The Idiot | REVIEW
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- My top 5 reasons why you should read THE IDIOT by Elif Batuman, which was recently longlisted for the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction.
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For a dissenting opinion, check out Robert's review @ Barter Hordes: • A Rave & A Rant | Ever...
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Goodreads: tinyurl.com/43...
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Fantastic review, Claire. My favorite parts of The Idiot are the ones that seem to be more autobiographical, the ones that parallel her memoir. Her interactions with the people where she was traveling, times with her girlfriends, her interactions with learning new languages and studying literature, and her exploration of the emerging technology of email: those elements come alive on the page.
If you haven't read The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, you might like it because it has the same sense of the absurd and is packed with funny stories of her college/post-college days studying and traveling abroad. I was bored by the non-romance of The Idiot, but I do recognize it's a part of being that age. So my reaction to the book is mixed and I'm not sure it should/will win the prize, but it does have strengths I enjoyed.
Thanks so much, Sonya! I totally agree with you about those small, possibly autobiographical moments in the book-I thought they were so wonderful and really captured how people talk and act at that age. And I will definitely check out The Possessed at some point...I watched a few interviews with Elif Batuman after reading The Idiot, and she was so endearing that it made me want to check out everything else she's written/will write. And I think this book might be too divisive to win the Women's Prize, but I'm definitely excited to see people talking about it a bit more in the next few weeks :)
I just finished this and reallyyyyy enjoyed it, I agree with everything you said. Selin is simultaneously ambitions yet she seems to always need a push to reach her potential either with relationships or her academics and I love Selin’s relationship with Svetlana as much as with Ivan. I expected to loathe Ivan based on what I heard about him from reviews of this book (and I kind of did!) but I ultimately still respected his values because he was so compelled by them to tie with his identity.
I feel so compelled to do a review of this too, hopefully by tomorrow!
Ahhhh, I'm so glad you liked it!! Svetlana was such a funny character...like that friend who you love but who is also just kind of living in her own world, haha (although I felt for her, too!). And Ivan was so interesting-I think Batuman drew his character so well, because I found myself both thinking he was total garbage and also really charming and endearing (and I totally understood why Selin was so hung up on him). I would so love to see your review of this if you decide to do one! :)
Thank you so much for doing this! I’m a university student and although I began reading it I felt there was something I was missing - this helped so much to understand what lense to read this with!!
Brilliant, as always! Love how you set up pro & con videos. Now I must read to make up my own mind. Made me think of what we expect from a comingofage story, either: (1) something we identify with so closely that it forces us to reflect on & (re)evaluate our own experience; or (2) learn from the author's reflections on what she learned at that time & how she's grown & been affected since (Batuman is 40, plenty of time to reflect). Don't really need a plot if the experience is well captured. I also wonder if at some age we grow away from reading comingofage stories, & perhaps when even older maybe go back to enjoying & reflecting on that time of life ... another on my tbr (sigh!).
Thanks so much! I would love to hear your thoughts on this one. And your thoughts on coming of age stories are so great-I did wonder if my age had a lot to do with my positive response to the book. I'm only a few years out of college and am still processing that experience in some ways, so having a chance to read about it from the perspective of a character who is still somewhat in my age range was actually really helpful on a personal level, haha. So it will be interesting to see what other people (of different ages) think of it :)
Very happy to see this review! I've been waiting for reviews from some, well, younger people :) I am actually close to Selin's age, I started University in 1998, but I wondered how true this would ring for people who were in this stage of life more recently. I loved the 90s, what-the-heck-is-the-internet vibe, and found it a very chill, relaxing read.
Thanks so much, Laura! That's so funny because I found that the mid-90s, early-days-of-the-internet setting of the book seemed to echo a lot of the angst that I (and my millennial peers) currently have about technology...especially the email relationship with Ivan and her frustration with the ambiguity of it all...it all seemed very reminiscent of current millennial dating culture (e.g., "how long should I wait to reply to this message?" or the torture of being able to read past messages over and over again) in a way that was surprising to me! But I did like the small ways in which she evoked the 90s, like whenever Selin had to find a pay phone in Hungary to call her mom, or not being able to find friends after planning to meet up at a certain place because nobody has cell phones yet. I thought it was great all around :)
Thanks so much for this, Claire. I'm currently reading The Idiot and having mixed feelings about it so it was really helpful to hear your intelligent thoughts about why you appreciate it so much. I definitely connect to the humour and absurdity of her position and interactions. And it definitely feels like an accurate reflection of that uncertain time of life and drifting along. But part of my frustration with it is that this experience doesn't feel that compelling to read about. I can remember so well the experience of university dealing with emotional frustration and early love and confusion about why I'm studying what I am and waiting for the cafeteria to open - so I can relate, but as a reader now I want more plot and beautiful prose.
The tone and circumstances of it remind me a lot of Sally Rooney's novel Conversations with Friends (which I ended up really appreciating in the end so I'm wondering if I'll have the same feeling about The Idiot). I can't remember, have you read Rooney's novel?
Oooh, I can totally understand your frustration with the lack of plot and beautiful prose-I definitely felt frustrated at some points myself (there was a section in Hungary in the second half of the book that kind of lagged for me), and I agree that the writing is more on the spare side. I think what made the book compelling for me were Selin's observations and her descriptions of the people around her...I thought they were so on point and really captured they way people talk and act at that age. I also wonder how I would feel about this book if I were reading it a bit more removed from the university experience...I'm only a few years out and had a kind of mixed, confusing experience at college myself, so I think reading this book helped me to put some of those experiences in perspective...so while I found the book to be really relatable and compelling, I know that might be because of my particular personality and college experiences, too. But I'm eager to hear your full thoughts when you finish the book! :)
Also, I haven't read Conversations With Friends but have heard great things, so I'm definitely going to check it out! :)
First half at Harvard was really good. Second half in Paris and Hungary and Turkey was painfully slow. I guess you're right that she just hasn't found her sexual identity but she really becomes a doormat with Ivan The Terrible. Even going to Hungary on the pretext of teaching English--but really to be around Ivan for the summer--was kind of pathetic. She doesn't seem to respect herself much....which, yes, can be true of a lot of 18-19 year old girls I suppose. But it started to make all her snarky observations fall flat the more I got into the book. Somewhere I had a hunch there was a good child of divorce story waiting to get out but instead she reveals very little about her backstory and we kind of feel weirdly distant from her. We had over 400 pages, but how well did we really get to know her?
Extremely articulate! I almost had the feeling it was a conversation about the book. Thanks for this video!
Thanks so much, Juliana! :)
Hi! I'm new here and just found your channel while looking for reviews/discussions of this book - which I just finished and loved reading, btw :) You perfectly articulated all the main reasons I've had for enjoying this read so much (reasons number 4 and 5 stroke particularly close to me). I totally agree with you on understanding some people not liking it - I've found the pacing a little bit weird at the beginning and thought it would bother me, to read al those seemingly meaningless excerpts... But it turned out that it was something that really grew on me and made the whole experience of reading it quite unique.
Anyway, amazing review!
Thanks for sharing all the thoughts :)
Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm so glad you liked The Idiot, too! I agree that I wasn't sure how I felt about the book at first, but it really, really grew on me and felt unlike a lot of my usual reading experiences-it's a really original and special book, I think :) Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on it!
Excellent review, Claire. If you're interested, we should compare reading lists or perhaps do something collaborative, maybe a buddy read?
Thanks, Robert! It was totally inspired by your rant :D And I mean that in the best way possible! We should totally compare lists - do you use GoodReads?
I do. I'm listed there by my real name, Robert Sheard. Let's find something to read together.
I was intrigued when you mentioned this in your other video on Sad Love Stories, so I'm glad you did a full review on it too. I think I might give this one a go, you made an excellent pitch for it.
Thanks so much! Definitely let me know what you think if you end up reading it :)
I read 'The Idiot' last year and it gave me some great belly laughs. I totally agree with you review, the description of time passing without significant plot which is how life can be. I did enjoy this book.
I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the book - I found it so funny, too! :)
So well spoken! I knew I'd want to get your take on this one. I tend to agree more with Robert @barterhordes' opinion of The Idiot. It felt more like a missed opportunity. There are so many things this book could have been, but wasn't. Dryly funny bits and winking nods to 1995 notwithstanding, it just felt like the book meandered a few steps this way, a few steps that way, then came right back to where it started and stayed there, standing idly with its hands in its pockets. But your comments always give me a new appreciation for things I overlooked - much appreciated!
Thanks so much, Beth! It's been great to hear everyone's thoughts on this book, and what you found frustrating about it (the meandering quality, the lack of progress in terms of Selin "finding herself," etc.) are things that I really appreciated-but I also totally understand why other people don't have the patience for that, haha. :D
I just started the book, but it is a little boring. Just the story of a freshman at Harvard and only mundane and typical events occur. I will finish it and hope it improves.
is this a good book to pick for a high school project?
Great reasons for reading this book! I read it a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it. I didn't really expect to like it as much as I did.
I didn't expect to love this one, either-it was a really nice surprise! I know it's not for everyone, but it was definitely the right book for me :)
Great review as always Claire, there are some vastly different opinions of several books on the women’s prize longlist which is actually very stimulating and really making me think about which ones I want to spend my time on. Do you think this novel is appreciated differently by different age groups or from different countries?
Thanks, Jo! It's been so interesting to see the discussion about the Women's Prize longlist this year! It's hard to say how people from other countries or age groups might react to this novel...I think I was probably partial to this book because I was recently(-ish) a college student myself, and I also had a liberal arts education that was more focused on "personal enrichment" and "finding yourself" than, say, a technical school or more pre-professional education (I can understand some readers finding the woes of liberal arts aimlessness a bit annoying/frustrating). But this book didn't feel as obnoxious or overly self-involved as other books about people navigating elite spaces, and if anything I think the humor and plotting will be the main deal maker or breaker for this book-if you appreciate the dry and sometimes absurd humor and if you don't mind the lack of plot, then I think you'll enjoy it :)
This sounds interesting, I've been trying to find more books that deal with the university/college experience!
It's definitely a great and different kind of campus novel! :)
I always love your reviews. You make me want to read all the books
Thanks, Pip!! You are so sweet
This sounds fantastic. Thank you for the review! I'll be keeping an eye out for it.
Thanks, Bethany! It's definitely worth checking out :)
Really intriguing review. I'd never heard of this book, but I want to read it now
Follow up: I read it, and I loved it! And this review is spot on, great discussion here of some of the best aspects of the book in my opinion. The one other thing that stood out to me was this deep underlying question of how we convey meaning through what we say and don't say, and Selin's almost obsession with this question
I read many reviews and recommendations the idiot, through your review I got a a good understanding of the book as a whole.
I'm so glad! Hopefully it was helpful :)
Your book reviews get me to impulse-buying point in about 12 seconds.
I would just love to meet you in real life, you seem like such an interesting and intelligent person !
Always articulate. I have picked it up from the library. Both you and Robert @barterhordes present compelling reasons for and against.
Thanks so much, Lia!
Thanks Claire! This book is my fav March reading~
That's fantastic! :)
Whoops.... thought it was The Idiot by Dostoevsky.. Cya
Excellent review and I love how you included the “naysayers “, showing room for different opinions!🙋♀️👍📚
Thanks, Peg! I think this book might be divisive, so I'm really curious to hear what everyone else thinks of it! :)
I loved your review. I fully relate to it.
Thank you for going ahead with this! I hear this is also layered, overly so, with cultural/literary references and I do love that. I think we humans can get overwhelmed with the stories we need to tell ourselves in order to live (as great as stories are, ha!) and needing a plot from a girl who doesn’t have one yet it far fetched - having a confusion of voices and stories she’s muddling through makes sense. Also, I feel women are having a moment with novels! 🤗
I actually didn't find the literary/cultural references to be too much in the book...but maybe that was because those kinds of references were presented as information that Selin was learning as a student (it wasn't like the author was trying to be overly smart with a ton of allusions that only "cultured" readers will pick up on)...but I totally agree with your thoughts here! And I hope women are always having a moment with novels! :D