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White Nights, Poor Folk & The Double
‘White Nights’ is one of Dostoevsky’s earlier short stories but one of his most enduringly popular. It tells the story of four nights in the life of the lonely narrator, who meets and falls in love with the mysterious and beautiful Nastenka.
Poor Folk was Dostoevsky’s first novel, written to try and alleviate his financial plight, and was a commercial success. It tells the story of Makar Devushkin, a clerk, and Varvara Dobroselova, a seamstress, by means of the letters they exchange; they are in love, but too poor to marry. Its exploration of humanitarian themes led to it being described as Russia’s first ‘social novel’
By contrast, Dostoevsky’s second novel, The Double was not well received. First published in 1846, it was revised and republished by Dostoevsky in 1866, but he did not consider it a success. By contrast, Vladimir Nabokov called it ‘the best thing he ever wrote’ and described it as ’a perfect work of art’.
Poor Folk was Dostoevsky’s first novel, written to try and alleviate his financial plight, and was a commercial success. It tells the story of Makar Devushkin, a clerk, and Varvara Dobroselova, a seamstress, by means of the letters they exchange; they are in love, but too poor to marry. Its exploration of humanitarian themes led to it being described as Russia’s first ‘social novel’
By contrast, Dostoevsky’s second novel, The Double was not well received. First published in 1846, it was revised and republished by Dostoevsky in 1866, but he did not consider it a success. By contrast, Vladimir Nabokov called it ‘the best thing he ever wrote’ and described it as ’a perfect work of art’.
- GenresClassics
304 pages, Paperback
Published March 15, 2025
19 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Fyodor Dostoevsky
3,248 books72.2k followers
Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский
(Russian)
Works, such as the novels Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), of Russian writer Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky or Dostoevski combine religious mysticism with profound psychological insight.
Very influential writings of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin included Problems of Dostoyevsky's Works (1929),
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky composed short stories, essays, and journals. His literature explores humans in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century and engages with a variety of philosophies and themes. People most acclaimed his Demons(1872) .
Many literary critics rate him among the greatest authors of world literature and consider multiple books written by him to be highly influential masterpieces. They consider his Notes from Underground of the first existentialist literature. He is also well regarded as a philosopher and theologian.
(Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (see also Fiodor Dostoïevski)
Works, such as the novels Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), of Russian writer Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky or Dostoevski combine religious mysticism with profound psychological insight.
Very influential writings of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin included Problems of Dostoyevsky's Works (1929),
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky composed short stories, essays, and journals. His literature explores humans in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century and engages with a variety of philosophies and themes. People most acclaimed his Demons(1872) .
Many literary critics rate him among the greatest authors of world literature and consider multiple books written by him to be highly influential masterpieces. They consider his Notes from Underground of the first existentialist literature. He is also well regarded as a philosopher and theologian.
(Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (see also Fiodor Dostoïevski)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 3, 2025
3.5 / 5.0
(Having already read The Double, this review is solely concerned with White Nights and Poor Folk.)
Some of the earliest publications by him, Dostoevsky's two tales already intimate what is to come later on. What he is getting at, he is getting at obliquely, through a profusion of details and sentiments. The characters are highly strung and capricious, the flames of emotion lick at unrealistic yet impressive heights and the awkward and the destitute are given a voice that takes them seriously without whitewashing their uncouthness.
The writing in both tales is not exactly great, and Constance Garnett's translation probably does them a disservice with its detached clunkiness. But I have enjoyed Dostoevsky greatly before when translated by her, so in a way it's nothing new; besides, it's clear that the style is all Dostoevsky's. He writes interminable sentences, mostly in speech (in White Nights we have mostly dialogue and in Poor Folk chiefly epistolary narrative), and they are written by people who don't seem to reflect a whole lot but rather jot down their anxious thoughts on paper as they pop up. There is simply an avalanche of humming and hawing, awkward attempts at being literary and lots and lots of neurotic self-conscious babbling.
While this does not lend itself to enjoyable narrative, it is nonetheless justified from the characters' point of view. In White Nights, we have an awkward young hermit who has never talked with a lady, while in Poor Folk we have two poor people racked with penury. We can understand their neurotic behaviour, especially in the case of the latter: they are suffering, they are constantly being reminded of the fickleness and unfairness of fortune, and not only do they have to worry about bodily needs, they also have to teeter on the unravelling trapeze of reputation. Yes, they are hyperbolic windbags and don't exactly write that well, but such concerns become really irrelevant when one begins to feel for them and appreciate their essential concerns.
This is also what is essential in all of Dostoevsky. Ever and anon you have characters in his novels who frustrate the living unmentionables out of you, who downright vomit on you in a hectic, uncalculated fashion. But you suffer them. It's Dostoevsky's big heart that gives him the patience to sit through the nonsense and to extract the human within—and with any luck, the reader will do the same. None of the Madame de Villeneuve nonsense, "oh dear how could I ever be with an ugly beast who speaks in such a tiresome manner": this is humanism.
White Nights is also refreshing in that it's less gloomy than other Dostoevsky writings I have read. One could even call it YA, since it essentially deals with two youngsters and the possibility of love between them. They talk to each other like two giddy, open teenagers, and their mood-swings are quite exhilaratingly relatable. The Poor Folk is more recognisable as a Dostoevsky work, but it is written in a deliberately uncontemplative manner; it's a correspondence between two lowly educated, miserable people, with no epiphanies or great thoughts behind them. But despite this, the complexity is already there: not in the sense that it's hard to read or that one must remember all the details flung your way, but in the sense that Dostoevsky doesn't present things in a simple light. Even when his characters do, he doesn't.
Overall, pretty good stuff. Guaranteed to give the old heartstrings a tug and the old lip a bitter bite.
(Having already read The Double, this review is solely concerned with White Nights and Poor Folk.)
Some of the earliest publications by him, Dostoevsky's two tales already intimate what is to come later on. What he is getting at, he is getting at obliquely, through a profusion of details and sentiments. The characters are highly strung and capricious, the flames of emotion lick at unrealistic yet impressive heights and the awkward and the destitute are given a voice that takes them seriously without whitewashing their uncouthness.
The writing in both tales is not exactly great, and Constance Garnett's translation probably does them a disservice with its detached clunkiness. But I have enjoyed Dostoevsky greatly before when translated by her, so in a way it's nothing new; besides, it's clear that the style is all Dostoevsky's. He writes interminable sentences, mostly in speech (in White Nights we have mostly dialogue and in Poor Folk chiefly epistolary narrative), and they are written by people who don't seem to reflect a whole lot but rather jot down their anxious thoughts on paper as they pop up. There is simply an avalanche of humming and hawing, awkward attempts at being literary and lots and lots of neurotic self-conscious babbling.
While this does not lend itself to enjoyable narrative, it is nonetheless justified from the characters' point of view. In White Nights, we have an awkward young hermit who has never talked with a lady, while in Poor Folk we have two poor people racked with penury. We can understand their neurotic behaviour, especially in the case of the latter: they are suffering, they are constantly being reminded of the fickleness and unfairness of fortune, and not only do they have to worry about bodily needs, they also have to teeter on the unravelling trapeze of reputation. Yes, they are hyperbolic windbags and don't exactly write that well, but such concerns become really irrelevant when one begins to feel for them and appreciate their essential concerns.
This is also what is essential in all of Dostoevsky. Ever and anon you have characters in his novels who frustrate the living unmentionables out of you, who downright vomit on you in a hectic, uncalculated fashion. But you suffer them. It's Dostoevsky's big heart that gives him the patience to sit through the nonsense and to extract the human within—and with any luck, the reader will do the same. None of the Madame de Villeneuve nonsense, "oh dear how could I ever be with an ugly beast who speaks in such a tiresome manner": this is humanism.
White Nights is also refreshing in that it's less gloomy than other Dostoevsky writings I have read. One could even call it YA, since it essentially deals with two youngsters and the possibility of love between them. They talk to each other like two giddy, open teenagers, and their mood-swings are quite exhilaratingly relatable. The Poor Folk is more recognisable as a Dostoevsky work, but it is written in a deliberately uncontemplative manner; it's a correspondence between two lowly educated, miserable people, with no epiphanies or great thoughts behind them. But despite this, the complexity is already there: not in the sense that it's hard to read or that one must remember all the details flung your way, but in the sense that Dostoevsky doesn't present things in a simple light. Even when his characters do, he doesn't.
Overall, pretty good stuff. Guaranteed to give the old heartstrings a tug and the old lip a bitter bite.
October 14, 2025
**I will be reviewing all three books in this collection, and have rated the collection overall, while maintaining individual ratings below.
White Nights: Five Stars
A simple, yet endearing story about a lonely man and a woman in love with someone else! The story is beautifully written to feel like someone is telling you a story directly. Each line is almost an inner reflective of the character, with the words truly understanding the emotions behind each action and thought! A story well-worth the read!
Poor Folk: Three Stars
While the structure of the story is quite interesting, with the letters between the two lovers, the work itself was much too long. The letters became repetitive early on, and other than the telling of Varinka’s past, there was not much substance to the story. Perhaps someone else may find it intriguing, but I found it quite flat and long, especially in comparison to White Nights before!
The Double: Two Stars
Similar to Poor Folk, the idea of the Tory was intriguing, however, the overall writing fell flat. I did not find myself captivated and there were many moments of confusion, especially with the almost constant use of character names.
White Nights: Five Stars
A simple, yet endearing story about a lonely man and a woman in love with someone else! The story is beautifully written to feel like someone is telling you a story directly. Each line is almost an inner reflective of the character, with the words truly understanding the emotions behind each action and thought! A story well-worth the read!
Poor Folk: Three Stars
While the structure of the story is quite interesting, with the letters between the two lovers, the work itself was much too long. The letters became repetitive early on, and other than the telling of Varinka’s past, there was not much substance to the story. Perhaps someone else may find it intriguing, but I found it quite flat and long, especially in comparison to White Nights before!
The Double: Two Stars
Similar to Poor Folk, the idea of the Tory was intriguing, however, the overall writing fell flat. I did not find myself captivated and there were many moments of confusion, especially with the almost constant use of character names.
September 12, 2025
This edition was a collection which included White Nights, Poor Folk and The Double.
For me, White Nights was amazing. I didn't know Dostoevsky was such a romantic soul. The protagonist is such a lovely but frustrating guy that falls for a girl, and does everything in his power to try and make sure she is happy, even if that means helping her reunite with a lost love.
The other two stories were not as good, especially Poor Folk. OMG I found it so tedious and uninteresting.
Read White Nights, the others are just fine.
For me, White Nights was amazing. I didn't know Dostoevsky was such a romantic soul. The protagonist is such a lovely but frustrating guy that falls for a girl, and does everything in his power to try and make sure she is happy, even if that means helping her reunite with a lost love.
The other two stories were not as good, especially Poor Folk. OMG I found it so tedious and uninteresting.
Read White Nights, the others are just fine.
June 27, 2025
Four stars for Poor Folk alone. Minus a hundred stars for White Nights.
September 30, 2025
The first book was alright but I didn’t like the second one at all and just stopped reading it completely, it was only letters to each other.
December 19, 2025
The stories in itself was great and I enjoyed it, but did anybody else have this edition (2024) with all the typing errors? And I'm not saying 1 or 2...I found errors almost every other page...I did not get my "wordsworth"!!!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews