9 h 9 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when lonely dreamers, proud husbands, and ambitious officials are left alone with their thoughts?
In Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Short Stories, St Petersburg holds tender hopes and bitter absurdities. In White Nights, a solitary dreamer meets Nastenka, a young woman with a hope of her own. In A Christmas Tree and a Wedding, an observer at a wealthy household's children's party notices the cold workings of ambition.
Other tales lead into stranger, darker rooms. Bobok follows Ivan Ivanovich as he overhears the dead among the graves. The Crocodile turns an official's bizarre predicament into comedy. A Gentle Creature enters a husband's troubled thoughts, while The Dream of a Ridiculous Man introduces someone who no longer believes anything matters.
What you’ll discover
- The ache of loneliness Walk the pale summer evenings with a dreamer who longs for real company.
- Ambition beneath polite manners Watch a children's party reveal what a cynical observer notices beneath wealth and rank.
- Laughter in strange places Meet Ivan Matveich, swallowed by a crocodile yet beginning to dream of fame.
- Voices that unsettle Follow an uneasy writer among graves where even the dead have something to say.
- A mind confronting silence Listen as a proud pawnbroker struggles to understand his marriage beside his wife's body.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who want Dostoyevsky's moral and psychological force without committing to a thousand-page novel, and for anyone who likes short, sharp stories. If you want fast plots and clear heroes, the odd and inward tales here may feel less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lonely dreamer meets a girl on a bridge
- A party shows how cold ambition can be
- A man overhears the dead talking in a graveyard
- A man swallowed by a crocodile enjoys it
- A husband tries to understand a wife's silence
- What the stories share and how they are told
Who’s who
- The dreamer of White NightsA shy, solitary young man in St Petersburg who lives in imagined worlds and longs, without much hope, for real company.
- NastenkaA warm, quick young woman he meets by a canal, who is waiting on a hope of her own.
- Ivan MatveichA government official in The Crocodile who is swallowed by an animal on show and begins to dream of fame.
- The pawnbrokerThe proud, wounded husband in A Gentle Creature who tries to understand his marriage beside his wife's body.
- Ivan IvanovichThe uneasy writer in Bobok who overhears the dead talking among the graves.
- The ridiculous manA bitter man in The Dream of a Ridiculous Man who has stopped believing anything matters.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 9 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: 0,14 USD a day, then 0,27 USD a day, never raised. Or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Nouvelles in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
Nouvelles
Lonely people struggle with money, pride, and the need for company.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeRenews every yearCancel anytimeHow it works
Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A lonely dreamer meets a girl on a bridge
In White Nights, a young man lives alone in St Petersburg, the city of pale summer evenings when the sun barely sets. He has no family worth naming and almost no friends. He fills his days with daydreams so rich that they feel more real to him than the streets he walks.
One night he sees a girl standing by a canal railing, crying. He does something very unusual for him. He speaks to her, and he keeps her safe from a stranger who is following her. She is called Nastenka, and she is young, lively and open.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
The author
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
1821–1881 · Russian novelist
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian novelist born in Moscow in 1821. He lived in Saint Petersburg and spent years in Siberia after his arrest in 1849. He wrote Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1868–1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880). He died in Saint Petersburg in 1881.
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More by Fiodor Dostoïevski
All 11 books
Free
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about Nouvelles
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What are Dostoyevsky's short stories about?
They deal with lonely people, money and rank, guilt, pride and the longing to be understood. Settings are mostly St Petersburg, and many stories are told by a single restless voice that gives away more than it means to.
Which Dostoyevsky short story should I read first?
White Nights is the usual starting point. It is gentle, short and lyrical, and it shows his sympathy for lonely people. If you like humour, try The Crocodile or Bobok next.
Are Dostoyevsky's short stories hard to read?
They are easier than his long novels. The plots are small and the pages few. Some, like Bobok, are odd or satirical, and a few references to Russian life of the 1800s may need a little patience.
Popular in short stories
See all
Free
Free
Free
