White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky – beautiful short classic

White Nights is 80 page short classic about unrequited love that makes you ache for a character.

Synopsis

White Nights is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky that was published in 1848. Set in St. Petersburg, it is the story of a young man fighting his inner restlessness. A light and tender narrative, it delves into the torment and guilt of unrequited love. Both protagonists suffer from a deep sense of alienation that initially brings them together. A blend of romanticism and realism, the story appeals gently to the senses and feelings.

Review

White Nights was my first Dostoevsky and I can see why people love his work.

It is a short 80 page story about unrequited love that follows an unnamed narrator, a dreamer, who is deeply lonely and falls in love over the course of four nights.

The writing is lyrical and very sentimental. It pulls you into the Dreamer’s imagination so intensely that I often found myself lost and had to go back and reread to understand what he was really saying. It took me some time to get used to it.

I actually laughed when Nastenka says, “you tell your story splendidly, but can you somehow tell it less splendidly”. That line felt very real because that is exactly how his narration feels, especially when he tells his life story on the second night.

But at the same time, that “splendid” way of telling his story is what gives him depth. You see how lonely, sensitive, and emotional he is. He regrets not having lived, not even having anything to regret. And when he meets Nastenka, it feels like he has finally found a small light in his otherwise dark lonely life.

Then comes Nastenka’s story, and slowly his hope begins to fade. Her life is simple. She was raised by her grandmother, lived a sheltered life, and carried her own loneliness until she met the man she has been waiting for. Her straightforward way of telling her story balances the Dreamer’s overwhelming imagination so well.

By this point I could see where the story was heading, but I still enjoyed watching their emotions shift, their hope rise and fall. I had also started getting used to the writing style.

I did not like how naive and reckless Nastenka was. She tells a stranger where she lives, opens up her entire life, and then gives him hope just because she is losing her own. It felt frustrating. I kept thinking, what if he had been someone dangerous? And how could she expect to hold on to both men at once?

As for the Dreamer, I started to truly feel for him on the third night, and even more on the fourth. What I liked about him was that he understood her heart belonged to someone else, yet he still held on to the possibility of loving her if things changed. That takes a certain kind of emotional courage.

And in the end, what stayed with me was his response. He does not turn bitter. He does not hold a grudge. Instead, he chooses to be grateful for those few nights. He is happy that he got to experience love, even if it was brief. That is something many people never experience even in a lifetime.

My Penguin Black Classics edition also included Bobok, which is completely different in tone. It follows a struggling, slightly unhinged writer who starts hearing the dead talking in a graveyard.

The dead casually reveal their secrets, corruption, and immoral lives. What stood out was that even after death, they do not feel guilt. Instead, they decide to enjoy this extra time without consequences. That idea was both disturbing and fascinating.

I did get confused at times with all the voices and had to reread a few passages to understand who was speaking. The Russian names did not make it easier. But once I got past that, I really appreciated the layers of madness and reality, the satire on upper class society, and the way it explores moral decay.

Even in death, they cling to their arrogance and social identity. That says a lot.

Overall, both White Nights and Bobok were powerful in very different ways. One makes you ache for a character, while the other fills you with disgust for its characters. And somehow, both stay with you.

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon,com | Amazon.co,uk

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Have you read this?
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Just in case you missed,,,

• April 2026 Wrap Up – Uneventful but also productive
• White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky – beautiful short classic
• Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Brohm

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