Told from the perspective of 'a dreamer', our main character escapes his monotonous and lonely days by dreaming 'diverse adventures' and 'ecstatic daydreams'. And when a spark of life in the form of Nastenka crosses his path one White Night, he finds himself caught up in a whirl of emotions that he has not yet been able to experience in real life.

This is the first book I have read from Dostoevsky and I think it was a great introduction. I think the descriptions were very effective and I found myself easily seeing through the eyes of the dreamer, the way he rides from ecstatic highs to miserable lows was sad and heartfelt but also beautiful because he was finally experiencing real life.

also the opening sentence of this novel has got to be one of favourites of all time...