In the stories in this volume Dostoevsky explores both the figure of the dreamer divorced from reality and also his own ambiguous attitude to utopianism, themes central to many of his great novels.
In White Nights the apparent idyll of the dreamer's romantic fantasies disguises profound loneliness and estrangement from 'living life'. Despite his sentimental friendship with Nastenka, his final withdrawal into the world of the imagination anticipates the retreat into the 'underground' of many of Dostoevsky's later intellectual heroes. A Gentle Creature and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man show how such withdrawal from reality can end in spiritual desolation and moral indifference and how, in Dostoevsky's view, the tragedy of the alienated individual can be resolved only by the rediscovery of a sense of compassion and responsibility towards fellow human beings.
This new translation captures the power and lyricism of Dostoevsky's writing, while the introduction examines the stories in relation to one another and to his novels.
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I really enjoyed these three novellas. "White Nights" is about a chance meeting, about a man who lives with his head in the clouds and a woman waiting for her beloved to return his affections after a year's absence. I loved how the turn of events in this novella was so realistic and truthful, instead of contrived such as we tend to be used to as a reader.
"A Gentle Creature" is a monologue of a man whose wife has just died. His thoughts churn around and around in his head, and he tries everything to be absolved from his own blame.
The narrator of "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" has reached rock bottom. He has decided to kill himself with a revolver, but before he has a chance to, he has a dream.
All three of these stories are personal, zoomed in on the character's inner thoughts. Dostoyevsky is attributed with being the best psychologist to have ever existed, and the way he can represent human thoughts is fantastic. His novels can be a bit long winded, so this collection of novellas is perfect for someone looking for a taste of his work.
