Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky is, perhaps, the greatest 19th century Russian novelist, but it has taken me a long time to truly appreciate his tremendous talent. The first book I read by him was "Crime and Punishment." It was a book that utterly hypnotized me from beginning to end. I didn't read anything after that for a long time. I attempted to read "Notes from the Underground" several times, but I quit after the first few pages. I did not have much, if any patience, for the anonymous narrator and his wayward way of talking.
"White Nights," however, was a completely mesmerizing experience from beginning to end. The story is about love and quite simple, but there is a beauty to it that one cannot describe with mere, mortal words. It is the kind of work that makes your heart beat faster and your eyes water. You react viscerally to the actions of the anonymous narrator and Nastenka, the young woman he befriends. You experience all this because Dostoyevsky, the master of the novel and the short story, sucks you in and doesn't let you go until the final sentence.
Indeed, there are very few books or short stories that I have read feeling as if I were under hypnosis. Most of the time, I get distracted. I started looking at my watch or at the track setting for the CD I'm listening to. Not with this story. I was enchanted from beginning to end.
I am, perhaps, being a bit hyperbolic in the way I speak of a short work such as this. However, I think that it is most fitting. I recommend this short story wholeheartedly to anyone who has ever been in love with someone for that is its very essence.
