Exit West

3.5 - This is a really beautiful and sad book. Our two protagonists, Saeed and Nadia, are young and (not quite) in love. Their relationship progresses in an increasingly unstable war zone. Routines and places and people they've always been surrounded by come to abrupt violent ends. Their only out is a gamble at best: there's increasing talk of doors that act as portals to other locations across the globe. After a certain point, they figure they have no choice but to try.This was certainly literary. A meandering plot with flowery phrasing and a bleak tone. But that's not inherently a problem, and Hamid's commentary on contemporary (aka post-globalization, in a digital age) migration is compelling. We look beyond the cruelties of isolationism and nativism, exploring its feasibility (low). With Nadia's robes, Hamid shows how people who see Islamic dress as gendered oppression are often the same people who harass and assault hijabis in public.Exit West reminds me of [b:Home Fire 33621427 Home Fire Kamila Shamsie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534180768l/33621427.SY75.jpg 54453872], [b:The Book Thief 19063 The Book Thief Markus Zusak https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426l/19063.SY75.jpg 878368], and [b:Station Eleven 20170404 Station Eleven Emily St. John Mandel https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451446835l/20170404.SY75.jpg 28098716]. It's like Home Fire in its London setting and use of personal relationships to explore immigration and political unrest. Both Exit West and The Book Thief look at how war causes instability and displacement even in people and places presumed too far away to be targeted. And reading it also felt like reading Station Eleven, both slow-moving dreamy marches through (post-)apocalyptic worlds, and what community and technology and faith all mean in this context. If you liked any of those three, I'd give Exit West a try. It's not a fun read, but it's timely and persuasive, and I'm glad I read it.