The Idiot by Elif Batumen

“It was hard to decide on a literature class. You wanted to know why Anna had to die...I wasn't interested in society, or ancient people's troubles. I wanted to know what books really meant.”

And here is where I bonded with this book, very early on at page 16. Our main character is searching for how her passion for literature defines her. But, The Idiot made me work for it -- this is not an easy book and yet I can't say it's difficult either. What IS hard is describing it - its form is so unique. So here's my take on one of the most original novels I've ever read.

The Idiot is the story of Selin, a young Turkish-American Harvard freshman (campus novel, check). As a native Bostonian, the "in and around Boston" setting was really well done - from lamenting the city's public transit to mentions of Filene's Basement and Walden Pond, Batuman wove in place really well.

Batuman's narrative style is like nothing I’ve ever read. We are in Selin's mind 100% of the time and bear witness to her every thought. Her inner dialogue is insightful, matter of fact, and often hilarious. It truly felt like the inner workings of a curious and smart college freshman. Much of the novel follows the story of Selin's obsession with Ivan, an older student she has a crush on and Batuman so deftly taps into that time in our lives when we think we're ready for the adult relationship but we aren't adults yet. When we deliberate and scrutinize every action to the point of absurdity.

When I finished this fairly long book my feelings were complicated and so I read reviews and searched for author interviews. And most readers also cite feeling confused, so I felt validated. But I listened to a podcast called Literary FRICTION and the interview with Batuman gave me solid insights that really brought Selin's story into focus and spurred me on to pick up her sequel, Either Or- highly recommend the podcast listen.

The Idiot was a finalist for the Pulitzer and I've said before that those books are often very difficult both to comprehend and describe.

Check and check. 3.5.