Chantel's Reviews > The Idiot

** spoiler alert ** It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on disordered eating, distorted body image, poverty, financial insecurity, & others.

Selin is a girl who is actually not like other girls. This is because she isn’t herself; a person she hasn’t come to know, doesn’t quite understand, & fails to connect with. In all her years growing into the person we meet on the pages, Selin wandered through the roles she adopted by surrogate need, rather than fulfill the centre of her desires & the ultimately sought-after purpose in human existence: to be oneself. Batuman’s novel guides the reader into a story that is slow, stilted, uncomfortably bland, & often times ridiculous. However much all these things are true, her story is also one that is enticing, curious, honest, & enthralling. Selin is a character that we know well yet, this is what leaves the reader with sadness for the desire to see this girl be more than she is; the result in a gaping hole of desire left unfulfilled.

It is always a toss, choosing to read a book that has been highly popularized. One may be left reeling with regret & perhaps even anger, at all the reviewers who stated that the book was worth their time. On the flip side, one might find themselves as I do, confused. I certainly appreciate those reviewers who stated—with gusto—that this book was horrific & a waste of time. Yet, I find myself longing to read it again. After the day that has passed since I finished this book I am still conflicted as to what particular aspect of this story was what reeled me in; left me comforted in the banal universe of the main character & her discussions of strawberry plants. What part of the writing was smart, stunning, & inspiring?

Should I be asked, I cannot say with any level of confidence that I would recommend this book to anyone I know. If I were to take the time to imagine a reader who would take a thrill from reading this book, I cannot call one to mind. Who is this book for? Evidently, in this case, the ideal reader is me. I will not lie to you & say that there were not multiple instances throughout this book that left me laughing for wondering at the ridiculousness of the dialogue. I often paused to marvel that Batuman endeavoured to write such a story to leave one feeling that nothing much, if anything, happened at all. All the while so much was transpiring & I suppose that is so similar to the realities we inhabit as to make readers uncomfortable with the confrontation of the monotone existence we lead on this big round ball.

Do not mistake me, we can encounter any number of fantastic events, opportunities, feelings, relationships, etc. Selin is at an age where she is meant to know who she is—everyone around her knows who they are & are very vocal in their pursuits of things that will fill their being with the desires that they need met. It appears to Selin that she is simply a shadow, a secondary member of the main cast who acts as a transitional conversationalist for them during their downtime. It certainly does not help that the society in which Selin grew up has changed to include virtual reality. The introduction of the internet in such a grandiose way has opened the door for computerized mail, e-mail. She now has to balance being present in real terms while maintaining the activities she participates in virtually.

Admittedly, it is difficult for me to know where to begin this review because my mind is still reflecting on the story itself. I suppose that this is part of what I enjoyed so much; the sheer banality of presenting a story in something of a linear fashion that leads one to slowly piece together what was there all along. Before moving forward, I would like to touch on something that I have seen many people’s critiques include; the lack of a plot. Though I can appreciate that the format of this story & the way in which it was written leave a person feeling overwhelmed with stagnation, there is in fact a plot to this book. By definition, a plot is usually categorized by the interruption of a sequence, a pattern. This may be reflected in the altering of what was taking place even if by a small moment within the story, such as the moment in time that Selin stepped foot into her Russian language course.

I respect that people might interpret this book in different ways & this also includes interpreting the key points of the forward movement of the plot differently as well. In my humble opinion, not being the person who wrote this book but simply someone who read it, this key moment takes place when Selin meets Ivan. He is just the back of a head & then he becomes someone that Selin longs to know in a fashion that is uncharacteristic of herself. When the book introduces Ivan’s character this begins the series of events that transform the book from a simple tenure at the university where Selin will learn to be scholarly, to the story that reveals the nuance in learning the semantics of conversation & being able to truly understand another person.

The question that this story poses is not one that necessitates rhetoric so much as one that seeks to leave the reader with the desire to reflect on their own abilities, & their own habits for communicating & therefore highlighting how varied our interpretation of both Selin & Ivan can be. At face value, Ivan appears to be a highly intelligent person who struggles to vocalize his inner thoughts to a person who does not view the world as he does. The fact that he studies mathematics & Selin studies linguistics is not lost on me, nor should it be lost on any reader. The difference & struggle to view a single rose in a similar way as the person sitting right beside you, at the same moment in time, can be as vast & difficult as trying to interpret a rose with a person born ten thousand years in the past. Our means of communicating, connecting, forging bonds, & finding common ground are overestimated as being simple feats.

Within the relationship that forms between Ivan & Selin one notes that Selin always appears to be heartbroken over some form of behaviour that Ivan has showcased. One can love one’s friends—this is preferable as one should be encouraged to spend time with what one loves. Yet, love in & of itself varies per person, per relationship; the language one uses to show love, etc. How can Selin feel heartbroken when Ivan has simply been acting as he is around people he loves, as shown when he is with his family in Hungary? Why does it take Selin an entire novel to realize that the person she thinks she loves isn’t someone she knows at all? What part of Ivan made Selin fall in love, if not the aspect of him that she could not understand?

I spent a great deal of the story teetering between feeling that Selin was a great nuisance & that she was simply a young person trying to find their way in the world. I wished she had been stronger, had a more forceful will, had taken the opportunity to speak her truth. I know that that is not who she is when we meet her & I had to learn to be okay with the fact that Selin is not a full person, just yet. Her relationship with Ivan did highlight how easy it is to think a person the villain simply because they differ so staggeringly from another. For example, one may argue that Ivan is being unfaithful to Eunice, his long-term girlfriend because he spends time with Selin doing random activities that could be done with his partner. However, for many people, & in many cultures, friendships are just as important as intimate relationships & there is nothing inherently wrong with spending time with friends, of any gender or sexe.

Perhaps because Ivan struggles to be earnest & act in ways that allow him to be forward without coming across as dry, do we feel that Eunice is being taken for a ride? However, Eunice is at once described as being stuck in her own cycle of comfort; studiously working through languages within the university structure in an attempt to stay where she is, challenged by the ever-developing world of language. Does this mean we should view her as the victim? Does this mean she is in need of saving from Ivan? I do not think so. As much as I was frustrated at times, reading about Selin loving Ivan for things he never meant to encourage in her, I could also understand that there is too much discrepancy between what we think we know & what we actually understand.

It’s almost ironic how the study of linguistics & languages plays such a hefty role within this story all the while Selin is simply unable to engage in simple dialogue to power forward its potential to her benefit. In her email exchanges with Ivan, we see her writing in a way that mirrors the simplicity of the ‘Nina in Siberia’ series that she was studying for her Russian language course. I would not say that she covets any particular point so much as it appears that she attempts to toss words into a salad in an attempt to make them something palatable for both herself & the reader.

On a parting note, I will advise that this book is riddled with spoilers of older Classic pieces. There is a part of me that is always a bit disappointed when this happens for it leaves me feeling that time was wasted rehashing someone else’s story instead of moving one’s own forward but, that is a personal inclination. As well, there were some moments of inconsistency within the story that left me pondering. For example, Eunice meets Ivan & Selin before they go swimming at Walden Pond. Ivan tells her that they are going swimming but then we read about her having a blow-up later because she didn’t know where he was. Another example of this takes place when Selin is writing a school paper; Ralph calls her & asks to spend time with her after she has finished writing some extra pages. However, Selin is out the door in the next breath to go clubbing with a friend. What happened to Ralph? What did his friendship mean to Selin & why was it so easy for her to look past all the things they did together? Are we meant to read into their friendship as being the antithesis to the one Selin has with Ivan? I missed seeing him come across the page, he brought something gentle to the story & I appreciated his presence.

In all, I found this story to be at once entertaining & mind-numbing. I wanted to read & read, then read some more, but I was constantly confounded by the banality of the dialogue, primarily when pertaining to those who thought themselves speaking so insightfully. Perhaps, every missed connection reveals something about the individual at play. Perhaps we can acknowledge that variety enhances the lived experience; drawing a picture in flamboyancy & grace, weaving streaks of every shade of the river. Perhaps, there is more to language than the sounds, the word; the mere mention of something different than our own roll of the tongue. Perhaps, communication is in all the ways we tend, caress, blink, stifle, glance, embrace, hum, & smirk; when we are close or very far away.