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sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
5.0
juliec617's review against another edition
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
scriabinesque's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
soukokulxvr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
_marco_'s review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
5.0
Either the sunbeams suddenly peeping out from the clouds for a moment were hidden again behind a veil of rain, and everything had grown dingy again before my eyes; or perhaps the whole vista of my future flashed before me so sad and forbidding, and I saw myself jut as I was now, fifteen years hence, older, in the same room, just as solitary, with the same Matrona grown no cleverer for those fifteen years.
As soon as I had read the first paragraph of White Nights, I knew that the story would have obliterated my psyche if I had read it a month ago. For that reason, I feel like I missed the train on this one, despite the fact that it still affected me deeply.
White Nights follows the narrator, a dreamer, forever lost in the recesses of his own mind, when he suddenly and spontaneously encounters a woman, who (of course) he falls in love with.
This is meant to be a very meditative read. Dostoevsky's winding, wandering sentences and long, relentless paragraphs transport you into the infinite and muddled thought of the dreamer, in which everything is painted in watercolour; that is, until the bleakness and greyness of reality sets in, and life becomes hazy, as though coated in a thick layer of dust.
While White Nights was by far my favourite, and the reason for having read the book at all, I found that all the stories in this collection were extremely well written. Dostoevsky, in all these stories, focuses heavily on the theme of self-destruction. He presents various character studies, each with a central personality trait - a flaw - that eventually leads to ruin. What struck me the most, however, was the fact that everyone was fully cognisant of this flaw, and yet did nothing to pull themselves out of their self-made pit. This is precisely what intrigued me the most about these stories: Dostoevsky not only presents to us the follies of human nature in the form of a pantomime, stupid and unaware; instead, he gives us full consciousness: the pantomime and his audience are united in one person. He presents to us not our foolishness, for everyone is foolish, but our inability to change, our intrinsic inertia that prevents us from achieving betterment and instead chains us to the post of our current disposition. We are given a mirror in which we can see ourselves at our most intricately, reprehensibly, and tragically human.
In fact, the human is all that is presented to us. Setting is so sparse in these stories, and limited only to what the protagonists themselves experience. We are forced to see the world through the dreamer's eyes and are not offered the bigger picture. Our world is theirs - the author robs us of omniscience.
This mastery of human nature is well complemented by pathos and almost extreme sentimentalism. All his characters feel profoundly, which I thought was particularly beautiful, although I can imagine some may find it a little kitschy. Especially in A Little Hero and A Faint Heart, conversations are riddled with demonstrations of endearment, hot tears, and profound love one can only experience from a close friend or a sensual awakening. I loved the deep, pseudo-romantic relationship of Vasya and Arkady in Faint Heart. Sensational, in the most basic sense of the word.
Overall, I very deeply enjoyed these stories. This is my first foray into Dostoevsky's mind, and I know for sure that it will not be my last. I Highly recommend this book, especially to those who feel deeply. I also should note that I recommend reading this when you can devote your whole mind to it.
(note: my edition of the book included White Nights, A Faint Heart, A Christmas Tree and a Wedding, Polzunkov, A Little Hero, and Mr. Prokhartchin)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
A Christmas Tree and a Wedding is pretty slimy: an older man makes a marriage proposition to a very young girl. While the stories themselves are quite dark, I can't think of specific trigger warnings to watch out for.mafiaa__'s review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5