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A review by carabones
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have taken this book on and off of my to-read list for the past few years and I really wasn't sure whether I would like it, but I am so glad I finally gave it a chance! Batuman's semi-autobiographical novel follows a Harvard freshman, Selin, on her quest to figure out the meaning of, well, everything—from language to love—from her perspective as an American teenager, "the world’s least interesting and dignified kind of person."
Selin travels from Harvard to Paris en route to Hungary, where she spends a summer trying to teach English and American culture while not really understanding why, and finally to Turkey, where she does speak the language and yet still has difficulty fitting in. Along the way she finds herself in absurd situations, awkward encounters, and confusing relationships with her Hungarian crush and her Serbian best friend.
Ultimately, Selin wants to know, why is everything confusing? How does anyone form opinions on anything? Does the language we speak influence how we see and experience the world? This book is full of pseudo-intellectual conversations, cringey college student antics, frustrating miscommunications, 1990s nostalgia, cultural observations from the eyes of a teenager, and an endless cast of side characters... Yet somehow it wholly succeeds in being self-aware, perceptive, and even poignant at times, and also utterly hilarious. Where else can you find sentences like these?
Selin travels from Harvard to Paris en route to Hungary, where she spends a summer trying to teach English and American culture while not really understanding why, and finally to Turkey, where she does speak the language and yet still has difficulty fitting in. Along the way she finds herself in absurd situations, awkward encounters, and confusing relationships with her Hungarian crush and her Serbian best friend.
Ultimately, Selin wants to know, why is everything confusing? How does anyone form opinions on anything? Does the language we speak influence how we see and experience the world? This book is full of pseudo-intellectual conversations, cringey college student antics, frustrating miscommunications, 1990s nostalgia, cultural observations from the eyes of a teenager, and an endless cast of side characters... Yet somehow it wholly succeeds in being self-aware, perceptive, and even poignant at times, and also utterly hilarious. Where else can you find sentences like these?
We stopped at a red light. “I guess I’ll go back and do some math,” Ivan said darkly, and loped off into the night.
In either case, it seemed clear to me that if you really wanted to be a writer, you didn’t send away the weasel.
I can see why this book wouldn't work for every reader, but I loved it, and can't wait to read the new sequel to find out what happens to Selin. Also, maybe, maybe this will be the push I need to tiptoe into Russian literature like the Dostoyevsky classic that inspired this book's title. Either way, I think this will become a new favorite.