[[Category:Reviewer Centre]]White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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{{infobox1|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingtitle="15"White Nights|sort=White Nights|author=Fyodor Dostoyevsky|reviewer=Heather Magee|genre=Anthologies, Literary Fiction|summary=This collection of three short stories by Dostoyevsky was a delight. The psychological depth of the characters, the ‘skaz’ narrative style and the wonderful moments of humour all make this collection an immensely entertaining read.
<!-- PUT NEW REVIEW HERE --> {{infobox|title=In The Key Of Code|author=Aimee Lucido|reviewer=Judy Davies|genre=Confident Readers|summary=An original and engaging story about a lonely new girl and her struggle to find friendship. Through the author's inventive mesh of music, coding, poetry, and narrative, this story uniquely conveys the desire to forge your own identity and find the place where you truly belong.|rating=45
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|pages=416240|publisher=Walker BooksPenguin Classics|date=October 2019February 2023|isbn=978-14063893330241619780|website=https://aimeelucidowww.fyodordostoevsky.com/ |video=checked|cover=14063893310241619785|aznuk=14063893310241619785|aznus=14063893310241619785
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Emmy As always in Dostoyevsky, the character work is moving sublime. One is never left wondering what a character is thinking or feeling because Dostoyevsky lays bare their innermost dispositions and temperaments with her parents halfway across Americaremarkable clarity. The first story, ‘A Nasty Business’ follows Ivan Ilyich Pravinsky, a young man recently appointed as a general. With his newfound status, to follow her father's dreams of Ivan fancies himself a big break progressive, priding himself on his humane values—especially in contrast to his music careercolleagues, whom he dismisses as "retrogrades”. She leaves behind her friends One evening, he literally (and her school in Wisconsindrunkenly) stumbles upon a subordinate’s wedding, and moves decides to Californiaenter, knowing only what she has heard boasting his indifference towards class divisions. What unfolds is a hilariously cringe-worthy series of events in songswhich Ivan Ilyich’s supposed humility completely unravels. His drunken antics quickly make him the unwelcome centre of attention. Her struggle to settle into her new lifeHe ruins the wedding, ends up sleeping in the bridal bed, make friends and feel happy vomits throughout the night—his noble intentions amounting to nothing but chaos and confident againembarrassment. The brilliance of this story lies in Dostoyevsky's ability to craft situations that leave the reader wincing at Ivan Ilyich’s utter lack of self-awareness. Despite his self-image as a man of the people, his behaviour disrupts the natural social order, revealing the farcical limits of his ‘progressive’ ideals. ‘The Meek One’, the second story, is agonisingly told longer and written in a way we can all relate more fragmented prose, mirroring the scattered mental state of its narrator, a middle-aged pawnbroker. He opens the story in a state of shock, having just discovered that his young wife has committed suicide minutes before he arrived home. He recounts the events of their troubled relationship, marked by his misguided attempt to ‘save’ her from her dismal family situation by proposing toher. There are many new opportunities and setbacks This so-called noble intention, however, taking the reader on a rollercoaster only serves to underscore his own emotional ineptitude. In his efforts to make her understand what kind of emotionsman he is, he chooses to remain silent in her company, but it isn't until Emmy joins a coding class using computer language that silence she begins mirrors, and which breeds mistrust and ill-feeling between them.The Russian skaz narrative style, which mimics the spoken word, works beautifully here to feel she might have portray the narrator as a bumbling fool, as if he were a chance schoolchild recounting an incident to feel like she truly belongsan exasperated teacher.
This unique story tells of Emmy's desire to fit in by using a medley of poetry, musical references and coding language. We can all empathise with Emmy and her feelings of isolation and displacement. She watches her new situation from the distance, like a member of the audience at a play. We see her challenges and feel her struggles to be accepted. She is a strongly described character, very cleverly crafted because the book if not written in adjective-rich prose. It's almost the spaces between the lines of verse which tell the story.
Aimee Lucido has adopted This story of a neglected wife and her clueless husband dispels into a very unusual style for this novel. The structure is free verse, using relatively few wordsnihilistic worldview held by our narrator, who has displayed nothing but getting the story across through the imagery of music cowardice and a short, almost abbreviated, dialogue with the reader. However, I seemed to fill insecurity throughout the blanks very easily and soon adapted to this new format. It was such a fast, page-turning readtale. I feel like I need to re-read To put it as I'm sure I missed many of the cleverly interwoven musical references. My only gripe would be having little to no background knowledge in computer codinglightly, I found these aspects of the novel hard to follow and consequently felt like I was missing important bits of the storyending is anything but satisfactory. This is definitely one for the younger generation who learn all about this in school!
This is an incredibly unique book and I am intrigued to read the sequel. The characters are strong, and the situation Emmy finds herself in is one we can all recognise and empathise with. I loved the way the story was mediated through musical language but think I would have to learn more about coding to fully appreciate the novel.
I would recommend this book The titular story, ‘White Nights’, is my favourite. The unnamed narrator, a dreamy and lonely young man, stumbles upon Nastenka one wintry night. She appears vulnerable, crying in the street, and he feels compelled to any young person with a passion speak to her. Even the fact that he learns her name, while she never asks for music or codinghis, speaks volumes about the dynamics between them. Perfect for fans of [[The Crossover by Kwame Alexander]]He is helplessly drawn to her; she simply hosts his kindness.
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Check pricesThe two decide to get to know one another over the course of several nights, sharing the stories of their lives. Our narrator speaks first, lamenting the isolation that has defined his existence: "And in vain does the dreamer rake through his old dreams, as if they were ashes, searching in these ashes for at least some little spark, in order to fan it into flames…” His poetic outpourings could easily come off as self-pitying, but Dostoyevsky’s beautiful imagery and turns of phrase make them captivating. The narrator is a typical eccentric, romantic type—driven by a "morbidly excited imagination." His aloof sincerity charms Nastenka, who seems, at best, entertained by his flights of fancy. Nastenka, however, is just as lonely as our narrator. She reveals that for the past year she has been bound to her blind grandmother’s clothes as punishment for mischief. She had little social life, read reviews or buy except for a young lodger with whom she developed a slow-burning romance. The day she meets our hero is the day she has been waiting for—the day of her lover’s return from [httpsMoscow. Our narrator, besotted with Nastenka, agrees to help her reunite with her lost love, despite his growing feelings for her. Over the course of four nights, their friendship deepens, blossoming into love. There’s a beautiful symmetry in Dostoyevsky’s portrayal of Nastenka’s world://wwwher blind grandmother, deaf maid, and mute, lame previous lodger—all incapable of fully engaging with life.awin1In contrast, our hero, so acutely attuned to the world through his sensitivity and emotion, seems like an irresistible force of change in her life.com/cread Eventually, our hero can bear it no longer: he confesses his love and after some consideration, Nastenka reciprocates, both lonely souls now bound to each other.php?awinmid=3787&awinaffid=82628&clickref=&p=%5B%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2FwwwTheir brief moment of mutual affection is portrayed as a delicate dance, their emotions rippling between them through subtle gestures—a squeeze of the hand, a tear welling up, a sharp intake of breath.waterstonesBut this dance is interrupted by the return of Nastenka’s former lover.com%2Fbook%2Fin-She ultimately chooses the-key-life she had dreamed of-code%2Faimee-lucido%2F9781406389333%5D%5D before meeting our hero, leaving him to retreat once again into his solitary existence. Nastenka remains an ambiguous figure. Is she a selfish soul, carelessly toying with our narrator'''Waterstones''']s feelings? Or is she, like him, simply lonely and desperate, swept up by the kindness of a stranger? Her letter to the narrator after she becomes engaged, inviting him to her wedding, is thoughtless and almost cruel. It’s hard not to side with our hapless hero as he is left with nothing but his shattered dreams. {{amazontext|amazon=0241619785}} {{amazontextAud|amazon=0241619785}} {{amazonUStext|amazon=0241619785}}
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{{Frontpage|author=Fyodor Dostoyevsky|title=White Nights|rating=5 |genre=Anthologies, Literary Fiction|summary=As always in Dostoyevsky, the character work is sublime. One is never left wondering what a character is thinking or feeling because Dostoyevsky lays bare their innermost dispositions and temperaments with remarkable clarity.|isbn=0241619785}}