Either/Or by Elif Batuman
An instant New York Times bestseller! “Batuman has a gift for making the universe seem, somehow, like the benevolent and witty literary seminar you wish it were . . .This novel wins you over in a million micro-observations.” — The New York Times From the acclaimed and bestselling author of The Idiot , the continuation of beloved protagonist Selin’s quest for self-knowledge, as she travels abroad and tests the limits of her newfound adulthood Selin is the luckiest person in her family: the only one who was born in America and got to go to Harvard. Now it’s sophomore year, 1996, and Selin knows she has to make it count. The first order of business: to figure out the meaning of everything that happened over the summer. Why did Selin’s elusive crush, Ivan, find her that job in the Hungarian countryside? What was up with all those other people in the Hungarian countryside? Why is Ivan’s weird ex-girlfriend now trying to get in touch with Selin? On the plus side, it feels like the plot of an exciting novel. On the other hand, why do so many novels have crazy abandoned women in them? How does one live a life as interesting as a novel—a life worthy of becoming a novel—without becoming a crazy abandoned woman oneself? Guided by her literature syllabus and by her more worldly and confident peers, Selin reaches certain conclusions about the universal importance of parties, alcohol, and sex, and resolves to execute them in practice—no matter what the cost. Next on the list: international travel. Unfolding with the propulsive logic and intensity of youth, Either/Or is a landmark novel by one of our most brilliant writers. Hilarious, revelatory, and unforgettable, its gripping narrative will confront you with searching questions that persist long after the last page. Read more
I love Batuman's essays in the London Review of Books, especially her take on MFA programs, which is why I bought this book. Not every essayist can write fiction, however, with Orwell being an example of one who could; this book is certainly well-written, but as a whole work it feels cobbled together, disparate, and amorphous. There's an unsettling cleverness about the writing; specifically, the insecurity of noting the books the narrator has read, from Kierkegaard to Shakespeare, is chatter and unconvincingly distracts from any inchoate development of character. Concomitant to that is the intellectualism that, ironically, creates a surface rather than sufficient emotional depth. It's all over the place, but nowhere at the same time: it could be any town, any Ivy, and any year. The author thinly disguises the Briggs-Copeland lecturer that year, who is easily identified by those who knew him, but otherwise there's a distance between the writing and what's being written about. I'll continue to read her work because I have high hopes, and imagine that soon enough there will be emotionality to the fiction that one sees in her essays.
Publisher -> Penguin Press (May 24, 2022) Language -> English Hardcover -> 368 pages ISBN-10 -> 0525557598 ISBN-13 -> 978-0525557593 Item Weight -> 1.32 pounds Dimensions -> 6.4 x 1.19 x 9.56 inches Best Sellers Rank: #2,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #145 in Women's Friendship Fiction #147 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books) #340 in Literary Fiction (Books)
(Get) Books Either/Or Full Access
*(Download) (Kindle) Either/Or /a>
*[Get] B.o.o.k.s Either/Or Books full online
(Faca download e leia) Either/Or
Comments
Post a Comment