"That seemed to do it for our conversation. I looked around at the rest of the class. They were all still talking, laboriously, like seals."
Of The Idiot's many charms, the greatest may be how funny it is; in an interview, Batuman has said she worked hard to keep the number of jokes and surprising or delightful observations up there, and it shows. I can't remember the last book I read that made me laugh as much, and as continually unexpectedly, as this one did - occurring as frequently due to Selin's observations (sometimes for how they reveal her misunderstanding of a situation) as to the things that happen to her along the way.
I do like a good campus novel, and this one has the additional advantage of being set in the 90s, a period setting whose flagging is most evident, and significant, in the way it shapes the novel's themes and action - in particular, the novelty of email (and how it ties in with the way self, communication and relationships are in play at that time of life and via language, writing and online-ness), and the restriction to fixed-line phones (which is a major part of the plot, such as it is).
Part and parcel with the above is many of the characters making up its sprawling cast, most of whom are young (from Selin's 18/19 up to mid-20s, both at Harvard and in the Hungarian village where Selin finds herself teaching English - just one of a few stagings of the theme of education in a 'narrative' whose main focus is its main character's education, or lack thereof, in life over the period it covers) and idiosyncratically exhibit many of the typical flaws, anxieties and unwarranted instances of confidence and beliefs about themselves and the world, as well as typical behaviours (e.g. everyone has dreams and tells each other about them all the time) of that time of life. Crucially, though, most are noticeably likeable - Selin herself, for all of her flaws and blind spots, her friend Svetlana and roommate Hannah, even the spikier Rózsa ... not so much Ivan, though his behaviour is certainly recognisable.
The Idiot is enjoyable and easy to read, despite the - extremely deliberate, I think - absence of much in the way of plot. Many of its elements suggest a certain frothiness, but actually it's quite a demanding, cerebral book, albeit in some ways that aren't obvious, while its use of language is quite the marvel. A very good one.
Of The Idiot's many charms, the greatest may be how funny it is; in an interview, Batuman has said she worked hard to keep the number of jokes and surprising or delightful observations up there, and it shows. I can't remember the last book I read that made me laugh as much, and as continually unexpectedly, as this one did - occurring as frequently due to Selin's observations (sometimes for how they reveal her misunderstanding of a situation) as to the things that happen to her along the way.
I do like a good campus novel, and this one has the additional advantage of being set in the 90s, a period setting whose flagging is most evident, and significant, in the way it shapes the novel's themes and action - in particular, the novelty of email (and how it ties in with the way self, communication and relationships are in play at that time of life and via language, writing and online-ness), and the restriction to fixed-line phones (which is a major part of the plot, such as it is).
Part and parcel with the above is many of the characters making up its sprawling cast, most of whom are young (from Selin's 18/19 up to mid-20s, both at Harvard and in the Hungarian village where Selin finds herself teaching English - just one of a few stagings of the theme of education in a 'narrative' whose main focus is its main character's education, or lack thereof, in life over the period it covers) and idiosyncratically exhibit many of the typical flaws, anxieties and unwarranted instances of confidence and beliefs about themselves and the world, as well as typical behaviours (e.g. everyone has dreams and tells each other about them all the time) of that time of life. Crucially, though, most are noticeably likeable - Selin herself, for all of her flaws and blind spots, her friend Svetlana and roommate Hannah, even the spikier Rózsa ... not so much Ivan, though his behaviour is certainly recognisable.
The Idiot is enjoyable and easy to read, despite the - extremely deliberate, I think - absence of much in the way of plot. Many of its elements suggest a certain frothiness, but actually it's quite a demanding, cerebral book, albeit in some ways that aren't obvious, while its use of language is quite the marvel. A very good one.
