REVIEW: The Idiot by Elif Batuman

This is the debut novel from Elif Batuman, who teaches at Stanford University. She was formerly a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine. The novel was a 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist.

The story follows a year in the life of a college freshman of Turkish ancestry, named Selin, beginning with her first year at Harvard. The novel is a Bildungsroman, so if you are expecting much in the way of a plot, you will be disappointed. Selin meets friends, goes to classes (yes, this is narrated), questions her major, and awkwardly develops a relationship with a quirky boy, who is quite likely a jerk, who she alternately likes and despises.

Selin a philosophy and literary geek, and the narrative plods through her school year, painting the tired trope of the smart/quirky/awkward young girl coming of age. Except she never does come of age or seems to learn much. At the end of the school year, she goes to teach English in Hungary to schoolchildren. This half of the book contains the same trudge through obstacles and joys, only now in Hungary with other Americans and native Europeans. She returns to Boston after completing the teaching program.

The writing is beautiful, and Batumen has a beautiful way of bringing the protagonist to life. I did not go to Harvard (though I am a literary and philosophy geek); I have no Turkish ancestry, and I am male. Yet I fully understood Selin’s thoughts as she struggled with life, purpose, relationships, and experiences. I often found myself saying, “Yes! I have thought those same exact things!”

The other characters are less developed. A college friend, Svetlana, is potentially a more interesting character than Selin, she seems exciting and complicated. The “boyfriend” is a shadowy figure, partly because much of Selin’s interaction with him is through email and computer chat, and somewhat because the author intended it. The reader is no more sure of this guy, what he thinks, and how he feels, than Selin. Well done.

Most of the book lives inside of Selin’s mind, and this is where many readers may lose interest. Four-hundred pages of the thoughts of an awkward college freshman who is naïve (she had never even been kissed) is a bit much.

Selin is clueless in so many ways: a naïve young person trying to navigate schooling, a future career, and relationships. Perhaps we were all so naïve, and our thoughts, written down, would embarrass us, too. It is possible that Batumen is portraying Selin as a negative symbol, but I don’t think so. She’s an adorable idiot who may grow up someday. On the other hand, Batumen purposefully satirized academia, pretentious students, and full-of-themselves people.

Many reviews mention the “hilarious” nature of the novel. There is much humor in Selin’s thoughts, predicaments, and events that she finds herself in, but they are not hilarious. They are amusing, dry, satirical humor, which perhaps might elicit a knowing chuckle.

Nothing of any import happens in the novel. Selin doesn’t seem to learn much, though she is gaining experience in life. There is no climax, resolution, or denouement. The novel simply ends, and the reader is left wondering how Sen turned out in later life.

This doesn’t mean the novel isn’t an enjoyable read. The prose is lovely, the characters are mostly interesting, and the reading is enjoyable. You might enjoy a well-written picture of the year in the life of a college freshman and her contemplations, naïve as they are. It is not a page-turner or a novel that will make you reconsider anything or gain a new perspective. It is more like sitting with a friend who tells a good story about a time in her life.