Exit West is a story that takes place in an unnamed city where two young people fall in love and seek a new life away from war. Even though this is a work of fiction, it’s a story that we can really relate to in our own lives. 

The Washington Post commended Mohsin Hamid’s work as an example of extreme writing, and a reaction provoked by extreme times. The New York Times named Hamid as the writer who gave a road map to the future, in the US and the world. To mark World Reading Day, CGTN host Ji Xiaojun would like to recommend Hamid’s latest work to you.

If there was a magic door that could lead you anywhere, would you open it or not? You could leave all your troubles behind, by walking through the door into a new world. However, it is never clear what lies behind the door. This reflects on the challenges and choices that we are all forced to make on a daily basis. Once you make a decision, you have opened a magic door in your life, opening a new path for you to follow.

Ji said the humanity behind the story was the most attractive part to him. When people encounter rapid social change, such as the war described in this book, what do they do to overcome the challenge? He gave an example of China in the 1970's and 1980's, when people reacted to social changes differently. One tiny action or event could completely alter a person’s destiny.

There is no need to build a clear line between fiction and the real world. Books like Exit West always contain words and lines that are applicable to the real world. Fiction is valuable as it is more than a story, it is a story that can touch your heart.

BOOK INTRODUCTION: EXIT WEST: A NOVEL 

In an unnamed city teetering on the brink of civil war, a young couple embarks on a furtive love affair. As the long-simmering unrest explodes, the couple is at first separated and then thrust into an intimacy for which they may not be ready.

They begin to hear talk of doors—doors that can whisk people far from their country, if perilously and for a price. They find a door and leave behind their homeland and their old lives. Follow the couple through the mysterious doors—which lead them first to a migrant camp on Mykonos and then to teeming Vienna, a squatter-occupied mansion in west London, and finally to California, with its timeless beacon of promise and possibility. 

Exit West is Mohsin Hamid’s most ambitious and electrifying novel yet. He is the internationally bestselling author of four previous books, which have been translated into more than thirty languages. 

WHO IS JI XIAOJUN? 

Ji Xiaojun has worked as a presenter with CCTV for two decades, and currently hosts two regular programs, Culture Express and Crossover, both on CGTN. He was announcer for such major events in China as the Beijing Olympics, Paralympics, Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games. In 2012, he won the National Golden Microphone Award --the highest award in Chinese TV industry.