Noches blancas y otros cuentos

White Nights, published in 1848, is, despite its brevity, a masterful exercise in psychological introspection and a unique example of its author's connection to Romanticism. Its young, solitary protagonist wanders through St. Petersburg, bewildered by the summer exodus of its inhabitants, and by chance encounters the tormented Nastenka. Night after night, they meet on the docks and share their misfortunes, awaiting a fourth evening that will determine their fate. With his characteristic dialogic literary structure, Dostoevsky centers this novel on the figure of the hero who triumphs in defeat, for his salvation lies in facing disillusionment head-on. This story is accompanied by the following tales: The Weak Heart, The Honest Thief, The Christmas Tree and a Wedding, The Little Hero, and The Boy with the Little Hand; in all these stories, Dostoevsky tenderly observes those who cannot live without love, yet cannot attain it either.