White Nights and Other Stories
Ah, yes indeed a very chilling series of immortal tales told by the Russian literary giant himself: Dostoyevsky. I always have had a problem with pronouncing that name. Dostoyevsky. Anyways, the compilation of stories included the titular White Nights, Notes on Underground, A Faint Heart, A Christmas Tree and a Wedding, Pulzunkov, A Little Hero, and Mr. Prohartchin.
All of them were so wonderful and just so tragic. White Nights recounts the four nights we spend with a lonesome dreamer in St. Petersburg and his ill-fared romantic plot to escape his terrible loneliness. Ah, what a dreamer he truly was. I related with him very much. I found similarities too with the narrator of the next novella, Notes on Underground. The Underground Man, the narrator of the tale, will always be my cautionary tale on effects of incessantly daydreaming and the problems that ensue when you don’t take enough action in your life but merely sleepwalk through it. He’s shy too so that hits very deep at my core.
A Faint Heart turned out to be very depressing, but I did appreciate the bromance between the two men and the in-depth portrayal we get into 19th-century Russian worker life. A Christmas Tree and a Wedding was funny but talked about somethings serious: the avarice of rich men and the societal neglect we give to children. Pulzonkov was my least favorite where some man recounts the days he spent with someone he saw as his father and is narrated present-day at a party where the narrator, I think, may have had too much to drink.
A Little Hero had one of the most prophetic endings ever (I just loved how his childhood ended when he was kissed by that woman; not sure if it was on the lips or on the checks—probably the former since it was highlighted as so serious) and had very entertaining and vivid descriptions of aristocratic life. I enjoyed the scene when the untamed horse came; I believe his name was Tangried or something. Something starting with the letter ‘T’. Mr. Prohartchin was a surprising story with strange profound characters, but I didn’t relate with the text much. Felt a bit too distant for me.
I loved how Dostoevsky wrote on Russian culture, and I just adored his writing style. The way he introduces his characters, the methods he uses to insert the reader into the story, and the strings he leaves behind to keep the reader keep on reading. He displayed a majestic vocabulary, although you must keep in mind that this is a translation, so the translators here should get some credit here for this.
It wasn’t perfect because, as I said, I didn’t enjoy some of the tales. It is a bit of a difficult read, but that’s primarily because it’s such an old book. If you’re not Russian, you might enjoy the cultural novelty you are newly exposed to starting from the very first pages.
Most of the stories seemed quite connected in theme and writing style. They only differed in content. It wasn’t a diverse selection of stories, but that’s not really such a big issue. I’d say this was a good read. Yes, a good read for troubling times.
I decided to read a bit on the author’s life. Oh, boy he had a traumatic life. Can’t believe he was almost shot by a firing squad; in the last moment his sentence got changed into Siberian exile with hard labor.1
name & author: White Nights and Other Stories (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
rating: ★★★★
line: I will forever be haunted by the exquisite prose and moral teachings that have been thrust on me; an immortal read for an immortal author.
finished: on february 7th \
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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky ↩