in love even as. Mohsin hamids novel exit west, which follows two lovers on the. The novel takes place in modern times smartphones are mentioned more than once in an. The novel is about a young couple, saeed and nadia, who live in an unnamed city undergoing civil war and finally have to flee, using a system of magical doors, which lead to different locations around the globe. Exit west by mohsin hamid nadia had long been, and would afterwards continue to be, more comfortable with all varieties of movement in her life than was saeed, in whom the impulse of nostalgia was stronger, perhaps because his childhood had been more idyllic, or perhaps because this was simply his temperament. Exit west out march 7 takes place in an unnamed city where islam prevails but sex, shrooms and smartphones are also prolific.

Exit west is a story of migration, refugees and change, told through the experiences of an unmarried couple, nadia and saeed. And in exit west, hamid does a harrowing job of conveying what it is like to leave behind family members, and what it means to. Its a place where a ponytailed spice merchant might vanish only to be found headless, decapitated napefirst with a serrated knife to enhance discomfort. In the present time, the story takes place where hannah lives, in new rochelle, ny and when she travels to the bronx in nyc for seder. At age nine i moved back from california to pakistan.

The exit west quotes below are all either spoken by saeed or refer to saeed. By the end of this brilliant book about assimilation and the permanence and impermanence of our lives, i was in tears and had to sit still for a bit to reflect. In the end there is a veil of melancholy and uncertainty over this book that matches the present mood in which so many people feel that their circumstances are limited and the old ways have failed. Exit west is a 2017 novel by pakistani author mohsin hamid. Saeed and nadia, the two central characters in mohsin hamids fourth novel, exit west, meet at the beginning of the book, at a night class on corporate identity and product branding. You wake in the morning and drink your coffee or tea. Jia tolentino on mohsin hamids new novel, exit west, in which he rewrites the world as a place gorgeously, permanently overrun by refugees and migrants. Take our free exit west quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Hamid exits west to the place american dreamers have always gone. In exit west he continues to document a particular moment in world history, but for the first time uses magic realism to explore one of the most pressing ethical and. Mohsin hamids novel exit west raises immigration issues steve inskeep talks to pakistani novelist mohsin hamid, who examines the global refugee crisis in a new novel called exit west. How is the feeling of home as a secure place challenged in this book. But this is a novel, exit west, that uses realism and some magic to.