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A novella-length sentimental diary follows a solitary, romantic narrator who wanders a city at night and develops a brief, intense attachment to a young woman over a series of nocturnal encounters, mixing dreamlike longing with melancholic reflection. A longer pair of connected monologues presents an embittered, isolated speaker who interrogates rationalism, social hypocrisy, and personal conscience. The remaining short pieces vary in tone from quiet comedy to stern satire, sketching petty ambitions, awkward domestic rituals, moral dilemmas, and characters undone by vanity or timidity. Across the collection recurring concerns include loneliness, self-deception, moral conflict, and the clash between inner life and social expectation.
The list of novels translated by Constance Garnett was moved from the front of the book to the end. Spaces were removed from elipses when used to separate syllables within a word, e.g., sus...pic...ion. Archaic spelling was retained. Other changes are indicated by dotted lines under the text. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will appear.