A review by lizetteratura
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

 1.5  ⭐
DISCLAIMER!! THIS IS JUST MY OPINION!! 

I am struggling to find the words to describe how much I....disliked this story and did not, at any point, feel anything for these characters. 

The story follows the main character, the narrator, who is a young man from Saint Petersburg who has suffered from extreme loneliness his whole life. One day, on a stroll through the streets of the city, he encounters and falls in love with a young woman, but the love is unrequited since she misses the man she loves, with whom she is ultimately reunited.
Our narrator is a lonely guy with few acquaintances, except for his housekeeper, Matrona. He is sensitive and philosophical (read pathetic and manipulative), looking for feminine admiration, but struggles with feeling isolated. (In other words, he's weird and has never felt a woman's touch.) He's an idealist who believes Nastenka, the young woman he meets and falls in love with in a day?, is the perfect woman he's been searching for his entire life. Nastenka is, similarly to our narrator, an emotional, whimsical, and idealistic young lady. Throughout the story, she is constantly torn between feelings, unable to let go of her lover, whose return she is waiting for. However, she worries that he will never return to her. From there on, the narrator gaslights Nastenka into "being in love with him," and she thinks she loves him, but she doesn't because she's already in love with another. Therefore, under the guise of her confounded feelings, she professes love to the narrator, which in a way leads him on, then forgets about him the instant she reunites with her sweetheart and marries him. A mess. Anyways.... 

I disliked the portrayal of both characters; I found them so whiney and obnoxious that I couldn't wait for the story to end. Not in any moment did I feel or gather any sympathy or other similar emotions for them or the predicament from which they are suffering. You can blame that on either me being a hater to the core or on Dostoyevsky's writing, which I also didn't enjoy much. Also, before I get jumped, I know that one of the points of the story is the rejection of idealism and "living in one's head", but I just don't like the way it's done!

The 0.5 star is thanks to the only thing that I enjoyed, which was the truly sorrowful words that portrayed loneliness beautifully. The language is beautiful, and there are some particular quotes that sound better without knowing the context of the whole story, but that is about it. 
 
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