How Dostoevsky became a TikTok hit among Generation Z
Translated from Croatian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- TikTok users are driving renewed interest in Dostoevsky, especially in “White Nights,” a story about love and loneliness.
- Brazilian publisher Editora 34 reported a 463% year-on-year increase in sales of “White Nights,” while the book is also selling strongly in Britain and Spain.
- Influencers say Generation Z relates to the novella's lonely dreamer, and some readers have moved on to longer works such as “Crime and Punishment.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky's “White Nights” has become an unexpected TikTok sensation, nearly 180 years after its publication. In Brazil, sales of the novella rose 463% from the previous year, according to publisher Editora 34.
The lonely dreamer, as many young people feel today.
The story follows a dreamer walking through the streets of St. Petersburg who falls intensely in love with a young woman. It unfolds over four nights and mornings, as the narrator leaves behind his private world of imagination and confronts reality through a passionate but brief romance.
Marcelo Nogueira, a 27-year-old literary influencer with 13,000 TikTok followers, said Generation Z readers had recognized themselves in “the lonely dreamer, as many young people feel today.” The book has also sold strongly in the United Kingdom and Spain, while tens of thousands of comments on TikTok's BookTok community have helped propel its popularity.
Short and intense.
Paloma Lima, a 29-year-old influencer and Russian-literature enthusiast, said young TikTok users came to her YouTube channel after reading “White Nights.” She called it a “short and intense” story that fits popular TikTok themes such as friends becoming lovers. One TikTok user described the book this way: “It will knock you over: it is real life written poetically.”
It will knock you over: it is real life written poetically.
The trend has surprised and pleased people in Russia, although writer Ekaterina Kvitko said young Russian readers appear less enthusiastic. She suggested the story's lonely protagonist seeking love and support may resonate more with Western teenagers today. Editora 34 also reported a 53% increase this year in sales of Dostoevsky's “Crime and Punishment,” suggesting that some new readers are using the novella as an entry point to his longer novels.
It is a story about a protagonist who is alone, seeking some kind of love and support. Maybe Western teenagers are living in that state now.
About this summary
Originally published by Večernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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