Aru’s Reviews > The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them > Status Update

i hate this book i'm only reading it to distract myself from real life and so i can sell it later at BMV for $3

weirdest book man,,,, and ik this is Batuman's style to prioritize writing skill over plot but it's the same feeling one would get from reading a brilliantly written ingredients list on the back of an aerosol deodorant spray bottle, ik the current section is meant to make the reader uncomfy and it is succeeding

gosh i want to like Batuman's works so bad but i just dont really,, like me she dances on the line btwn semi autobiographical (her novels) and creative nonfiction (this book) and we get such a meta and incredible glimpse into the experiences that shaped her as a writer and how she learned to combine real life and literary influences in her work, alas her writing style and skill is AMAZING n prioritizes that over plot

i read the last page of the intro like 7 times and i'm still not 100% sure i get it but let's roll