Dear Steemers,
I recently experienced that beautiful moment of reading the first line of a book and connecting with it instantly. It happened with 'Exit West' by Mohsin Hamid. Within the first line, this book somehow found its way onto my list of favourite books.
Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:
"In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through.
Exit West follows these characters as they emerge into an alien and uncertain future, struggling to hold on to each other, to their past, to the very sense of who they are. Profoundly intimate and powerfully inventive, it tells an unforgettable story of love, loyalty, and courage that is both completely of our time and for all time."
I couldn't help but read 'Exit West' as a writer more than a reader, because each sentence was so carefully constructed and brilliantly executed. Hamid is a master of his craft, and I felt like each page taught me something new about the art of prose writing.
Today I thought I would share with you a couple of my favourite lines from this book, starting with the opening line.
"In a city swollen by refugees but still mostly at peace, or at least not yet openly at war, a young man met a young woman in class and did not speak to her."
– page 1
"The following evening helicopters filled the sky like birds startled after a gunshot, or by the blow of an axe on the base of their tree."
– page 32
"One’s relationship to windows now changed in the city."
– page 68
"…but that is the way of things, for when we migrate, we murder from our lives those we leave behind."
– page 94
If you haven’t read Exit West, I strongly urge you to go pick up a copy! What are you reading at the moment? Please let me know in the comments below.