Leave the World Behind: ‘The book of an era’ Independent
£2.20
*A THE TIMES #1 BESTSELLER*
*THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*
*A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING PICK 2021*
‘Easily the best thing I have read all year’ KILEY REID, AUTHOR OF SUCH A FUN AGE
‘Intense, incisive, I loved this and have still not quite shaken off the unease’ DAVID NICHOLLS
‘I was hooked from the opening pages’ CLARE MACKINTOSH
‘Simply breathtaking . . . An extraordinary book, at once smart, gripping and hallucinatory’ OBSERVER
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A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong
Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a holiday: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and – with nowhere else to turn – they have come to the country in search of shelter.
But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple – and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?
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FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2020
FINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2021
A DAILY TELEGRAPH, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, IRISH TIMESAND TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR
Everyone is talking about LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND
‘You will probably need to read it in as close to one sitting as possible’
Sunday Times
‘A page-turner taking in themes of isolation, race and class’
Guardian
‘A book that could have been tailor-made for our times’
The Times
‘A literary page-turner that will keep you awake even after it ends’
Mail on Sunday
‘An exceptional examination of race and class and what the world looks like when it’s ending’
Roxane Gay
‘A thrilling book – one that will speak to readers who have felt the terror of isolation in these recent months and one that will simultaneously, as great books do, lift them out of it’
Vogue
‘Explores complex ideas about privilege and fate with miraculous wit and grace’
Jenny Offill
‘For the reader, the invisible terror outside in Leave the World Behind echoes the sense of disquiet today in a world convulsed by the pandemic’
Financial Times
‘Alam’s achievement is to see that his genre’s traditional arc, which relies on the idea of aftermath, no longer makes sense. Today, disaster novels call for something different’
New Yorker
‘Read it with the lights on’
Jenna Bush Hager, October Book Club pick
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Additional information
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing, 1st edition (6 Oct. 2020) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 1581 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 232 pages |
by Underwhelming
The book has quite good suspense, there is the growing expectation of what is happening and it made me keep reading BUT that is about all positive here. Despite being relatively short book, it took me weeks to go through it. The writing style is atrocious and very dragging and for the majority of book it is vast detailed portrayals of everything where nothing really happens – shopping lists and so on – in quite forced woke-like environment. The characters are non-likeable one dimensional walking stereotypes who almost lack dialogue (as if they were not talking to each other but having a never ending monologues and this is despitehaving clearly interactions), the author also overly sexualizes the narrative with often quite uncalled for graphic sexual scenes, inuendos and added sexual connotations. There were also so many times of me having to reread some of the chapters as it is easy to lose focus and miss
a small detail – especially in those almost script like ‘what they don’t know is happening around them’ moments. Also, in the end, nothing happens – I get that the author wants us to feel like the characters would feel going through apocalypse but it feels like he simply ripped few chapters out before publishing, there is no proper ending. So yeah, quite interesting idea, very poorly executed and unfinished.
by Lewis Clarke
It was a good book, loved the flow of description whether it be about shopping or transversing human thoughts in the moment. Kept suspense which didn’t really lead anywhere. The ending was kinda flat and open to interation, which life can be like especially with the unknown. Which this book focused on, not really knowing anything, and how we as people respond to that.
There’s a lot left to be desired personally as a like there being an conclusive end to a story that shows such great potential. Maybe there a sequel that I’m not aware of
I’d like to see how this story progresses.
by miss k.
Loved this, no explanations given except a few teasers about whats happening elsewhere, as a family in this situation would be, not knowing.
Love that the shock of seeing Archie struck his mother dumb with shock, what had happened to him? More questions than answers but characters all well fleshed out so you feel you know them, even Danny who only comes into it for a few seconds, but you just know that whatever
happened to Archie will happen to his wife , as although he doesn’t know it yet her teeth are quite loose.
And you never get to know why they still have power but the city has blackout.
by APageBookClub
Leave the World Behind” by Rumaan Alam left me with mixed feelings and ultimately fell short of my expectations. I would rate it at two stars for a few reasons that made the reading experience less enjoyable for me.
Firstly, the book’s pacing felt sluggish, making it difficult to stay engaged with the story. While I appreciate a slow build in novels, in this case, it bordered on tedious. The plot moved at a snail’s pace, and I found myself waiting for something substantial to happen, which took away from my enjoyment of the narrative.
Secondly, the characters, while well-developed in some aspects, failed to elicit any strong emotional connection. Their actions and motivations often left me perplexed, and I struggled to empathize with their choices. I found it challenging to invest in their fates, which hindered my ability to become fully immersed in the story.
Additionally, the book’s blurb and marketing led me to expect a more intense and thought-provoking exploration of the premise. However, the story veered into unexpected and somewhat unsatisfying directions, leaving me with unresolved questions and a feeling of ambiguity that left me dissatisfied.
In summary, “Leave the World Behind” had the potential to be a thought-provoking and gripping read, but it fell short of my expectations due to its slow pacing, unrelatable characters, and an ending that left me wanting more clarity. While it may resonate with some readers, it unfortunately didn’t resonate with me, but I am sure others would think otherwise.