(4.5 stars) This book really took me on a journey. I loved how much I got to know Selin and honestly it was so funny. I really enjoyed her dry sense of humor. It would have been 5 stars, but I just did not get the romance aspect, sorry. ( )

I was rather charmed by ‘The Idiot’, although I didn’t find it as hilarious as [b:The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them|6763627|The Possessed Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them|Elif Batuman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441764218s/6763627.jpg|6961467]. Batuman’s narrator Selin remains somewhat elusive, despite having a distinctive voice. I liked the sense that she was uncertain of herself and discovering who she was; a realistic situation for a first year undergraduate student. However, I did wonder whether the meandering and anecdotal style could be sustained for 400 pages. Although my interest was kept, once I got to the end of the book the whole thing seemed to dissolve in my head. There’s something insubstantial about it, despite moments of great insight and amusement. This is definitely a matter of taste, of course. Batuman’s writing is great, especially her meditations on the nature of language, but her non-fiction is simply more to my liking. I found Selin’s crush on Ivan rather tiresome, because Ivan is rather tiresome. While this is probably also realistic, it took up a lot of space and dragged a bit. Selin’s relationship with her friend Svetlana was much more interesting. This scene with Selin, Svetlana, and Svetlana’s mother was priceless:

She turned to me abruptly. “Do you wax your eyebrows? Surely you must pluck them, with tweezers. No? They have such an interesting shape. It doesn’t look quite natural. Of course, you don’t need to do anything with your eyebrows. Well, maybe you could just clean them up a little bit, right here, but it’s not a crisis. Not like Svetlana, who won’t do anything with hers, and they make her look so angry.”
“I am angry, Mom. It’s not my eyebrows.”
“Yes, I know, darling, you keep saying that. But they give you a sullen look, like a sulky little boy. You would be so much more attractive without it. Don’t you think, Selin?”
I knew the look she meant, it was at a certain angle when she looked down, and it was dear to me. “I like Svetlana’s eyebrows,” I said.
“Ah!” She sighed. “You girls are so young.”
“I don’t feel young,” Svetlana said. “This day has aged me a thousand years.”

In part 'The Idiot' was a victim of high expectations. If I hadn’t already read anything by Batuman I might have given it four stars. Capricious as it seems, I can only award three when my expectations were high and it was somehow too wispy to meet them. ( )

best "coming of age" (not that i would specifically put it in that category) type story i've ever read. it's an actual coming of age story, one that, while slightly unrealistic for the sake of entertainment, is not just believable, but also relatable, hilarious, and real. the writing blends together seamlessly, and while towards the middle of the book i believed it should be shorter, i would now refuse to sacrifice a single word. ( )

DNF @34 pages
Basically the observations and conversations of a boring Harvard undergrad. Nothing resonated or hit for me, felt myself zoning out.

It's the mid 1990s and Selin is in her freshman year at Harvard. Email is new, cell phones aren't around yet, and Selin is navigating the transition to adulthood. She's learning to interact with her peers and learning all the different ways people interact with each other and the world. And, of course, what story about young adults could avoid a love interest?

I loved the opening of this book. Selin's voice is funny and the mid-90s college setting is my era. But, reading this on my kindle, I found myself checking how close I was to the end after 16% of the book was read. Hmm. I don't think Batuman really sustained the freshness that she achieves in the opening of the novel.

I kept reading and moderately enjoyed it, but I got annoyed with the love interest and thought things just got a little too out-there for me.

OK, but not as special as I was hoping it would be. ( )