Refugees and magic realism

To be honest, "Exit West" was the first novel I could devour in a day.  This book ended up on my TBR list because 1) the hard cover is beautiful, 2) it is one of the 13 listed books for The Man Booker Prize 2017, and 3) this book is an urgent portrait of the current migration issues.

Written by Mohsin Hamid, the novel revolves around a young couple (Saeed and Nadia), who are cosmopolitan city dwellers, working as office clerics. The city is unnamed, and it is "swollen by refugees" as Hamid describes it. Saeed and Nadia meet at an evening class on corporate identity and product branding, which eventually leads to their first date and thus, prompts the start of a hopeful relationship. As the terrorists swarm the city, spreading unrest from the underdeveloped regions to the government-controlled areas, the citizens are left with no options but to flee. 

The most amazing part is the concept of magical doors. Blending fantasy with a rather real issue, Hamid did an excellent job subtly using the concept of doors to provoke the reality of refugees trying out every way there is to find a safe haven. As Saeed and Nadia reach Mykonos through one of the doors, in the second half of the novel, Hamid narrates the unrests that refugee influx triggers in a country. 

Digging deeper into the book, its readers can perceive that the story descends into a dystopian setting, where even the strongest of nations are vulnerable. London, for instance, is plagued with constant load shedding and unrest between the natives and migrants.

Besides the horrific chronicles of the couple, as they flee from their country to Mykonos to London to California, there are other heartbreaking accounts of refugees distributed throughout the book. Though they are not included in the plot, the author safely pulled off a stunt adding them in order to connect the readers with the harsh realities of fleeing a warzone. 

All in all, this book is worth a quick read as the story sheds light on migration problems, beautifully mingled with fantasy.

The writer is a grade 11 student of Birshreshtha Noor Mohammad Public College.