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A review by aimann
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
reread in august 2024 and loved it. i think this is definitely a mood read and the summer was the right time to read it.
this felt like when ur talking to someone who rambles a lot - they go on and on and in the moment having to listen is so painful. but later you keep coming back to the conversation and find new inspiring things in it and start valuing it so much more. the second half of the book was almost painful to get through but i couldn't stop reading. i was so relieved when it ended. it had a lot of beautiful and inspiring bits and i loved the references to other pieces of literature. it felt like u were getting glimpses into selins life and the days all blurred into one (like she mentions as well). i get the point of the book and i think it was done very well but reading it gave me a headache. i hated the ivan storyline but i adore svetlana. the characters did get extremely insufferable at times, especially ivan and even selin sometimes (more ostentatious than pretentious, like dakota said). also, i was expecting it to be a fun, coming of age light read but it was not - it felt like a coming of age YA read written as a philosophical, reflective classic. ive never read anything like it. maybe ill revisit this again some day and appreciate it more.
this felt like when ur talking to someone who rambles a lot - they go on and on and in the moment having to listen is so painful. but later you keep coming back to the conversation and find new inspiring things in it and start valuing it so much more. the second half of the book was almost painful to get through but i couldn't stop reading. i was so relieved when it ended. it had a lot of beautiful and inspiring bits and i loved the references to other pieces of literature. it felt like u were getting glimpses into selins life and the days all blurred into one (like she mentions as well). i get the point of the book and i think it was done very well but reading it gave me a headache. i hated the ivan storyline but i adore svetlana. the characters did get extremely insufferable at times, especially ivan and even selin sometimes (more ostentatious than pretentious, like dakota said). also, i was expecting it to be a fun, coming of age light read but it was not - it felt like a coming of age YA read written as a philosophical, reflective classic. ive never read anything like it. maybe ill revisit this again some day and appreciate it more.