Set in 1996, the story follows Selin Karadağ during her sophomore year at Harvard as she attempts to construct a life based on aesthetic and literary principles. Following a summer in Hungary, Selin analyzes her stalled relationship with Ivan through the lens of Kierkegaard’s Either/Or, debating whether to live an ethical life of duty or an aesthetic life of experience. She navigates Russian literature seminars, the rise of email, and her own sexual initiation, treating every interaction as a data point for her future career as a novelist.
Readers interested in the intellectual mechanics of late adolescence and the formation of an artistic identity will find a precise record of how books shape one's perception of reality. The narrative offers a granular look at the disconnect between academic theory and physical experience. Readers walk away with a cynical yet humorous understanding of how people use high culture to rationalize their private embarrassments and the realization that living for art requires a difficult negotiation with the mundane.
Inward-looking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2022
- Language
- EN
