Take a photo of a barcode or cover
emim_luv613 's review for:
White Nights
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
TW: spoilers.
This was my first Dostoyevsky (I don't know if I even spelled that right) book. I picked it up because almost every BookTuber I know loves his work, and since White Nights is a popular one, I decided to check it out.
Honestly, this book is super different from what I expected. Thankfully, it was easy for me to understand it most of the time. To be frank, I liked it. Maybe not a five star read, but it was fun to read it when I did. Here's what I liked:
One, the writing style is beautiful and compelling, but still understandable, and I feel like that's sometimes difficult to pull off. I love the narrator's point of view on things around the city, and I love how he has a super unrealistic trait (being alone all his life and living in his dreams), despite how real he normally is (walking around the city for therapy, imagining everything around him being "alive", observing his surrounding settings and then wandering mindlessly), which I think takes a very specific character to pull off well. Also, not only is it well-written, it's also well-translated, so huge credits to the translator as well.
Two, the dialogue was super different from what is normally written in dialogue these days. Not just the way they describe their worlds, but also their mannerisms when speaking (like repeating a lot of thigns twice or having an exclamation mark at the end of normal sentences), and I found that interesting. Not what I'm used to at all, but I really enjoyed reading that. I feel like it added a little whimsy to the emotional weight of the story.
Three, speaking of emotional weight, I love how the main character felt when the woman left him in the ending for someone else. I could almost feel that betrayal, and I was glad it was highlighted in the story.
There were a few things I didn't think worked, though, but it wasn't much.
One, if you don't like super fast-paced stories, don't read this. Everything happens in less than a week. I feel like the one thing that made me rate this less than four or more stars was the fact that is would have worked so much better as a slow burn, since that kind of lets the readers (and characters) process their emotions or build stronger bonds over time, which is more realistic than opening up to each other immediately just after meeting each other. I did like how it was done, but the story would have been better if it were carried on for a longer time. I feel like that's kinda my only issue with the story, though. It's just the pacing.
Overall, I think the story is really good. I'm sure Dostoyevsky (maybe I spelled that wrong again) has some other great works. I loved this one.
This was my first Dostoyevsky (I don't know if I even spelled that right) book. I picked it up because almost every BookTuber I know loves his work, and since White Nights is a popular one, I decided to check it out.
Honestly, this book is super different from what I expected. Thankfully, it was easy for me to understand it most of the time. To be frank, I liked it. Maybe not a five star read, but it was fun to read it when I did. Here's what I liked:
One, the writing style is beautiful and compelling, but still understandable, and I feel like that's sometimes difficult to pull off. I love the narrator's point of view on things around the city, and I love how he has a super unrealistic trait (being alone all his life and living in his dreams), despite how real he normally is (walking around the city for therapy, imagining everything around him being "alive", observing his surrounding settings and then wandering mindlessly), which I think takes a very specific character to pull off well. Also, not only is it well-written, it's also well-translated, so huge credits to the translator as well.
Two, the dialogue was super different from what is normally written in dialogue these days. Not just the way they describe their worlds, but also their mannerisms when speaking (like repeating a lot of thigns twice or having an exclamation mark at the end of normal sentences), and I found that interesting. Not what I'm used to at all, but I really enjoyed reading that. I feel like it added a little whimsy to the emotional weight of the story.
Three, speaking of emotional weight, I love how the main character felt when the woman left him in the ending for someone else. I could almost feel that betrayal, and I was glad it was highlighted in the story.
There were a few things I didn't think worked, though, but it wasn't much.
One, if you don't like super fast-paced stories, don't read this. Everything happens in less than a week. I feel like the one thing that made me rate this less than four or more stars was the fact that is would have worked so much better as a slow burn, since that kind of lets the readers (and characters) process their emotions or build stronger bonds over time, which is more realistic than opening up to each other immediately just after meeting each other. I did like how it was done, but the story would have been better if it were carried on for a longer time. I feel like that's kinda my only issue with the story, though. It's just the pacing.
Overall, I think the story is really good. I'm sure Dostoyevsky (maybe I spelled that wrong again) has some other great works. I loved this one.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent