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The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books And The People Who Read Them (2010)

by Elif Batuman(Favorite Author)

3.63 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0374532184 (ISBN13: 9780374532185)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

review 1: This book is a memoir of Batuman’s time studying Russian literature as a graduate student at Stanford. It takes the form of almost separate pieces about different parts of her graduate experience, including studying abroad in Uzbekistan, visiting Russia as a reporter for a magazine, a section about Isaac Babel, etc. It was quite interesting to hear about the experiences of a liberal arts graduate student – a very different experience than my own. The book also romped through several centuries worth of Russian writers – it gave me a number of ideas for new authors to read, and did so without condescension. A very interesting read, though one that might have benefited from greater cohesion.
review 2: I really like the way Batuman writes, but this really doe... mores just feel like a bunch of essays written for other publications and then wrestled into some sort of coherent narrative for publication. And it didn't always feel organically done. That said, I adored the chapters on studying Uzbek in Samarkand. Having dated a Tajik, I can say that the weird mixture of Soviet pragmatism and Eastern superstition was perfectly evoked. less

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