[Belye noci]
Year:
1848
Type:
Public:
Year of publication:
2024
Pages:
87
Moral assessment:
Type: Literature
Nothing inappropriate.
Some morally inappropriate content.
Contains significant sections contrary to faith or morals.
Contains some lurid passages, or presents a general ideological framework that could confuse those without much Christian formation.
Contains several lurid passages, or presents an ideological framework that is contrary or foreign to Christian values.
Explicitly contradicts Catholic faith or morals, or is directed against the Church and its institutions.
The narrator, a lonely young man in St. Petersburg, tells his story in the first person. During a period known as the white nights in Russia, where darkness is never complete due to the proximity of the summer solstice, the protagonist falls in love with a young woman.
However, the love is not reciprocated because she is waiting for her lover, with whom she eventually reunites. Throughout the nights, the protagonist believes he has finally found solace in his loneliness, but this illusion fades in the end, in a sad dawn.
The narrative style is introspective, focusing on the protagonist's thoughts and emotions until the young woman begins to tell her own story. The story reflects the fragility of illusions and loneliness.