If you’ve ever wanted to re-experience the strange heartbreak of your late adolescence and young adult years — the kind where you lose something you barely had in the first place — then Fyodor Dostoevsky’s White Nights is a perfect read for you!
The story itself covers the blooming friendship between a young man (our nameless narrator) and a young woman (Nastenka), as they meet by happenstance one night, and spend the following nights walking with one another, simply enjoying each other’s conversation and presence.
Frankly, quite little actually happens in White Nights. Although we see the start of the friendship, we are told of their pasts and hopeful futures through lengthy, expositing dialogue. However, I wouldn’t consider this use of dialogue as a negative aspect of the novel; the conversations provide a context where each character wants to learn as much as they can about the other, spurring the other on to exposit as much about their lives as they are willing to share. In turn, we better understand the personalities and desires of the narrator and Nastenka through their own words.
All the more impressive is the short length of Dostoevsky’s White Nights. Considering so many other of Dostoevsky’s works — like Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamazov — are dense enough to intimidate any reader, White Nights will only take a handful of reading sessions to complete. It does not rush you, nor does it waste your time. Dostoevsky uses every word drawing you into the start of something so intimate in no time at all, and Dostoevsky has no issue using that for or against you in the story’s climax. And what a climax it is…
I can wholly recommend White Nights. Whether you need a quick read for vacation or traveling, a nice palate cleanser before resuming your backlog of books, or a small pocket-book to whip out on the go, White Nights will have you covered.
“Under the (Hard) Covers is an opinion column by Ethan Reisler — a published author, satirist, and journalist — reviewing modern and classic novels alike for their craft, storytelling, and general enjoyability.”