A review by tasteofcherrry
The Idiot by Elif Batuman

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

Over the course of reading this book, I grew quite attached to Selin, the protagonist, with whom I have many, many things in common other than our Turkishness. While the plot and pacing was inconsistently interesting, her state of mind and perspective had me glued to the page. That lost feeling of starting uni at 18, seeking understanding and validation in all the wrong places, being unaware of many parts of yourself, blindly following a script you’ve written based on ‘what you’re supposed to do’ and ‘who you’re supposed to be’, existing in an almost constant state if confusion… Very frequently Elif Batuman’s writing would evoke a memory and I would get lost in my thoughts. Do all Turks live lives in close proximity to Russians, or something having to do with them? Is the level of education in American private colleges actually pretty much the same, and people only pay for brand value? Do people never realise they’re overwhelming others unless someone tells them directly? Is an honest confession of feelings actually a killer of connection? (Should we just lie all the time?)
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