“white nights” by foyodor dostoevsky, a review by me :)
Date Last Read: June 10, 2026
Number of times Read: 2
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Synopsis: White Nights is a solitary novel(ette) that depicts the innerworkings of the Dreamer's mind throughout the nights he spends in the company of the beloved Nastenka. It's a tale of love—unrequited, romantic, platonic, yearning, and unconditional. If you've ever loved someone who, in their own way, loved you as well, just—not in the same way you had them, then, maybe this book is for you.
TLDR: Must-read if you're a yearner, in a back-burner mood, or if you enjoy basking in a dream-like state of literature.
“My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is that really so little for the whole of a man’s life?”
White Nights was always that novel(ette) that I’ve heard must be read at least once in your life. Now, I understand why.
It’s a yearner’s go-to. A love story, but not a romance. It’s a story told by the Dreamer, who meets a woman, Nastenka, and within four white nights, falls deep and hard, in love with her. But, that’s something I can’t help but think about. Does he truly love her?
According to his memoir, he fell in love within moments upon their meeting. I certainly don’t doubt one’s ability to fall in love within a shared moment with someone. But, to fall in love with a stranger, and as hard and fast as he had? That’s something else.
Nastenka’s name had been mentioned 138 times within those few nights they shared together, highlighting just how constant she is in his heart, as is she in his mind. But with the nature of their shared moments, I can’t exactly blame him. He’s a meek man, unfamiliar and almost completely alien to interactions with others, much less young women such as herself.
However, the blame isn’t Nastenka’s either, for even from the very beginning, she had already warned him of one thing: do not fall in love with her. She didn’t explain, she didn’t need to. But, I also can’t blame the Dreamer’s heart for falling in love with her. I can’t blame him for expressing it with her, nor can I blame her for reacting the way she had.
Overall, I find that the Dreamer did love her— but, most of all, he needed somebody to love, to brighten his days, and remind him that there is warmth to the sun’s rays. Meanwhile, Nastenka wanted to be loved. Maybe she did love the Dreamer, just not in the way he had her. Maybe she was at fault for giving him that hope, that one night of bliss, on the account of a love she was reminded belonged to another.
But, despite this, despite it all, I applaud the Dreamer for truly loving her, and wishing her nothing but happiness as she promises her heart to whom she truly loves.
He is not selfish as to wish her ill, nor to hold anything against her. Instead, he is grateful for the four nights she had given him, and for the lifetime’s worth of moments he can look back upon to replenish his mind.
White Nights is as compelling as it is so full of love, emotion, and thought. It’s something that must be read more than once, and appreciated over and over.
"I don’t even know what I’m writing, I have no idea, I don’t know anything, and I’m not reading over it, and I’m not correcting my style, and I’m writing just for the sake of writing, just for the sake of writing more to you… My precious, my darling, my dearest!"~Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY YIPPIE YIPPIE YAWNN AND THIS MARKS 6 YEARS FROM THE FIRST TIME I STARTED TO READ THE IDIOT AND IT BECAME MY HYPERFIXATION, 14 YEARS SINCE DOGS BECAME MY SPECIAL INTEREST AND 2/3 YEARS SINCE PINNIPEDS BECAME TOO!!!!! HORRAYYY ILL GO TAKE A NAP NOWWW
(rambling) reading the idiot this year (thank you ned i love you ned) introduced me to dostoevskys apparently famous quote, "beauty will save the world." when i first read that in the novel i didnt know what it meant or what myshkin meant by it or what ippolit meant by myshkin meaning it... and i dont think i understand now what dostoevskys intended meaning for it was.
personally at first i interpreted it to mean that beauty, truly powerful beauty, teaches us love, and inspires us to share that love with others who do not yet know it, thereby inspiring an indomitable desire to "save" others; or generally, inspiring goodness, a wish, a way of living to protect others from harm and keep the opportunities to live and love from being stolen from them. but how can beauty save the world if people are blind to beauty? myshkin sees beauty everyday, everywhere, but nobody else does. most people (or, as ee cummings called them, mostpeople) go on without noticing the beauty in all the world, right in front of them. even thought such powerful beauty does exist, how is it going to save the world without people who will notice it?!?! D:
and then as for The Idiot, like beauty saves myshkin but why, and more importantly, HOW does he (allegedly) believe that it will save the whole entire world??? was rogozhin saved by beauty in the end... (like very, very end)?????
