Exit West

“We are all migrants through time.”

This is my first read from Mohsin Hamid and, boy, what an intro. This is a beautiful book, first and foremost. The writing here is lyrical, spare even, and poignant. I appreciated that, though it was clearly trying to tell the larger story of the global refugee crisis, and felt a lot like an allegory, it was still grounded in the relationship of Saeed and Nadia. Without them and their incredible story arc this would have definitely lost its laser-focus and felt a lot like other stories about global current issues.

My one and only complaint here were the odd flash-vignettes scattered throughout. These little stories about random people throughout the world had (what felt like) thin connections to the overall subject and, to me, did not serve to add anything to the story at all. To me, they were more of a distraction and I ended up skimming over the ones at the end. I thought, at some point, they might reveal some connection to the story but they never really did. I felt this book would have been much better off without them.

Overall, a powerful, quick read that will stay with me.