The Idiot

Learning. Readers who love language, sharp wit and finely written literary fiction are those most likely to enjoy reading Elif Batuman’s novel titled, The Idiot. Protagonist Selin arrives at Harvard in 1995 ready to learn whatever is there to be learned. Batuman finds ways to draw readers into the experience of uncertainty as Selin’s choices lead to other choices and to interesting consequences and experiences. All learning involves some amount of confusion, and the resolution of that comes with knowledge and insight. We join Selin on her journey at Harvard and during a summer in Europe and become caught up in her confusion, love and anxiety and with her tragic fate: becoming a writer. Worse things could have happened. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Idiot from amazon.com.