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carstairstark 's review for:
White Nights
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I'm not into romance focused books but I highly appreciate Dostoyevsky's insights on the human psyche and the way he expresses his envisions in such a manner that his ideas are able to resonate beautifully even in translations.
For the main character, books have been his preferred companion his entire life, to an extent where that's quite literally all he knows. He sees the world so dramatically, so passionately, exactly the way only someone who lives through books could do. And that's expressed so well in Dostoevsky's writing! The main character can only speak in a very specific kind of language, because the books he rely so heavily on had taught him about emotions that other humans could hardly phantom, let alone describe. He idealizes everything, the reality he lives in is merely an extension of his introspection. This is also reflected on the fact that he feels the need to tell the story of his own life in 3rd person, as he doesn't feel like his feelings belong to him at all or rather, he feels like he's a character, not a person. All of what was mentioned come together intricately and create an aura of melancholy that sets a great ambience to the book.
On the other side you have this girl who, althought unspeakably naive, is straightfoward and sees things for what they are. They might both be dreamers, as so they say, but in completely different ways. She, too, feels things too deeply but more realistically, she could never be able to live up to or even understand half of his extravagant idealizations. This creates a great contrast between them and makes the atmosphere of the book somewhat unsettling. You know what's about to happen because, when taking into account their personalities, it's unavoidable, but yet you'll still be shaken by the way events unfold;
The quote “Your hand is cold, mine burns like fire. How blind you are, Nastenka!” holds so much significance to the story as it makes the difference between them perfectly clear to the reader. Not only the disparity in the feelings they nourish for each other, but in a more general meaning, in their demeanor and mentality. She's simplistic whereas he's a dreamer, a deeply passionate man who knows no quietude because his mind and heart are always conversing.
The ending too was amazing, I was expecting a big occurrence to tie up the story gracefully. The suffering he goes through is palpable, as well as his incapacity of settling on a way to think of her. He hates her and he loves her and that's the inescapable ending.
“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?”
For the main character, books have been his preferred companion his entire life, to an extent where that's quite literally all he knows. He sees the world so dramatically, so passionately, exactly the way only someone who lives through books could do. And that's expressed so well in Dostoevsky's writing! The main character can only speak in a very specific kind of language, because the books he rely so heavily on had taught him about emotions that other humans could hardly phantom, let alone describe. He idealizes everything, the reality he lives in is merely an extension of his introspection. This is also reflected on the fact that he feels the need to tell the story of his own life in 3rd person, as he doesn't feel like his feelings belong to him at all or rather, he feels like he's a character, not a person. All of what was mentioned come together intricately and create an aura of melancholy that sets a great ambience to the book.
On the other side you have this girl who, althought unspeakably naive, is straightfoward and sees things for what they are. They might both be dreamers, as so they say, but in completely different ways. She, too, feels things too deeply but more realistically, she could never be able to live up to or even understand half of his extravagant idealizations. This creates a great contrast between them and makes the atmosphere of the book somewhat unsettling. You know what's about to happen because, when taking into account their personalities, it's unavoidable, but yet you'll still be shaken by the way events unfold;
The quote “Your hand is cold, mine burns like fire. How blind you are, Nastenka!” holds so much significance to the story as it makes the difference between them perfectly clear to the reader. Not only the disparity in the feelings they nourish for each other, but in a more general meaning, in their demeanor and mentality. She's simplistic whereas he's a dreamer, a deeply passionate man who knows no quietude because his mind and heart are always conversing.
The ending too was amazing, I was expecting a big occurrence to tie up the story gracefully. The suffering he goes through is palpable, as well as his incapacity of settling on a way to think of her. He hates her and he loves her and that's the inescapable ending.
“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?”