The Idiot

The Idiot: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION

Fiction & Poetry, Modern & Contemporary Fiction | Paperback Published on: 26/04/2018
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Bookseller Reviews

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The Idiot
Being young and hopelessly in love....
Elif Batuman has written a very funny account of being young and clueless about life and love. Her humour comes across quite strong when she is talking ab... READ MORE
Emine at Bromley
The Idiot
Interesting but a bit naive?
I was immediately gripped by this, and I'm glad I read it. I loved the doubting, questioning and interrogating of meaning and language and what we say and ... READ MORE
Saff at Oxford

Synopsis

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2018

Selin, a tall, highly strung Turkish-American from New Jersey turns up at Harvard and finds herself dangerously overwhelmed by the challenges and possibilities of adulthood.

She studies linguistics and literature, teaches ESL and spends a lot of time thinking about what language - and languages - can and cannot do.

Along the way she befriends Svetlana, a cosmopolitan Serb, and obsesses over Ivan, a mathematician from Hungary. The two conduct a hilarious relationship that culminates with Selin spending the summer teaching English in a Hungarian village and enduring a series of surprising excursions.

Throughout her journeys, Selin ponders profound questions about how culture and language shape who we are, how difficult it is to be a failed writer, and how baffling love is.

At once clever and clueless, Batuman's heroine shows us with perfect hilarity and soulful inquisitiveness just how messy it can be to forge a self.

'I loved it and could have read a thousand more pages of it.' - Emma Cline

  • Publisher: Vintage Publishing
  • ISBN: 9780099583172
  • Number of pages: 432
  • Weight: 298g
  • Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 26 mm

Customer Reviews

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The Idiot
Ploddingly Hilarious
A bit of slower pace than I'm used to, but I genuinely laughed out loud - several times. It just kept catching me off guard.
Laura Gillespie