#Reading log
2025-05-07: I picked up Exit West a few days ago. It’s refreshing to read a novel right now. I think I was lacking a story and that’s why I haven’t made much reading progress lately. I think the story is set in some city in the Middle East even though I don’t know which one. The storytelling feels almost like a romantic comedy the way it’s written. But the more into it you get the more serious it gets. First it’s a few curfews in town and it gets harder for Saeed and Nadia to meet. Then there is more fighting going on and the infrastructure starts giving way. There’s no more piped water, no electricity. You shouldn’t be close to windows because that raises your chances of getting killed. So they bunker up in this war weary town and start planning on how to escape it. I like the way this story is told, it makes me want to go on. The writing is plain and simple, inviting me to follow the story.
2025-05-08: — Doors to other places. There are these doors in 📚 Exit West that opens up to other locations around the world. I guess this is a metaphor for how refugees end up in different places. Nadia and Saeed end up in London in a big mansion. And many vacant houses and places are occupied by the coming refugees. It reminds me of 📚 New York 2140 where the homeless wanted the vacant houses of the rich as shelter. It’s very similar.