nastenka from white nights

[osman_idiot]

what do you think about nastenka?

[osman_idiot]

you think nothing...ok.

[Worm]

Nope, nothing.
Just a big zero.

[Tetsu Arre]

Hahah, what a general question! White Nights is one of my favourite stories. I liked it a lot, beginning to end.

As for Nastenka...Well, I liked her a lot. How could you not? The ending was more than appropriate. It's unfortunate for , of course, but hell - That's just life. What guy couldn't identify:

"Oh, if only you were he!"

Hard truth, for sure. Obviously wish "you" had won out, but the fact is that usually doesn't happen. White Nights is a true reminder of that - And I loved it.

[poor knight]

Well, I loved the story too. My first FD after a meaningless flirtation with C&P in high school. It was the first story that  really made me fall in love with Russian writing.

But I do have to say that I, too, sort of agree with Foxhead. Nastenka seems only a place holder around which the narrator's story is told. She comes across as vapid, frankly, compared to many other of his great heroines.

Just me, though. It will always have a special place in my heart because of the sympathy and resemblance I felt with the narrator. Plus, I just loved the imagery in the story. An experience I doubt I'll ever have down here in my lowly 37th latitude.

[highseas]

     Nastenka has many of the qualities of an ordinary, healthy girl as well as some admirable qualities.  She loves her grandmother even though the grandmother was very strict with her.  The grandmother could be a symbol of the wisdom of the elders because it turns out that the boarder who was chosen to live in the attic eventually wins the heart of Nastenka.  As for Nastenka it seems that she knew right away that she didn't love the young man (the narrator).The story was written quite a few years ago and women then didn't compete in the workplace.  They felt pressure to marry quickly and not so much for love always but for security.  So our poor narrator who was a dreamer
was unlucky that he meant Nastenka a little too late.  Such can be the misfortune of the dreamer.  I'm sure Nastenka was conflicted about who to chose.  It's a mystery what the thought process was in making her decision.  It seemed to me that from the moment she met our narrator she knew it was only a brotherly love she felt for him.  Even after the long talks and the playfulness the love she felt was always a brotherly love.

[Worm]

she needed a point to rest, and reflect properly, about her situation and her love for the other man~when she was finished, she could leave him.

dreamers are used as points of reflection for other people.. and not just themselves...

[highseas]

she needed a point to rest, and reflect properly, about her situation and her love for the other man~when she was finished, she could leave him.

dreamers are used as points of reflection for other people.. and not just themselves...

     butterfly--- (dreamers are used as points of reflection for other people)  I can't quite wrap my mind around that idea, though you may be right.  Could you explain it a little for me?
     

[Worm]

right, right, right... it's just an idea, it's my opinion, whether it's "right" or "wrong" is up to everybody to make up by their own.

the idea i had, was that dreamers can be points of rest for people.  People can go to them with their worries and whatever goes on in their mind, and tell them to the dreamer.. the dreamer listens, he cares about people.  Instead of the person having to think the issue out on their own, he can talk with the dreamer about it. It's like a free friend.
a free point of reflection
it's like a safe haven

Dreamers don't just dream on their own, they also make other people dream, and their dream can be so gigantic, that it sucks other people into its power, and that the dream is dreamt, not just by 1, but by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, ...

[Dori]

I disliked Nastyenka. From a male prospective, she seemed---and I say this bluntly---stupid. After breaking the dreamers heart, she writes to him the next morning, saying "I am worthy of your love, I will deserve your love" or something to that extent.

Also, I think Nastyenka preferred dull stories to ones that are "splendidly told". Why would she tell the dreamer to tell his history "a little less splendidly"? (I'm speaking of the second night here, for reference.)

[highseas]

     I felt sorry for Nastenka.  She semmed to me to be overwhelmed by her necessity to chose between "the dreamer" and "the lodger".  She seemed to be on the verge of hysteria at times.  She loved "the dreamer" in a brotherly way, only, and after "the dreamers'" long and detailed life history in which he told her how he had fallen head over heels for her and how she was, to him, the answer to all his prayers and dreams and on  & on.  I think "the dreamer" should get the prize for being stupid.  That's alot to handle for any young girl.  She made it clear early on that she thought of "the dreamer" in a brotherly way.  She was more overwhelmed, conflicted and confused more that she was stupid, i think.
     
     The question is-- did she make the right choice?

[highseas]

     I forgot to mention that Dori spelled Nastenka with a "y" which makes it Nasty  enka.  Some kind of word play?

[Dori]

    I forgot to mention that Dori spelled Nastenka with a "y" which makes it Nasty  enka.  Some kind of word play?

Not at all, I wouldn't be so clever .