“White Nights” is a novella with an anonymous narrator as its protagonist, a man leading a profoundly lonely life. He wanders through the streets of St. Petersburg at night, withdrawn and hesitant to engage with people. Though he recognizes everyone who passes by, he has never truly interacted with them. In his own words, he is “a dreamer,” someone who finds refuge in imagination. His isolation runs so deep that he sometimes imagines himself conversing with buildings and houses. One such night, by the river, he encounters Nastenka, a young woman who appears to be crying. From this chance meeting unfolds a tender tale of longing, despair, and fleeting companionship.
As the narrator begins to speak of his life to Nastenka, he opens up emotionally, having finally found someone with whom he can connect. He describes loneliness as an “uninvited visitor” in his otherwise uneventful existence, confessing how he aches silently. Nastenka, too, is caught in her own state of longing from a sad past. In each other, they discover the companionship they desperately need during a moment of shared vulnerability.
The novella moves between intense happiness and deep melancholy. Though these emotional shifts occur in quick succession, they never feel abrupt. Instead, they mirror the volatility of human emotion, allowing readers to closely relate to the inner lives of the two central characters.
Even Dostoevsky’s choice of words enhances this emotional texture. The use of hyphenated forms such as “to-morrow” and “to-day” subtly keeps the prose from sounding too modern or brisk, slowing the rhythm in a way that suits a narrator who lives more in anticipation than in action. This stylistic choice also echoes one of the novella’s central themes: deferred happiness.
Ultimately, White Nights is a beautiful and poignant tale of alienation, heartbreak, longing, unrequited love and fragile hope.
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