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What Members Thought
This took me absolutely forever to read. I would start reading, become completely baffled by the story, put it down and weeks later try again. Wash, rinse, dry, repeat. This was one that I almost decided to put away without finishing but the adage of finish what you start is deep inside of me. The front of this book has a review saying it is a vibrant novel of ideas......dry humor. I disagree. Either I am too far removed from being a college freshman or unable to recall life at that point but th
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An intense, funny, cerebral, delightful, and kind of exhausting auto-fictional story about a brilliant but awkward Harvard freshman, Selin, who tries to navigate her first college year with her heart and mind intact. She befriends an equally hilarious Serbian classmate, Svetlana, and begins sending quirky emails to her classmate Ivan, an older Hungarian math student. With each email, their hot and cold relationship becomes more complicated. Ivan convinces Selin to teach in Hungary for the summer
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Incredibly funny and relatable (even though I have nothing to do with Harvard, Turkey or Hungary). Felt that I could rest in Batuman's voice forever. It's not plot driven, more observation and ideas oriented. Journal/diary-esque but in the best way possible.
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Feb 17, 2018
Laura
marked it as not-for-me
Feb 24, 2019
Kat
marked it as to-read
Mar 04, 2020
Mary Anne
marked it as kindle-books
May 31, 2021
Lauren
marked it as to-read
Aug 21, 2022
Anisa
marked it as to-read
Feb 04, 2024
Grace
marked it as to-read
