Mashreads Podcast

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we read and discuss Elif Batuman's new novel The Idiot.   The book follows the year in the life of Selin, a Turkish-American freshman at Harvard. As Selin goes throughout her freshman year who is growing up, navigating an infatuation/ relationship with a senior student who is from Hungary, and examining existence and language in the world by studying linguistics.   "It is plotless, it's mundane and quiet and calm, and it's very internal, and it's kind of wonderful," says Peter.   Then, inspired by The Idiot, which follows conventions of Russian literature, we discuss impactful and formative Russian literature that you should read, including The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Forty Rooms by Olga Grushin.   Then, as always, we close the show with recommendations: Aliza recommends catching up on Game of Thrones. MJ piggiebacks off of that and also recommends Funny or Die's Game of Thrones recap series "