I am pretty sure I was told that this was a masterpiece about (unrequited) love, about yearning, hope and human relationships. It apparently includes an intelligent, charming young man who falls in love. 

However, in my edition of White Nights, I encountered a young man who seems to suffer from maladaptive daydreaming and extreme loneliness who then meets a much younger girl, and spends many pages of monologue informing her about his (non existent) life. Although she barely gets a word in, he falls in love with her (perhaps because she is the only person who has managed to endure his endless pretentious (and desperate) attempts to describe his life story which could probably be summarised in about two sentences). Nastenka, on the other hand, oh dear. She is 10 years younger than our main character and randomly starts crying during most conversations, sometimes we don’t even know why?! She seems to be quite desperate to leave her grandmother (which I do understand) but come on, don’t mess with anyone’s feelings like that?!?! I just hope that someone gave that guy a diagnosis and treatment and/or a listening ear! 

Now I wonder whether this represents Dostoyevsky‘s other work because if so I might have to give it a pass…