This book was so incredibly dull, for the first third I expected some fantastical realism or a break with reality was coming for the main character. Until it never showed up. It was about halfway I increased the playback speed because I was too committed to DNF but it wasn’t so enjoyable I didn’t want it to end faster (thanks audiobooks!).

Selin started her first year at Harvard, in 1995. She’s interested in language, and Russian literature, and writing. The Idiot is about her first year at school, taking a Russian language class, navigating classmates and roommates, and having a first crush/boyfriend.

There are things I really liked about this book. I’ve always wished I’d had the opportunity to do an arts degree and talk about arts and books and language in a classroom setting, and this book has a lot of those experiences. It made me want to start writing again (and maybe I did **eyes**). I also love the Russian language and literature (and food -- fortunately for my borscht addiction, there’s a large Doukhobor community where I live).  

But other than that, I just found it so boring. Very few of us have the debaucherous and exciting 1st year in college that we see in media, and Selin is no exception. I don’t usually require excitement out of my books, but I didn’t find her introspection, struggles, and feelings all that interesting either. Even inside her mind. she felt like a robot. The romance scenes felt bizarre and alien, and most interactions with other people felt stilted.

Every once in a while, a bit of depth would appear, and the story being named after the Dostoyevsky novel was not lost on me, but it wasn’t enough. It seems like lots of people loved this book (although a survey on my stories revealed none of my followers have read it), but I won’t be recommending this, or picking up Either/Or anytime soon.