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I am a dreamer; I have so little real life that I look upon such moments as this now, as so rare, that I cannot help going over such moments again in my dreams.

‘White Nights’ is the bittersweet story of a lonely young man’s love found and lost over four magical midsummer evenings in St. Petersburg. This collection brings together seven of Dostoyevsky’s beloved short stories, including 'Bobok', an eavesdrop on the conversations of the dead, 'An Unpleasant Predicament', which follows a brazen wedding-crasher, and 'The Crocodile', in which a man is gobbled up at the Arcade.

This selection of tales bring to life the cunning wives, buffoonish officials, greedy men and political prisoners of imperial Russia, showcasing Dostoyevsky’s dry wit – both absurd and satirical – while revealing his deep compassion. Considered one of the most influential writers of all time, his empathy and idealism resonates today as a powerful antidote to the disillusionment of modern life.

A selection of Dostoyevsky's short stories, translated by Constance Garnett.

White Nights

The Crocodile

A Novel in Nine Letters

An Unpleasant Predicament

The Peasant Marey

Bobok

A Christmas Tree and a Wedding

A Gentle Spirit

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821– 1881) was a Russian author and journalist whose novels, short stories and essays explore religious, philosophical and political aspects of the human condition, and are considered by many to be the most influential writing of the modern world, including his novella Notes from Underground, one of the earliest Existential texts. He spent a decade in the Tsarist penal system for reading banned books, including four years in a Siberian prison camp, but survived to become one of the most famous and highly regarded world writers.