White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky
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White Nights (1848) is a fascinating early short story/novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Before 1864 (Notes from Underground), Dostoevsky's works are less acclaimed, less read, and require a careful read to find flashes of the brilliance that flooded his later novels. White Nights, the story of a misanthropic Russian dreamer/artist who meets 17-year-old Nastenka, probes themes that Dostoevsky brought up often in his later writing.
This short story was also adapted into an incredible film by French icon Robert Bresson called Quatre Nuits D'Un Reveur (1971). I highly recommend catching this film after reading the story.
A translation by Constance Garnett is available, which will serve as our baseline version. The edition is 91 pages and good for a two-sitting read:
https://a.co/d/hU9eLyY
The Constance Garnett version is also available on Gutenberg:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36034/36034-h/36034-h.htm