As I’m sure it’s captured you, the title of “The Idiot” by Elif Bautman immediately drew me in. Who is the idiot? Why is it so abrupt? And does the title have anything to do with Dostoevsky’s book, exactly named?
From the very beginning, this book lures you into a world of uncertainty and blindness, akin to the sentiments felt by the 18-year-old protagonist unsuccessfully learning her way through her first year of university.
In answer to my previous questions, the eponymous ‘idiot’ is Selin, ironically, an academically gifted linguistics student in her first year at Harvard and her character is aptly named as she goes through the motions of the next step of her adult life with only her sharp wit and absolutely no clues about the current society she's doven into and the complexities of the new young adult behaviour and relationships that now swarm her.
This omnipresent sense of being thrown into the deep end unbeknownst to you and having to navigate your once special intellect, now deemed as ordinary against the backdrop of thousands of intellects smarter and better equipped than you, pays homage to the futility and impossibility of knowing everything presented Dostoevsky’s version of “The Idiot”.
This book, to me, is incredibly raw because it follows Selin’s consciousness which emphasizes her dry humour, digressions, self-deprecations, and spiralling inner debates which sparks a strong element of being genuine.
Through this narrative, you end up becoming intrinsically attached to her character and opinionated on the various decisions she makes, which makes this book an extremely addictive, but also a reflective and inspiring read!