My Thoughts about Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Leave the World Behind is a thought-provoking and suspenseful novel that delves into the human character during crisis. Rumaan Alam has crafted a book that weaves together the genres of psychological thriller and dystopian fiction in a chilling yet enthralling experience. The book poses profound issues of race and class and of trusting the wrong people and surviving at any cost—this book is not a typical mystery; it’s a study of human instincts.
Leave the World Behind Summary
An Unanticipated Honeymoon turned Horrifying Experience
By Amanda and Clay, a middle-class couple from New York, leave with their teenage children and rent a large rural home in the countryside of Long Island with the hope of a quiet holiday. They experience a rude shock when the home-owners, an old Black couple named G.H. and Ruth, arrive at the door unexpectedly. They inform them that a power blackout has hit the entire city and that they need shelter in the home of the renters.
With no television, internet, or phone, it becomes difficult for Amanda and Clay to know whether they should be trusting of G.H. and Ruth. Strange occurrences start happening—animals behaving abnormally, strange sonic booms resounding through the air, and a general feeling of unease—when the two families need to put aside fear and prejudice and try and comprehend the world falling apart at the seams.
Pacing of Leave the World Behind – Unhurried yet Tense
Rumaan Alam’s technique emphasizes the build of suspense rather than a fast-moving plot. The plot of the book unfolds slowly and with deliberation and drops readers into the character’s psychological tension. The withholding of clear answers plays a part in the anxiety and the sensation that the book somehow happens in real life. The book will be riveting if you’re an admirer of novels that emphasize the build of environment and mood.
Characters of Leave the World Behind – Realistic and Complex
One of the strongest sections of the novel resides with the characters that exhibit differing perspectives and prejudice.
Amanda and Clay – an upper-middle-class white couple that grapples with prejudice and fear as the events spiral darker and darker.
G.H. and Ruth – The African-American residents who drive home and discover they’re greeted with suspicion by the newcomers who’ve moved in. They’re the rational and calm foil to the steadily paranoid Amanda and Clay.
Archie and Rose, the two teenage children of Amanda and Clay, live the crisis in a world of their own with glimpses of innocent and at times wise conduct.
Each of the characters has a flaw that makes them real. The book does not present simplistic answers, instead making readers consider the depth of human connections.
Writing Style of Leave the World Behind – Poetic and Thought-Inducing
Rumaan Alam’s writing is elegant, descriptive, and deeply introspective. His prose often feels poetic, with long, flowing sentences that dive into the characters’ thoughts and emotions. While some readers may find his style overly detailed, it effectively builds an immersive and unsettling atmosphere.
Themes of Leave the World Behind – Thought-Inducing and Timely
Leave the World Behind delves into a few relevant and forceful themes:
Class and Race – The book also touches implicitly on economic and racial divisions, with the white tenants initially perceiving the African-American homebuyers with suspicion and suspicion highlighting social prejudice.
Trust and Fear – Under a crisis of the unknown, whom will you trust? The book broaches the subject of how fear influences human behavior and decision-making.
Isolation and technology – The technology that suddenly fails the characters separates them and emphasizes how reliant we’ve gotten on modern technology in an effort to be secure. Family and Survival – The play compels each character to realize their greatest fear and survival needs and question the connections they have with each other. One of the Most Read Psychological Thrillers
Leave the World Behind Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) If you’re a reader of thought and atmospheric novels, Leave the World Behind will be a page-turner. Its haunting premise and character study place it in a category of the genre that few others inhabit. Still, if you’re a reader of fast-paced action with clear-cut endings, this book will frustrate you.
About Rumaan Alam
Rumaan Alam has been a writer and a television critic Rumaan Alam publishes award-winning literary novels that tackle the subject of race, social hierarchy, and class. Among his previous novels include Rich and Pretty and That Kind of Mother. Leave the World Behind won the National Book Award and has been adapted into a Netflix original with the starring duo of Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke.