wasabby's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The first half of the book is focused on Selin, a freshman at Harvard, going through the machinations of college life. If the whole book was set up like this, I think it'd be easier to like it. Unfortunately, at the halfway mark, the book devolves into a strange grooming scenario between Selin and a senior/grad student. When you combine that with the sheer amount of casual racism, literal slurs, *acknowledgement* of the slurs and yet the continued use of them, the constant antisemitism the book somehow always finds a way to come back to... it's not a good book. It glorifies a predatory dynamic between a young woman and a man too old to be dating an 18 year old. It doesn't criticize the lack of empathy Selin feels for those around her. Characters in the book are often devoid of any real personality beyond "the black roommate" and "the friend of a friend who has a girlfriend in a wheelchair." Also just a lot of strange sexual content. If any of that's not your cup of tea, I'd avoid reading this.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Excrement, Emotional abuse, War, Alcoholism, Classism, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Racism, Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Ableism, Body shaming, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Xenophobia
savvylit's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Idiot is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of an incredibly intelligent yet socially naive young woman. For instance, Selin spends paragraphs contemplating philosophy, existentialism, linguistics, and mathematics - but she can barely express her own emotions and needs. Early in the novel, Selin enters into a toxic friendship with a fellow student named Ivan. Both Selin and Ivan are deeply emotionally stunted. In fact, they both talk AT each other instead of TO each other. And the majority of those one-sided conversations occur only via email. Their relationship was incredibly frustrating to witness & possibly my least favorite aspect of this novel. Luckily, Selin herself is so endearing that it makes up for it!
Selin's naivete, though frustrating, allows her to be an incredibly keen observationist. Being a college freshman, Selin experiences "adult" interaction for the first time. In these encounters, she often has a completely fresh perspective on ordinary scenarios that most of us might take for granted. And she's funny! Selin has a dry humor that kept me chuckling to myself from the first page to the last.
Selin's naivete, though frustrating, allows her to be an incredibly keen observationist. Being a college freshman, Selin experiences "adult" interaction for the first time. In these encounters, she often has a completely fresh perspective on ordinary scenarios that most of us might take for granted. And she's funny! Selin has a dry humor that kept me chuckling to myself from the first page to the last.
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: War and Body shaming
rebekahg876's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
Minor: Ableism, Racial slurs, and Racism
definebookish's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I can’t deny that part of the reason Selin, the narrator of Elif Batuman’s Pulitzer-shortlisted The Idiot, resonates with me so much is that we’re contemporaries.
I wasn’t at Harvard, but like her, my first email account was the one assigned to me when I arrived at university. Like her, I developed intense friendships almost entirely through email that year that people not using email didn’t really understand.
I’m sure The Idiot is also relatable on a somewhat wider level – if you’ve ever been that clever but clueless eighteen-year-old arriving at university, searching for meaning and finding out that the more you learn, you less you know about anything.
I’m sure The Idiot is also relatable on a somewhat wider level – if you’ve ever been that clever but clueless eighteen-year-old arriving at university, searching for meaning and finding out that the more you learn, you less you know about anything.
I’ve read mixed reviews of this one, and while I loved reading it, even while loving it I could see it as that other book that people who didn’t love it were reading, if I squinted. It is slow and sometimes stilted. Selin is taking a class in Russian, and there’s something about The Idiot that feels like a slightly awkward translation – a distance that comes with that. But I found it charming, and I loved its relentlessly meandering introspection. And it’s straight-up hilarious at times, in a stealthy deadpan way that left me a little surprised every time I realised I’d laughed out loud.
*This would’ve been a five star read for me, but for an instance of throwaway Roma stereotyping towards the end, which I’m knocking off a star for. Hey, I don’t make the rules. (I make the rules.)
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
stevie's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Racial slurs, and Racism
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