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A review by annoyedhumanoid
Either/Or by Elif Batuman
dark
funny
reflective
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
4.25
this felt tedious at times, more so than The Idiot, but also funnier at others. it took a step back from the college aspect, which i had found so intoxicating in the first book. after the S&M -themed party, it veered into depressing, from the recitation of “The Rules” straight out of the 1800s to the consecutive unpleasant, even non-consensual, sexual encounters . reading these parts brought me less joy than those that preceded it, but it felt realistic and even relatable to my own experiences and remains important to portray.
finally, the ending was abrupt—does it even complete the academic year? surely Selin would return to Harvard in the autumn, presumably where a hypothetical sequel would begin, like its two predecessors, but then we would be missing her time in Russia. it feels disorganized for the series and like there was a deadline to meet.
gripes aside, the majority of this was a pleasure to read. i laughed out loud at work while listening to the audiobook. having read Either/Or immediately after The Idiot, the two felt like one continuous narrative, one stream of consciousness, split into two volumes—which i’m okay with! if they had been together, big book fear probably would have prevented me from experiencing this wonderful series altogether. this unbroken stream of consciousness never felt like being inundated with a self-important person’s world view: our narrator doesn’t have the answers and knows it, creating a feeling of learning and a conversation with the reader. it’s a conversation i want to keep having.
but Selin needs to stop sending her emails prematurely or to the wrong recipient. i can’t handle that trope.
further reading: Let’s Go: Greece & Turkey, 1998, with contributors including Elif Batuman. https://archive.org/details/letsgogreeceturk0000unse
finally, the ending was abrupt—does it even complete the academic year? surely Selin would return to Harvard in the autumn, presumably where a hypothetical sequel would begin, like its two predecessors, but then we would be missing her time in Russia. it feels disorganized for the series and like there was a deadline to meet.
gripes aside, the majority of this was a pleasure to read. i laughed out loud at work while listening to the audiobook. having read Either/Or immediately after The Idiot, the two felt like one continuous narrative, one stream of consciousness, split into two volumes—which i’m okay with! if they had been together, big book fear probably would have prevented me from experiencing this wonderful series altogether. this unbroken stream of consciousness never felt like being inundated with a self-important person’s world view: our narrator doesn’t have the answers and knows it, creating a feeling of learning and a conversation with the reader. it’s a conversation i want to keep having.
but Selin needs to stop sending her emails prematurely or to the wrong recipient. i can’t handle that trope.
further reading: Let’s Go: Greece & Turkey, 1998, with contributors including Elif Batuman. https://archive.org/details/letsgogreeceturk0000unse