Classics Without All the Class discussion

Welcome to White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky! This is a complicated (and somewhat short) romance novel set in Russia and published in 1848. It's in the public domain so you should be able to find it for free on the web (try Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36034/...). It's a six part story about a man meeting and falling in love with a woman. So get some hot cocoa, or if you live in the southern hemisphere something cold, and snuggle up to enjoy White Nights!

What do you think? A good winter read? or a good summer read?

Sounds good - Thanks for the link!

I just got it too.

Good morning everyones!

Ok. Sound very interesting come back to read this.

I have read stories from White Nights and other stories but never actually white nights. All in all of the short fiction I've read by Dostoyevsky most of it is excellent. He is able to make a complete story in a few pages. Which is odd as he can be a bit wordy in his fukl length material. Generally I love Dostoyevsky anyway. He brings such a level of emotion as he tends to focus on the poor or desolute. The lower oart of society in much of his work. Actually in these short stories he orobably soent more time with the upper class than in most any of his other work. Maybe I'll get to White Nights and actually be able to comment specific to it.

I started reading it about 2 weeks ago but have been reading just a little at a time since it is short. This is my 3rd work by Dostoevsky, have read Crime and P. a long time ago and The Brothers Karamazov a couple years ago. I'm about 2/3 through now; it seems to be a lighter themed story than those of his I've read before, dealing with romantic attachment and disappointment, and loneliness. It's curious that he names the young woman, Nastenka, but not the male (protagonist?). Why is it titled White Nights? I've just gotten a bit of insight on that 2/3 through. There are just a couple of other characters who are spoken of, but don't "appear" so far, so it has the focused style of a stage play with just 2 actors. I am enjoying it.

George wrote: "I started reading it about 2 weeks ago but have been reading just a little at a time since it is short. This is my 3rd work by Dostoevsky, have read Crime and P. a long time ago and The Brothers Ka..."

Good questions George! I am going to post them in the main topics!

I read it from start to finish last night in only two hours, because I loved the story so much. It was the first work by Dostoevsky I've read, and I expected something a lot harder and a lot more boring. I was wrong.

I love the fact that the story centers around just two characters and you grow to understand and love the characters in only those few pages.

An excellent Christmas read!

Not for me - doesn't it take place during the summer when the sky never gets all the way dark?
I love Tolstoy and Pasternak, but have never read Dostoyevsky until now.
Anyway, I felt the writing was too sentimental and poetic, almost like a lovesick boy in high school - it would be a good essay, though.

Terry wrote: "Not for me - doesn't it take place during the summer when the sky never gets all the way dark?
I love Tolstoy and Pasternak, but have never read Dostoyevsky until now.
Anyway, I felt the writing ..."

Try to read another novels of him like The idiot or Demons.

OK! Which one do you like better?

Both of them are very good. Obviously Crimen and P. and The brothers K also are masterpieces.

For me my favorite is Crime and Punishment which I've reread and will again. I love it. It is the original psychokogical thriller in my opinion. I gave Brothers Karazamov 5 stars but I think it was more of a 4 as I think back. As for the above I gave The Idiot 4 stars I felt it was a lighter easier read than a lot of Dostoyevsky is. Demons I gave 3 stars with a review saying I loved the writing and the dialogue and felt it to be a 5 star read but I didn't follow the story and was confusedm perhaps a reread someday would fix that. The Gambler was quick just a simple story on gambling addiction 3 stars. Notes from the Underground I gave 4 stars. House of the Dead I thought would be better but 3 stars. Dream of a Ridiculous Man was short and real good 4 stars. That sums up all of my reads by Dostoyevsky. Really O don't have many more to complete everything he has written

Terry wrote: "Not for me - doesn't it take place during the summer when the sky never gets all the way dark?
I love Tolstoy and Pasternak, but have never read Dostoyevsky until now.
Anyway, I felt the writing ..."

That would make sense why it is called White Nights! LOL! I haven't read it yet, bad moderator! Isn't it funny that Western culture (American for the most part) think of the term of white nights as snowy cold nights, where as in Russia it would be the peak of summer when the sky doesn't get completely dark!

Like Terry I too thought the flowery speech was too much, but once you get past it Dostoyevsky says a lot about lonliness and love. I actually think the protagonist's style of speech shows the mania he lives in as a result of solitude.

Robin wrote: "I read it from start to finish last night in only two hours, because I loved the story so much. It was the first work by Dostoevsky I've read, and I expected something a lot harder and a lot more b..."

I felt the same way Robin, for the same reasons you describe.

. He really did seem like a lovesick teenager but then if he truly had NO experience with women as he told Nastenka, then he might be stunted enough that he would indeed react the way one does with their first crush. Sad.

Really enjoy Dostoyevesky so will give this a try in the new year.

Jeane wrote: "Welcome to White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky! This is a complicated (and somewhat short) romance novel set in Russia and published in 1848. It's in the public domain so you should be able to find ..."

I didn't realize it was considered a novel? It was barely 40 pages on my Kindle, so I can't imagine it was published as a novel?

You have the short story called "White Nights", which is part of a collection called "White Nights and Other Stories". The entire collection has the following stories:

White Nights
Notes from Underground
A Faint Heart
A Christmas Tree and a Wedding
Polzunkov
A Little Hero
Mr. Prohartchin

If you'd like the version I'm describing (there are probably other variations and several translations), you can pick it up for free (public domain in the US) here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36034

I read the short story in that collection, I just wasn't sure if that whole collection kind of corresponded with each other or if they're all completely separate stories. Are the other stories good?

I would call that a long short story or somewhat short novella.

Novelette to be nit-picky.

Alana wrote: "Are the other stories good?"

If you liked the White Nights story, you'll like the other ones.

Personally, I like Dostoyevsky's novels better than his short stories--it just seems like in the short stories I was really rooting for the characters to win, but they always seemed to lose.