Fyodor Dostoevsky

'My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is that really so little for the whole of a man's life?' A poignant tale of love and loneliness from Russia's foremost writer. One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

White Nights

jhet with an h

 Do you know what just occurred to me? I was comparing the two of you. Why isn’t he – you? Why isn’t he like you? He’s not as good as you, even though I love him more than you.

 Your hand is cold, mine is as hot as fire. How blind you are, Nastenka!

‘Oh, Nastenka! You know, we thank some people for merely living at the same time as we do. I thank you for the fact that I met you, that I will remember you for all my life!’

𝒦

Oh, Nastenka! You know, we thank some people for merely living at the same time as we do. I thank you for the fact that I met you, that I will remember you for all my life!

and if I'd already loved you for twenty years, I still couldn't have loved you more than I do right now!

You know, we thank some people for merely living at the same time as we do. I thank you for the fact that I met you, that I will remember you for all my life!

If you ever fall in love, then may God grant you happiness with her! But I won't wish her anything, because she will be happy with you.

In the stories in this volume Dostoevsky explores both the figure of the dreamer divorced from reality and also his own ambiguous attitude to utopianism, themes central to many of his great novels. In White Nights the apparent idyll of the dreamer's romantic fantasies disguises profound loneliness and estrangement from 'living life'. Despite his sentimental friendship with Nastenka, his final withdrawal into the world of the imagination anticipates the retreat into the 'underground' of many of Dostoevsky's later intellectual heroes. A Gentle Creature and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man show how such withdrawal from reality can end in spiritual desolation and moral indifference and how, in Dostoevsky's view, the tragedy of the alienated individual can be resolved only by the rediscovery of a sense of compassion and responsibility towards fellow human beings.

loisesya

Depravity in such a place, the depravity of the final hopes, the depravity of flabby and rotting corpses and- not sparing even the final moments of consciousness! They were granted, they were made a present of these moments and . .. But most of all, most of all in such a place! No, this I will not tolerate.. I’ll spend some time in other classes of graves here, I'Il Iisten everywhere. That's just what needs to be done, to listen everywhere and not just in one part, in order to come to an understanding. Perhaps I'll stumble on to something comforting.

Listen, why is it that we aren't all like brothers to one another? Why is it that the very best person is always hiding something from other people and is quiet about it? Why not say frankly and immediately what's in your heart, if you know that you're not speaking idly? As it is, everyone looks more severe than they actually are, as though they're all afraid their feelings will be hurt if they reveal them too soon. .. 

Do you know that now I will not think so badly of myself as I sometimes have done? Do you know that now, perhaps, I will no longer suffer anguish for having committed a crime and sin in my life, because a life like that is a crime and sin? And don't think that I have been exaggerating anything to you, for God's sake, Nastenka, don't think that, because sometimes I am overcome by moments of such anguish, such anguish… Because at those moments it begins to seem that I will never be able to begin living a real life; because it already seems that I have lost all sense, all feeling for the genuine, the real; because, in the end, I curse myself; because after my fantastic nights I am visited by sobering moments that are horrible!

Jiya

My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is that really so little for the whole of a man's life?

he still wishes her love and happiness 🙁

May your sky be clear, may your sweet smile be bright and serene, may you be blessed for that moment of bliss and happiness that you gave to another lonely, grateful heart!   

well that’s one way to end off a letter to the man that loved you unrequitedly.

I said that I would love you, and I love you now, I more than love you. Oh, my God! If only I could love you both at the same time! Oh, if only you were he!

'Let's go! Look at the sky, Nastenka, look! Tomorrow will be a wonderful day; what a blue sky, what a moon!

Look: see how that yellow cloud is beginning to hide it from view, look, look! ... No, it's passed by. Look now, look!.

But Nastenka wasn't looking at the cloud, she stood speechless, rooted to the ground; a minute later she began somewhat timidly clinging to me tightly. Her hand began to tremble in my hand; I glanced at her ... She pressed against me more tightly still ...

At that moment a young man walked past us. He suddenly stopped, looked at us intently and then took several steps. My heart began to quiver ...

if you wish to love me always as you now love me, then I swear that gratitude... that my love will in the end be worthy of your love … Will you take my hand now?

because you love me, and he didn't love me, because finally I love you myself... yes, I love! I love as you love me; you know, I myself even said so to you, you heard it yourself - because I love that you are better than he is, because you are nobler than he is, because, because he ...

he fell in love with her. this is so unfortunate :(

I was comparing the two of you. Why isn't he - you? Why isn't he like you? He's not as good as you, even though I love him more than you?

it’s like he’s alive only to be loved by her

as if time had stopped for me, as if a certain sensation, a certain feeling were going to remain with me forever from this time forward, as if a single minute would continue for a whole eternity and all life would come to a halt for me...

Such a love, Nastenka, at certain moments can make the heart grow cold and make one miserable. Your hand is cold, mine is as hot as fire. How blind you are, Nastenka! ... Oh, how unbearable is the happy person at certain moments!

I will love you almost as much as I love him ...

My Nastenka was so timid, so afraid, that it seems she understood at last that I loved her, and she took pity on my poor love. And so it is that when we are unhappy we more strongly feel the unhappiness of others; feeling is not shattered, but becomes concentrated ...

And how infectious is this joy! Yesterday in her words there was such tenderness, so much heartfelt kindness towards me ...

How she flattered me, how she treated me with affection, how she cheered and pampered my heart! Oh, how much coquetry springs forth from happiness! And I ... I took everything for the genuine article; I thought that she ...

But, my goodness! How could I have thought that?

How could I have been so blind, when everything had already been taken by another, when everything was not mine, when, in the end, even this very tenderness of hers, her attentions, her love ... yes, her love for me - was nothing more than joy at the impending meeting with someone else, the desire to thrust her happiness on me?

A very classic book about hopeful love . A way you can tell you can love someone without telling them. first introductory to dostoyevsky collection . Something that you can re read on heavy days

maxlilies

A tender, melancholic story of love, loneliness, and fleeting connection. Beautifully written, but left me feeling a little too hollow.

Tanishq Khandelwal

clethroides

It’s a thoughtful novel I really enjoyed. I’ve heard people say the main theme is unrequited love, yet for me it’s way deeper than that. It’s about a human being who is an outsider, and the human nature of people, rooted deep down in our DNA, to feel part of a group, to not feel alone. From the very beginning we can feel the urge of the protagonist to share his life to somebody, to feel seen and understood in a world totally shut from him. He is a man deprived of a human acquaintance and he falls in love with the first person to give him the bare minimum- kindness and understanding. The book is about loneliness. It’s about a person who is too afraid to live, and so he lives by daydreaming, hoping that would be sufficient, yet it never is.

Maya Alexandrova

Xiang

first read after a slump 

ultimate yearner pro max 



white nights was very hard to grasp at first—the pacing felt slow, and the narrator’s dreamy, overly sentimental tone made it difficult to connect with what he was saying. but as the story neared its end, everything started to fall into place, and i was left feeling genuinely pitiful for the narrator. he was just a lonely man who longed for connection, pouring all his emotions into this brief encounter that meant the world to him. what made it worse was how nastenka, despite her gentle and kind exterior, turned out to be a bit of a red flag. she let him fall for her even while she was clearly still holding on to another man—someone she claimed she loved, but who abandoned her for a year. she used the narrator for emotional support, then left him the moment her old flame came back. the ending hit hard, not just because of the heartbreak, but because dostoevsky made it so painfully real—how some people are meant to pass through our lives, leaving behind joy and ruin all at once.

I can’t believe this story was published over 100 years ago, it’s so beautiful. So filled with love. Ugh. 

Hannah Bateman

Tina Villarete

This was the first work I've read by Fydor Dostoevsky, and it left a lasting impression. The story beautifully illustrates the depth of loneliness and the human longing for connection. 

On the first night, the nameless narrator—Who introduces himself as a "dreamer"—meets Nastekna in the quiet solitary evening. From that night, she makes her intentions clear, warning him not to fall in love with her. Yet, driven by his profound loneliness, he idealises their brief time together, which only deepens the heartbreak that follows.

After finishing this book, I found myself staring at the veiling for what felt like 30 minutes…thinking. As someone, or for anyone who releates the dreamer, it's a reminder how loneliness can quietly consume us, and how even the smallest interactions with somone can stir emotions we didn't realise we were holding back.

Khalia Rivera

This was the first work I've read by Fydor Dostoevsky, and it left a lasting impression. The story beautifully illustrates the depth of loneliness and the human longing for connection. 

On the first night, the nameless narrator—Who introduces himself as a "dreamer"—meets Nastekna in the quiet solitary evening. From that night, she makes her intentions clear, warning him not to fall in love with her. Yet, driven by his profound loneliness, he idealises their brief time together, which only deepens the heartbreak that follows.

After finishing this book, I found myself staring at the veiling for what felt like 30 minutes…thinking. As someone, or for anyone who releates the dreamer, it's a reminder how loneliness can quietly consume us, and how even the smallest interactions with somone can stir emotions we didn't realise we were holding back.

“I am a dreamer. I know so little of real life that I just can't help re-living such moments as these in my dreams, for such moments are something I have very rarely experienced. I am going to dream about you the whole night, the whole week, the whole year. I feel I know you so well that I couldn't have known you better if we'd been friends for twenty years. you won't fail me, will you? only two minutes, and you've made me happy forever. yes, happy. who knows, perhaps you've reconciled me with myself, resolved all my doubts.”

“when I woke up it seemed to me that some snatch of a tune I had known for a long time, I had heard somewhere before but had forgotten, a melody of great sweetness, was coming back to me now. it seemed to me that it had been trying to emerge from my soul all my life.”

“if and when you fall in love, may you be happy with her. I don't need to wish her anything, for she'll be happy with you. may your sky always be clear, may your dear smile always be bright and happy, and may you be for ever blessed for that moment of bliss and happiness which you gave to another lonely and grateful heart. isn't such a moment sufficient for the whole of one's life?”

cherish

“I am a dreamer. I know so little of real life that I just can't help re-living such moments as these in my dreams, for such moments are something I have very rarely experienced. I am going to dream about you the whole night, the whole week, the whole year. I feel I know you so well that I couldn't have known you better if we'd been friends for twenty years. you won't fail me, will you? only two minutes, and you've made me happy forever. yes, happy. who knows, perhaps you've reconciled me with myself, resolved all my doubts.”

“when I woke up it seemed to me that some snatch of a tune I had known for a long time, I had heard somewhere before but had forgotten, a melody of great sweetness, was coming back to me now. it seemed to me that it had been trying to emerge from my soul all my life.”

“if and when you fall in love, may you be happy with her. I don't need to wish her anything, for she'll be happy with you. may your sky always be clear, may your dear smile always be bright and happy, and may you be for ever blessed for that moment of bliss and happiness which you gave to another lonely and grateful heart. isn't such a moment sufficient for the whole of one's life?”

its brutal if you've ever been "almost loved"

Raiza Zaldiarizki

its brutal if you've ever been "almost loved"

  

 

Gokil tapi agak maksa ya jgn dibiasakan kayak gitu (jatuh cinta sama orang yg gak dikenalllll)

Calista

“oh if only he were you” …. ouch!!!!

petrina

this book really gets to you. altho it’s a bit confusing at first, with all the... well, yapping. but you do get a hang of it as you dive in. It's beautiful, but it's also heartbreaking bc you know the connection, love, and happiness won’t last. that in the end, he's left facing his loneliness again.

this book hit me right in the feels. it’s like my heart was both warmed and wounded at the same time. you get so caught up in their brief happiness, and then...oof. it’s the kind of story that stays with you, making you feel a loss that isn't even your own.

it also makes you think about how sometimes we hold onto these dreams, even when they might not be realistic, and how painful it can be when they fall apart.

what a touching story about how much we crave connection, how lonely we can be, and how bittersweet those fleeting moments of happiness can be. a story that sticks with you, making you think about love, loss, and the line between dreaming and reality.

this book really gets to you. altho it’s a bit confusing at first, with all the... well, yapping. but you do get a hang of it as you dive in. It's beautiful, but it's also heartbreaking bc you know the connection, love, and happiness won’t last. that in the end, he's left facing his loneliness again.

this book hit me right in the feels. it’s like my heart was both warmed and wounded at the same time. you get so caught up in their brief happiness, and then...oof. it’s the kind of story that stays with you, making you feel a loss that isn't even your own.

it also makes you think about how sometimes we hold onto these dreams, even when they might not be realistic, and how painful it can be when they fall apart.

what a touching story about how much we crave connection, how lonely we can be, and how bittersweet those fleeting moments of happiness can be. a story that sticks with you, making you think about love, loss, and the line between dreaming and reality.

I would learn Russian just to grasp the beautiful phrases of this novel the way it was intended

The main character is still, after all these years, a relatable one for the people that find themselves living in a dream more than life, which ends up causing a sad reality in comparison. 

It also shows an accurate description of love, where you want the person to be happy regardless of how it's achieved. 

Julieta

I would learn Russian just to grasp the beautiful phrases of this novel the way it was intended

The main character is still, after all these years, a relatable one for the people that find themselves living in a dream more than life, which ends up causing a sad reality in comparison. 

It also shows an accurate description of love, where you want the person to be happy regardless of how it's achieved. 

The circumlocution is trademark of Dostoevsky novels and so he makes the main character blab about romance pathetically here. 

william wukkuan

Joey Coffin

Short with a dramatic ending.

A depiction of Obsession and Solitude.



but then again, you just met a few nights ago how can you go against a love that’s been fleeting with time.

march🐇

“Oh, if only he were you“ 

but then again, you just met a few nights ago how can you go against a love that’s been fleeting with time.



my heart also quivers the same as the dreamers does :( 

This was absolutely beautiful and tugged on my heart and head with such agony 

my heart also quivers the same as the dreamers does :( 

This was absolutely beautiful and tugged on my heart and head with such agony 

I read this sporadically over the course of the day, and it was quite easy to follow along with since it was so short. I assume if I hadn't been as busy as I was, this could have easily been a single sitting read. 

I have to start this off by praising the translation. It was done so fantastically, and absolutely did the original text justice. I felt it flowed so fluently, as if the book itself had been written in English from the beginning. It was just fantastic.

Now, onto the actual text. I found the exploration of loneliness in this book very fascinating. The Narrator's deep want to talk to and share his feelings with someone else is palpable, and so the excitement he felt upon meeting Nastenka and finally being able to do so was honestly quite heartbreaking for me. I was annoyed at first, with how much The Narrator would speak. But I realised it was due to his years of solitude, and that he just had so much to say after so much time being silent. His imaginary connections were, in hindsight, very upsetting, as it was his only way of dealing with the loneliness he was feeling.

For such a short story too, I thought he captured the rawness of The Narrator's love so beautifully, I was completely swept up in them. Not in a deep way, but almost in a dreamlike way. It is difficult for me to articulate it, but it felt much more like a softer impact rather than a deep, gut wrenching one that typically comes with reading about unrequited love. I think it is such a beautiful showcase of the fragility that comes with human connection, and just overall I felt The Narrator's pain of losing this girl he loved.

On a more personal note, this book found me at a relevant time in my life, as I am going through a difficult breakup of a long-term relationship. Not the same premise as White Nights, however The Narrator's feelings mirror my own experiences in such a heart breaking way, I could not help but feel a kinship with him. 

This quote specifically just encapsulates the feeling of loss and heartbreak so perfectly, and it was just the perfect ending to the story.

iris may

I read this sporadically over the course of the day, and it was quite easy to follow along with since it was so short. I assume if I hadn't been as busy as I was, this could have easily been a single sitting read. 

I have to start this off by praising the translation. It was done so fantastically, and absolutely did the original text justice. I felt it flowed so fluently, as if the book itself had been written in English from the beginning. It was just fantastic.

Now, onto the actual text. I found the exploration of loneliness in this book very fascinating. The Narrator's deep want to talk to and share his feelings with someone else is palpable, and so the excitement he felt upon meeting Nastenka and finally being able to do so was honestly quite heartbreaking for me. I was annoyed at first, with how much The Narrator would speak. But I realised it was due to his years of solitude, and that he just had so much to say after so much time being silent. His imaginary connections were, in hindsight, very upsetting, as it was his only way of dealing with the loneliness he was feeling.

For such a short story too, I thought he captured the rawness of The Narrator's love so beautifully, I was completely swept up in them. Not in a deep way, but almost in a dreamlike way. It is difficult for me to articulate it, but it felt much more like a softer impact rather than a deep, gut wrenching one that typically comes with reading about unrequited love. I think it is such a beautiful showcase of the fragility that comes with human connection, and just overall I felt The Narrator's pain of losing this girl he loved.

On a more personal note, this book found me at a relevant time in my life, as I am going through a difficult breakup of a long-term relationship. Not the same premise as White Nights, however The Narrator's feelings mirror my own experiences in such a heart breaking way, I could not help but feel a kinship with him. 


My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is that really so little for the whole of a man's life?


This quote specifically just encapsulates the feeling of loss and heartbreak so perfectly, and it was just the perfect ending to the story.

White Nights has had a resurgence in popularity in the past year or so, and being a shorter Dostoevsky work I thought it would be a good introduction to his works, so I was looking forward to enjoying reading it. However, I find myself a little underwhelmed. 

I really enjoyed the prose, it is very vivid and heartfelt, especially when discussing emotions. The bitterness of being lonely, the warmth and excitement of love and heartache when your dreams do not come true are all discussed in intricate detail. My disappointment lies however in the progression of the plot. It just feels so basic for how much this book is celebrated. I was just expecting a bit more. 

However I do think white nights is still worth the read at least for the use of language, cos that's where it really stands out. 

Marz 

White Nights has had a resurgence in popularity in the past year or so, and being a shorter Dostoevsky work I thought it would be a good introduction to his works, so I was looking forward to enjoying reading it. However, I find myself a little underwhelmed. 

I really enjoyed the prose, it is very vivid and heartfelt, especially when discussing emotions. The bitterness of being lonely, the warmth and excitement of love and heartache when your dreams do not come true are all discussed in intricate detail. My disappointment lies however in the progression of the plot. It just feels so basic for how much this book is celebrated. I was just expecting a bit more. 

However I do think white nights is still worth the read at least for the use of language, cos that's where it really stands out. 

White Nights

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