White Nights

“He is the man more than any other who has created modern prose, and intensified it to its present-day pitch.”—James Joyce

“His psychologic sense is overwhelming and visionary.”—Knut Hamsun

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s White Nights, a young man grapples with profound feelings of isolation and solitude in the bustling city of Saint Petersburg. Amidst his desolation, he encounters a captivating young woman, with whom he forms a deep emotional connection. As their bond intensifies, the young man finds himself entranced by the allure of love, yet his affection remains unreciprocated. The woman, consumed by thoughts of her absent lover, cannot return his feelings. Potent and profound, White Nights explores the universal themes of unrequited love, longing, and the ache of loneliness. The bittersweet nature of the tale and its insights into the human heart render it a deeply moving and unforgettable work of literature.

This Warbler Classics edition includes Dostoevsky’s short story “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” and a detailed biographical timeline.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) was a Russian short story writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the greatest novelists in all of world literature. His works are broadly thought to have anticipated Russian symbolism, existentialism, expressionism, and psychoanalysis. He also influenced later writers and philosophers including Anton Chekov, Hermann Hesse, Ernest Hemingway, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Jean-Paul Sartre.