White Nights and Other Stories

A story about lonely people meeting by chance, the incomprehensible nature of love, and how even a momentary purpose can transform a life from pointless to poignant. As frequently featured in Dostoyevsky's work the main character is a bizarre figure that seemingly exists apart from society, an observer of life who has somehow managed to avoid participating in it. The female character isn't very fleshed out, but exists for the convenience of the narrative. The story isn't great but is probably worth reading for the final line: "my God, a whole moment of happiness! Is that too little for the whole of a man's life?" The story makes you feel as though it is.

White Nights was an excellent read. His prose in describing the narrator’s loneliness was a joy to read.

A collection of short stories that, in my view, fall far short of Dostoevsky's better works. In general, I found the stories lacked any true substance, message or humor, and instead were simply short works which ranged from somewhat entertaining (at best) to dull (at worst).

As a caveat, this book does contain Notes from the Underground, which is the one shining light among this mediocre collection. "Notes" is sometimes a difficult read, and yet at others contains masterful humor and wit. But for "Notes," which I consider a must read, there were no other stories worth mentioning perhaps with the sole exception of "White Nights."

This volume contains the following:
'White Nights'
'Notes from the Underground'
'A Faint Heart'
'A Christmas Tree and a Wedding'
'Polzunkov'
'A Little Hero'
'Mr. Prohartchin'

I found Notes from the Underground the most difficult and least interesting of these stories. White Nights, A Faint Heart, and A Little Hero were charming and the others were good. Overall I would recommend this as an introduction to Dostoyevsky.

I saw a film "Two Lovers" with Gweneth Paltrow and heard that it was based on the Dostoevsky tale, White Nights. This seemed implausible to me, but upon reading the story, I'm convinced. Main character is a social misfit (Asperger's syndrome, before anyone had ever heard of it?) who can't communicate with anyone. Then, one night, he meets a girl The two exchange confidences for four nights. Our hero is madly in love with her; she awaits the return of the man she hopes will rescue her from her miserable life. Prince Charming doesn't show; our misfit declares his love for her; she seems to be amenable . . . and then Prince Charming does show. Off she goes, and back into his miserable life goes our hero.
Dostoevesky really does know the show more dark corners of the mind.
And the movie isn't bad either. show less