麦肯纳·杜根
Picture a world where an ordinary door can change where it leads. 没人知道, but the door’s darkness can surround anyone who walks through it and transport them to another place. Your apartment door could take you to California in seconds or across the sea to a mansion in London. You can travel freely across the globe to places you've only seen in pictures, escaping your mundane life for something new and exciting. 其他人也可以逃脱. Escape a "country teetering on the brink of civil war."
This is the premise of Mohsin Hamid's novel and this year's common read, 退出西. It follows a couple during their passages through these magical doors, as they try to escape the war in their unnamed home city. 这本小说确实是大学读物, as Hamid doesn't sugar coat anything or paint the characters as heroes of amazing strength. They are regular college students: they dabble in drugs, 与节制作斗争, and are still trying to find themselves despite having to leave the only home they've ever known. 他们是人类. 完美不完美的人类.
It is the perfect book for college students to read and discuss since it covers many current and controversial topics but in ways different from what we’re used to. 事实上, I always shied away from material like this; I was afraid that the news or talk shows would be biased and I would have poorly informed opinions. Knowing that I was reading fiction created a safe place for me to ask myself the serious questions I had been avoiding. For instance, didn’t all our ancestors take their land from someone who was inhabiting it? 如果是这样的话, 什么权利, 如果有任何, does that give them to refuse people seeking refuge in their country for themselves and their loved ones?
Aside from the heavy questions this novel poses and its bluntly real style of writing, it also gives us a look into many countries and ways of life. Not only do we travel with the main characters across the world, but Hamid also inserts snippets of people’s lives that Nadia and Saeed never come in contact with. It explores what it's like being a woman in a country in the Middle East, as well as views immigrants through the eyes of a man who believes they are trespassing on "his" land. These glimpses remind us that while we follow the struggles and triumphs of a few characters, every person on this earth is writing their own narrative.
Regardless of the fact that this novel is practically written for the world's political climate at this very instant, there are some great perks to joining in on this year's common read. 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校 offers continual opportunities to get involved in programs centered around this story. There has been a screening of documentary about political unrest that have led some to become refugees, followed by a discussion by people those familiar with that area of the world. For those who enjoyed Hamid's upfront, 独特的写作风格, there will be two creative writing workshops. There will even be an opportunity for us to debate the status of refugees in America. 但最重要的是食物. I'm not just talking about the pizza that will accompany most of the discussions; I'm talking real Pakistani Cuisine. That's right, your days of Ramen Noodles are over my friend.
I lied slightly about the food being the best part. Penn State is providing all of us with the opportunity to meet the author of 退出西. 作者…的作者 纽约时报 2017, 10 Best Books will be in the Adler Complex, Tuesday, Sept 25th at 7:30 p.m. 问题. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and to not take advantage of it would be a mistake.
My first reaction to being given a book at NSO was "Great, I'm 肯定 going to read this, cause I'm a complete nerd. 谢谢,十大网投平台信誉排行榜.但在被迫阅读之后, I realized that my assumptions that it was going to be some stuffy, 无聊的, overly informative waste of space was dead wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if Hamid's magnetic style and ideas draw me back in for a second read.
所以, 我鼓励你读这本小说, get involved and meet other students across campus with this year's common read, 西方退出, 作者:Mohsin Hamid.