White Nights

White Nights is a short, romantic novella written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1848, during the early stages of his literary career. Set against the backdrop of St. Petersburg’s famous “white nights”—a phenomenon when the summer sun barely dips below the horizon—the story follows a lonely and sensitive narrator, often referred to simply as “the dreamer.”

The dreamer lives in isolation, finding companionship only in his imagination and the city’s quiet streets. One evening, during his nightly wanderings, he encounters Nastenka, a young woman also burdened by solitude and longing. Over the course of four consecutive nights, they share their stories, fears, and desires, forming an intense but delicate emotional connection. For the dreamer, this bond becomes a glimpse of love and belonging that he has always yearned for but never experienced.

Dostoyevsky crafts the novella with remarkable tenderness, blending lyrical prose with psychological depth. The work reflects themes that would become central to his later masterpieces: loneliness, the hunger for human connection, fleeting happiness, and the pain of unfulfilled love. Despite its brevity, White Nights is celebrated for its melancholic beauty and is often seen as one of Dostoyevsky’s most heartfelt and poetic works.

I am currently reading this novella and will share my personal reflections and thoughts once I finish it.