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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
I fear that i missed recording my initial thoughts because i thought i noted this down but i did not!!
I read it at an interesting moment in my life, perhaps relating at once to the main character’s journey through college while i navigated my first job abroad on location in my new role. We were both awkward and yet despite this, despite ourselves, found ourselves with friends, with love interests. I loved the way the book meandered. It was the natural progression of how friends happen in college. They just suddenly appear.
One of my favorite lines is when Ivan touches her ear and she goes “I know from Shakespeare that ears are supposed to be sexual”
The dark, somewhat nebulous situationship of it all, unrequited love - and yet nothing ever happens, is all delicious and not unsatisfying, although i could see how people could take that critique. I loved the examination of language, institutions, and also how we navigate ourselves, our parents world, and being placed in new worlds as well.
Overall a great read of 2025
I read it at an interesting moment in my life, perhaps relating at once to the main character’s journey through college while i navigated my first job abroad on location in my new role. We were both awkward and yet despite this, despite ourselves, found ourselves with friends, with love interests. I loved the way the book meandered. It was the natural progression of how friends happen in college. They just suddenly appear.
One of my favorite lines is when Ivan touches her ear and she goes “I know from Shakespeare that ears are supposed to be sexual”
The dark, somewhat nebulous situationship of it all, unrequited love - and yet nothing ever happens, is all delicious and not unsatisfying, although i could see how people could take that critique. I loved the examination of language, institutions, and also how we navigate ourselves, our parents world, and being placed in new worlds as well.
Overall a great read of 2025
If you’re looking for a book that will make you cry, this is the one - but not for the reasons you might think. It is so boring it will bring you to tears.
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Idiot was quite good—definitely long and slow at times, but overall worth it. I read this as a buddy read with a friend, which makes it instantly more memorable for me. Batuman captures the perfectly awkward transition from high school to college so well that it almost felt too real at times. Ivan and Selin… why does watching two people be so incredibly weird with each other make me want to kick my feet and giggle?? I saw someone compare Batuman’s writing style to Salinger, and honestly, I can get behind that—it has the same mix of sharp observation and understated humor.
“A friendship is a space where you're supported and free to make mistakes.”
“Without you there is nothing.”
“It seems to me that your sense of other people's awfulness might be compensating for your own sense of inferiority and fear of rejection.”
“Why was it fun for us to make each other suffer? Did that mean it wasn't love? Surely that wasn't what love was?”
“…every decision you made created you. The decision (existence) comes first, and creates essence.”
“Beautiful people lived in a different world, had different relations with people. From the beginning they were raised for love.”
“…but wasn't that itself the miracle— that love really was an obscure and unfathomable connection between indi-viduals, and not an economic contest where everyone was matched up according to how quantifiably lovable they were?”
🍺🧮🙊📧🐶📃📚🎓🥓💔
“A friendship is a space where you're supported and free to make mistakes.”
“Without you there is nothing.”
“It seems to me that your sense of other people's awfulness might be compensating for your own sense of inferiority and fear of rejection.”
“Why was it fun for us to make each other suffer? Did that mean it wasn't love? Surely that wasn't what love was?”
“…every decision you made created you. The decision (existence) comes first, and creates essence.”
“Beautiful people lived in a different world, had different relations with people. From the beginning they were raised for love.”
“…but wasn't that itself the miracle— that love really was an obscure and unfathomable connection between indi-viduals, and not an economic contest where everyone was matched up according to how quantifiably lovable they were?”
🍺🧮🙊📧🐶📃📚🎓🥓💔
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
New favourite ahhhh
This book was the perfect lit fic - no plot just vibes and yet still so addicting
Humour was right up my alley, felt sort of like Liv was telling me a story
I don’t know how authors write like this there were so many minor details that made it so human and real
Absolutely infatuated
“I ate so much pork, I thought, and blinked back a tear.”
This book was the perfect lit fic - no plot just vibes and yet still so addicting
Humour was right up my alley, felt sort of like Liv was telling me a story
I don’t know how authors write like this there were so many minor details that made it so human and real
Absolutely infatuated
“I ate so much pork, I thought, and blinked back a tear.”
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
literally just vibes
i think i hated this? i swear it kept growing more pages and the last sentence really made me feel like reading this was a waste of time. but i do love books where the characters are unbearable and drone on and on in a pretentious and seemingly pointless way so maybe it was good after all idk. i genuinely can’t decide if i want to give this book 1 star or 4 so im settling on 3 and calling it a day. honestly i think if the mc spent more time doing her homework and and spent less time obsessing over that stupid man her life would be much better. also stfu about beer it’s not that deep either drink the beer or don’t it’s not a political choice.
La prima parte è incredibile: restituisce alla perfezione la proliferazione dell'offerta di intrattenimento , inteso sia come corsi che come attività extra-scolastiche, che porta alla perdita completa di orientamento, e quindi all'adozione dell'unico metodo possibile per scegliere: il caso.
La seconda parte meno incalzante: viaggio in Croazia per motivo boh.
Se fosse finito a metà avrebbe preso ✬✬✬✬✬.
La seconda parte meno incalzante: viaggio in Croazia per motivo boh.
Se fosse finito a metà avrebbe preso ✬✬✬✬✬.
I love the way Selin’s mind works and the study abroad nostalgia hit so hard.