White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
| White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | |
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| Category: Short Stories | |
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Reviewer: Heather Magee
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| 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. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 240 | Date: January 1848 |
| Publisher: Penguin Classics | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0241619780 | |
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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.
In the first story, A Nasty Business Ivan Ilyich, a newly appointed general, prides himself on his progressive values. However, when he drunkenly crashes a subordinate's wedding, his attempts to prove his humility unravel into chaos and embarrassment, revealing the farcical limits of his progressive ideals. The brilliance of this story lies in Dostoyevsky's ability to craft situations that leave the reader wincing and howling with laughter at Ivan Ilyich's utter lack of self-awareness.
The Meek One tells the nihilistic tale of a pawnbroker who recalls his troubled marriage after his wife's unexpected suicide. The Russian skaz narrative style, which mimics the spoken word, works beautifully here to portray the narrator as a bumbling fool, as if he were a schoolchild recounting an incident to an exasperated teacher. The ending is almost as depressing as the short-lived union between this proud husband and his neglected wife.
The third and titular story is my favourite. One wintry night in St Petersburg, the unnamed narrator, a man with a morbidly excited imagination, meets Nastenka, a lonely woman waiting for her lover's return. There's a beautiful symmetry in Dostoyevsky's portrayal of Nastenka's world: her blind grandmother, their deaf maid, the mute, lame previous lodger, and her physically absent lover—all incapable of fully engaging with life. In contrast, our hero, so acutely attuned to the world through his sensitivity and emotion, seems like an irresistible force of change in her life. This brief, bittersweet connection leaves the narrator heartbroken, as she chooses her past over a future with him.
Whether Dostoyevsky's characters are plagued by existential dread, or bursting with joy, they are always masterfully crafted. His ability to blend humour with deep pathos makes each tale a poignant meditation on the complexities of the human condition.
For more stories depicting Russia, read Russian Stories by Francesc Seres.
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