When I am in my room
I write, I read without a lamp,
And the sleeping masses are clear
Deserted streets, and light
Admiralty needle,
A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman"

White night red month
Floats in the blue.
Wandering ghostly-beautiful,
Reflected in the Neva.
Alexander Blok

A phenomenon to which thousands of lines are devoted. They write about him in prose, compose poems, compose songs. White nights have long become a symbol northern capital, a symbol of romance, mystery. And although this natural phenomenon is also typical for other cities located at high northern latitudes, for example, for Novy Urengoy, Nadym, Severodvinsk, it is Petersburg that is associated with light, weightless nights.

Officially, they last from June 11 to July 2. But Petersburgers claim that the range is wider: approximately from May 25 to July 15. At this time in the city there is nowhere for an apple to fall, tourists flock from all over the world to capture what it is like to read at night without lights or take pictures after midnight without a flash. Hotel rooms are selling like hot cakes, and this hype also affects prices, they jump at times.

Tour operators compete in wit, offering a variety of tourist programs during the white nights. The authorities of the city arrange all kinds of festivals. For about a month, the atmosphere of a round-the-clock holiday reigns in northern Palmyra. Only transport workers do not share the general fun: metro, buses, trolleybuses work in the usual schedule. And rightly so, sleep for drivers is a sacred thing.

Why are the nights white?

White nights are a purely natural and scientifically explainable phenomenon. It applies to all cities that are above 60 degrees north latitude, in St. Petersburg it is almost 60, if exactly 59, 57. The sun in these places in June-July does not go beyond the horizon much, so darkness does not come. But to say that it is light at night as well as during the day is not entirely correct. The most appropriate definition is twilight. The evening ones smoothly flow into the morning ones, there are no pitch black colors, only muted gray tones. Such a protracted sunset or dawn, as you like.

Petersburgers say that during this period the lightest is in the area of ​​Yelagin Island and the Gulf of Finland. It seems to have something to do with geographic location.

Tour routes

During the white nights, travel agencies gush with ideas. Petersburg at this time definitely never sleeps, and how to sleep if it is light enough on the street. Crowds of guests are exploring northern Palmyra on foot, from the windows of single and double-decker tour buses, from the decks of pleasure ships. Significant sights, streets and bridges appear in unusual lighting, surrounded by a halo of gray haze, they seem mysterious and enigmatic.

Museums are closed around the clock at this time. But there are days when you can get to the same Hermitage on a white night - these are the 20th of May, when the international action "Night at the Museum" is held. Cafes and restaurants are open all the time. So do not deny yourself the opportunity, have a coffee on the outdoor terrace overlooking Saint Isaac's Cathedral, and then go for a walk on its roof. During the White Nights, walking on the roofs of St. Petersburg is a common and romantic thing.

During the night bus tour be sure to show the Peter and Paul Fortress, Summer garden, Bronze Horseman, and of course they will guess the time, and this is about one in the morning, and they will bring you to the Palace, Blagoveshchensky or some other bridge during its breeding. But this incredible action is best observed from the water, numerous pleasure boats are your tourist help. Just choose your port carefully. Your hotel should be on this, not the opposite side. Otherwise, you will pass the time until 5-6 in the morning, until the bridges are reunited again.

Festive Petersburg

White Nights is always a festive atmosphere. In the month when the sun does not go far beyond the horizon, all kinds of festivals and celebrations are held:

• City Day - May 27, apparently Peter the Great guessed that the date of foundation was timed to coincide with the beginning of the white nights season. The culmination of this day is the festival "Classics on the Palace". In the evening under open sky Petersburg, the leading artists of La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden perform;

• "Stars of the White Nights" - the main thing cultural event cities. main scene- Mariinskii Opera House. Classical art is shown to the audience non-stop for a month. Performing on the main stage Symphony Orchestra, on the Historical - ballet, Concert hall waiting for opera fans. Tickets must be purchased in advance. In spite of a large number of of all kinds of productions, they are in great demand, because world-famous stars participate in them. At night cultural life does not stop. All the same classical concerts, ballet, opera;
• "Scarlet Sails" - the main city graduation, it takes place on the 20th of June and falls on the peak of the white nights;

• "White Nights" - this is one of the stages of the Badminton European Cup, held in Gatchina;
• During the white nights, the festival of children's and youth creativity "Sounds and colors of the white nights" takes place;
• Jazz Festival "White Night Swing";
• At the end of May, all fountains in the city are turned on.

Trickery of the white nights

For an unprepared person, the sense of time is lost. It seems that it is still quite early, and the clock stubbornly shows the time close to midnight. Therefore, look at your watch more often, and even better, set a reminder like “the subway closes in half an hour”, “it’s already late, it’s time to go to bed.” Although it is very difficult for many in this mode to fall asleep, especially out of habit, only blackout curtains save. Some people do not go to bed on purpose, so that they cannot oversleep such beautiful, romantic, white nights.

And a nice bonus - a video of white nights in St. Petersburg

Nikolay Zhurkin

Well, if someone thinks that white nights are the exclusive privilege of the Russian northern capital, then this delusion is solely on the media. White nights are amazing, but this is an annual atmospheric phenomenon, and it can be observed in many cities of Russia, as well as throughout Iceland, Greenland, Finland, in some polar regions of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Canada, Great Britain and Alaska. The zone of white nights begins at 49°N. There is only one white night per year. The farther to the north, the brighter the nights become and the longer the period of their observation.

White nights are an amazing phenomenon, which experts rather dryly call civil twilight. What about twilight? This is some part of the day - depending on what kind of morning or evening twilight we are talking about - when the Sun is already or is not yet visible, since it is below the horizon line. At this time, the surface of the Earth is illuminated by the sun's rays, which are partly scattered by the upper atmospheric layers, and partly reflected by them.

If we assume that night is the period of minimum illumination of the earth's surface, then twilight is the time of its incomplete illumination. Thus, white nights are a smooth flow of evening twilight into morning twilight, bypassing the period of minimum illumination, i.e. night, just as A.S. Pushkin wrote about it.

But why is twilight “civilian”? The fact is that experts distinguish several gradations of twilight, depending on the position of the Sun relative to the horizon. All the difference lies in the value of the angle formed by the horizon line and the center of the solar disk. Civil twilight is the lightest "twilight" period - the time between apparent sunset and the moment when the angle between the horizon and the solar center is 6 °. There are also navigational ones - an angle from 6 ° to 12 ° and astronomical twilight - an angle from 12 ° to 18 °. When the value given angle exceeds 18° the "twilight" period will end and night will come.

Since everything is more or less clear with atmospheric processes, the question can be posed more globally. Why does the Sun only dip a few degrees below the horizon at certain times? What causes the occurrence of white nights from an astronomical point of view?

A short course in astronomy

Astronomy course high school provides an adequate level of familiarity with the material. That is, a person who has graduated from school is quite capable of understanding how everything happens from a universal point of view.

Firstly, the earth's axis, as, indeed, the axes of all other planets, are at an angle to the plane of the planet's motion around the Sun, i.e. to the plane of the ecliptic. The change in the value of this angle occurs over such a long period of time - 26,000 years - which, in this particular case, may not be taken into account.

Secondly, when moving along the orbit, at certain quite definite intervals of time, the Earth is located relative to the Sun in such a way that the rays of the luminary fall almost vertically on one of its poles. In this particular place, the Sun is at its zenith in days - a polar day is observed. A little further south, the angle of incidence of the sun's rays relative to the earth's surface changes. The sun sinks below the horizon, but so slightly that the evening twilight smoothly flows into the morning, bypassing the period of minimum illumination of the earth's surface. This is the white nights.

Summer reigns in the hemisphere facing the Sun. The further south you go, the darker and longer the nights. The other hemisphere during this period is experiencing the delights of winter, since the rays “sliding” over the surface of the planet slightly heat it.

At the end of this short course it should be noted that white nights are not at all the exclusive privilege of the Northern Hemisphere. The same phenomena are observed in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s just that the zone of white nights of the Southern Hemisphere falls on the expanses of the World Ocean and only sailors can observe the beauty of the phenomenon.

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Description To study the phenomenon of white nights; Collect information relevant to the chosen topic from various sources; Investigate, analyze information; Determine the duration of white nights; Calculate the position of the Sun above the horizon and investigate the length of white nights in Cherepovets for 2010.

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What are white nights? White nights are nights during which natural light never becomes too low, that is, the whole night consists of only twilight. Near the polar circles (from their outer side), this phenomenon is observed near the solstice (in the northern hemisphere - in June, in the southern - in December).

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Where white nights are observed The definition of white nights depends on the definition of twilight. If we accept the definition of civil twilight, then white nights can be observed at a latitude not lower than 60 °, although they are also spoken of at somewhat lower latitudes; however, there is no generally accepted definition. In latitudes above the Arctic Circle, white nights are observed for one to three weeks before the onset of the polar day and after it ends. Where there is no polar day, white nights are observed near the solstice, during the greater number of nights, the latitude of the area is higher, and the highest illumination of the night is observed on the night of the solstice.

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White nights in Russia The most famous Russian city where white nights are observed is St. Petersburg. Other cities (listed from the darkest and shortest to the brightest and longest white nights): Cherepovets, Vologda, Berezniki, Magadan, Nizhnevartovsk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Nefteyugansk, Surgut, Syktyvkar, Petrozavodsk, Yakutsk, Ukhta, Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk. White Nights can also be observed in those cities where the polar day is also observed: Murmansk, Norilsk, Vorkuta - 2-3 weeks before the onset of the polar day and the same after its end.

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White nights outside of Russia Throughout the countries: Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Antarctica. In most of the territory: Sweden, Norway, Canada. In a smaller part of the territory: Estonia (north), Great Britain (Orkney and Shetland Islands in Scotland, as well as South Orkney Islands in Antarctica), USA (almost all of Alaska, with the exception of the southern regions).

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White nights in St. Petersburg Officially, white nights in St. Petersburg last from June 11 to July 2; the period of very bright nights lasts from May 25-26 to July 16-17. The White Nights are a kind of symbol of St. Petersburg: various festivals and festivities. The image of "White Nights" is widely used in art and literature.

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White nights at the poles At the North and South Poles, white night is observed continuously for about 15-16 days before sunrise and the same after sunset. In the North it is approximately from March 3 to 18 and from September 26 to October 11, in the South - from March 23 to April 7 and from September 7 to 21.

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White nights in Cherepovets Table of calculations of the position of the Sun above the horizon Cherepovets is the largest city Vologda region, the administrative center of the Cherepovets district, is one of the few Russian regional cities that surpass the administrative center of its constituent entity (Vologda) both in terms of population and industrial potential. Population - 310 thousand people. (October 1, 2009). Cherepovets agglomeration (Cherepovets district and the city of Cherepovets) - 360 thousand people. Coordinates: 59°08′00″ s. sh. 37°55′00″ E d.

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Conclusion The table shows the calculation of the position of the Sun above the horizon from June 9 to July 4, 2010. The sun sets below the horizon at 22:00 and rises at 04:00. The sun descends below the horizon to -7.77 degrees on June 9 at 00:00 and on July 4 at 01:00, which corresponds to the onset of nautical twilight. The rest of the time corresponds to civil twilight, while the Sun's immersion under the horizon does not exceed 6-7 degrees. The descent of the Sun below the horizon even at midnight is not enough that the evening and civil twilights pass into the morning without night darkness.

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Why is the night white? As we remember from the lessons of geography and astronomy, the Earth's axis is tilted, so the Sun illuminates our planet in different ways - it turns out that in winter the sun's rays practically do not fall on our North, and in summer, on the contrary, the Sun shines almost around the clock. St. Petersburg, because it is with this city that white nights are associated. This is the merit of our literature - precisely thanks to literary traditions many are ready to consider white nights as a sight of our northern capital only. However, it is not. There are white nights in Kazan, and in Kirov, and in Arkhangelsk, and in Pskov, and in Samara, and in Syktyvkar. From the equator to this parallel, there are never white nights - it is here and only here that the day is always white and the night is black. At a latitude of 49º, there is one white night a year - June 22. To the north of this latitude, the white nights become brighter, longer and brighter.More…

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Muscovites can also admire the white nights, but in the capital the nights are not as bright as in St. Petersburg. In Syktyvkar, the white nights are even longer and brighter than in St. Petersburg. And in Arkhangelsk the nights are whiter than in Syktyvkar. The closer to the North, the longer the period of white nights lasts: in St. Petersburg during the summer there are 23 white nights, in Petrozavodsk - 52, and in Arkhangelsk - 77 nights. Near Tiksi Bay, in Yakutia, the Sun does not sink below the horizon from May 12 to August 1. Imagine - more than two months round-the-clock day! The period of white nights - this phenomenon has a positive effect on the inner, mental state. I want to love, sing, create, write poetry, live! But this wonderful astronomical phenomenon has a reverse side of the coin - the country of white nights in winter turns into a country of black days. Where in summer the sun only briefly hides behind the horizon, there in winter it hardly shows up. From childhood, a person learns the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe “correct” change of day and night on Earth: at night it is dark, during the day it is light. However, in fact, the change of light and darkness on our planet is more diverse than children's ideas about it. Our world is complex and mysterious, but at the same time incredibly beautiful!

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Polar day Polar day - the period when the Sun does not set beyond the horizon for more than 1 day. Duration: the shortest polar day is almost 2 days and is observed at the latitude of the Arctic Circle - 66 ° 33' minus the radius of the solar disk (15-16') and atmospheric refraction (at sea level on average 35'), totaling about 65°43'. The longest is observed at the poles - more than 6 months. At the North Pole, this is approximately from March 18 to September 26, at the South Pole - from September 21 to March 23. Interestingly, due to refraction, the sun shines simultaneously at both poles for several days. The polar day is a consequence of the inclination of the Earth’s equatorial plane to the ecliptic plane, which is approximately 23 ° 26 ′. In Russia, residents of the following relatively large cities can observe the polar day: Murmansk, Norilsk, Vorkuta.

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Twilight - part of the day between night and sunrise and between sunset and night, during which the Sun is already (still) behind the horizon and invisible, but signs of sunset (dawn) due to scattering are still (already) visible sunlight in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The surface of the Earth at this time is illuminated by scattered light and is not completely illuminated. Due to the fact that the light is unusual and romantic at this time, twilight has long been popular among photographers and artists, who call this period "peak time". Formally, twilight is the period of time before sunrise and after sunset, during which natural light is provided upper layers atmosphere, which, taking direct sunlight, reflects part of them on the surface of the Earth.

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Distinguish between civil, navigational and astronomical twilight. FROM scientific point view, twilight differs depending on the position of the Sun relative to the horizon. Three subtypes of twilight are established: civil twilight (the brightest, at the end or before their beginning, the most bright stars), navigation twilight (impossible to read without additional lighting) and astronomical twilight (before or after them - astronomical night: all the stars are visible). For comparison, the angular diameter of the Sun is 0.5°. Note: If the Sun is 8.5° below the horizon, the illumination on Earth is the same as at night with a full moon.

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Civil twilight In civil twilight conditions, the horizon is clearly visible and ground objects are easily visible without the use of artificial light. Civil twilight is the brightest part of twilight, lasting from the moment the Sun is seen to set below the horizon until the center of the Sun sinks 6° below the horizon. During civil twilight, it is possible to observe the brightest celestial bodies, for example, Venus (Venus can sometimes be seen during the day in the light of the Sun). It is believed that in this part of the twilight in an open place it is possible to perform any work without artificial lighting. This factor is taken into account in some laws, such as the mandatory inclusion of headlights after sunset, or the consideration of robbery at this time as night robbery, which in some codes is punished more severely. In such cases, more often than a "degree period", a specific amount of time is used (usually 30 minutes before sunrise/after sunset). Civil twilight can also be described as the period during which, under good atmospheric conditions, there is enough light to clearly see terrestrial objects; in the morning at the beginning or in the evening at the end of civil twilight, the horizon line is clearly distinguishable and, under good atmospheric conditions, the brightest stars are clearly visible. If civil twilight continues throughout the night, then such a night is called white. In summer, north of the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not set below the horizon at all and a polar day is observed.

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Navigational twilight Navigational twilight is a fairly bright part of the day when the center of the Sun is below the horizon from 6 to 12 degrees. It is believed that during this part of the twilight natural light allows the navigator to navigate along coastal objects when the ship is sailing near the coast. Navigational twilight continues near the summer solstice all night at latitudes greater than 54°, that is, including in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Omsk, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and other cities at these latitudes. Abroad, partly in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, USA; completely in the territory of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland. In the Southern Hemisphere - in the southern territories of Argentina and Chile. Nevertheless, such lighting is not enough for normal human life (street lighting is closer to night than to evening in the classical sense), so the streets settlements need artificial lighting. At the beginning of this type of twilight in the morning, or at the end of it in the evening, under good atmospheric conditions and in the absence of other light sources, the general outlines of terrestrial objects can be discerned, but complex outdoor operations cannot be done, and the horizon is indistinct. Navigational twilight is also used by the military. The abbreviations BMNT - the beginning of the morning navigational twilight and EENT - the end of the evening navigational twilight are used and taken into account when planning military operations. Military units can treat BMNT and EENT with more security. This was partly due to the experience of the French and Indian War, when soldiers in both camps used these time slots to attack.

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Astronomical twilight This is the name given to the time when the Sun is 12 to 18° below the horizon. Most casual observers note that the entire sky is already completely dark even at the very beginning of astronomical twilight in the evening or late morning, and astronomers can easily observe celestial bodies such as stars, but weakly scattering objects such as nebulae and galaxies can be clearly visible before or after astronomical twilight. However, for an ordinary observer, astronomical twilight is indistinguishable from night. It is known from observations that the evening dawn stops when the Sun drops below the horizon by 18 °, while the faintest stars are already visible in the sky, and at the beginning of astronomical twilight in the morning the stars will disappear. However, due to "light pollution" in some areas - mainly in large cities - even 4th magnitude stars will never be visible, almost regardless of twilight. Therefore, the distance of the Sun is 108 ° at the beginning or end. In subpolar latitudes in summer, dawn happens all night, during the time when the solar declination is greater than (90 ° - φ) - 18 °, where φ means the latitude of the place. The duration t and the solar declination δ, when twilight is the shortest, are calculated by the formulas :sin t/2 = sin 9° x sec φsin δ = -tg 9° x sin φ.

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Duration of twilight The duration of twilight depends on the latitude of the place and the time of year. Please note that civil twilight lasts all night from September to March in the polar regions. The duration of twilight before sunrise and after sunset is highly dependent on the latitude of the place. In the circumpolar regions, twilight (if it occurs) can last for several hours. At the poles, twilight does not occur during the month before and after the winter solstice. At the poles, twilight can last up to two weeks, while at the equator it can last up to twenty minutes. This is explained by the fact that in areas of low geographic latitude, the apparent motion of the Sun is perpendicular to the horizon of the observer. In addition, the linear velocity of the earth's rotation has greatest value at the equator and decreases with increasing latitude. In this way, given place at the equator will pass all the twilight zones directly and quickly. When approaching the polar regions, the solar disk will be at a smaller angle and sink under the horizon more slowly, and a given point of the Earth will pass through different zones not so directly, for a longer time. At temperate latitudes, twilight is shortest around the equinoxes, lengthening slightly around the winter solstice and much longer in late spring and early summer. Beyond the polar circles in summer, the day is not interrupted by night and twilight lasts literally for weeks (in the polar spring and autumn). On a certain day in early March 2008, the Arctic Circle was at latitude 66° 33' 42.36. In areas of high latitudes below the Arctic Circle, there are no days without a break for night, but twilight can last from dusk to dawn. This phenomenon is often referred to as "White Nights". Latitudes above which certain times twilight can last all night: astronomical-48° 33’ 42”, nautical-54° 33’ 42”, civil-60° 33’ 42”. List of major cities where it can last all night: civil twilight: Arkhangelsk, Tampere, Umeå, Trondheim, Tórshavn, Reykjavik, Nuuk, Whitehorse and Anchorage; navigational twilight: Petropavlovsk, Moscow, Vitebsk, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Wejherowo, Flensburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Newcastle upon Tyne, Glasgow, Belfast, Grande Prairie, Juneau, Ushuaia and Puerto Williams; astronomical twilight: Astana, Kyiv, Minsk, Warsaw, Kosice, Zvetl, Prague, Berlin, Paris, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, London, Cardiff, Dublin, Bellingham (Washington), Rio Gallegos and Punta Arenas. Although, in Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Tallinn and St. Petersburg, the actual civil twilight does not last all night, even around the solstice. There, during the summer solstice, the sky is noticeably lighter (white nights).

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The movement of the sun along the ecliptic It is believed that a full-fledged astronomical night begins only when the sun drops 18 degrees below the horizon. Before sunrise, twilight replaces each other in the reverse order: astronomical, navigational, civil. In the southern (more precisely, in low) latitudes, the Sun descends below the horizon along a steep trajectory during the day and quickly passes all three thresholds of twilight. From sunset to astronomical night, only an hour and a half passes, or even less. At high latitudes, the Sun approaches the horizon along a gentle trajectory and sinks slowly under it. Moreover, in summer, even by midnight, it does not have time to overcome the twilight zone and immediately begins to rise. That is, a full-fledged astronomical night does not have time to come. This phenomenon is called white nights.1. In low latitudes, the Sun quickly sinks below the horizon and night sets in. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun is at its highest (both at noon and at midnight) on the day of the summer solstice on June 21st. On this day, at latitudes north of 66.5 °, the Sun does not set at all - a polar day is observed here. At latitudes from 60.5° to 66.5° civil twilight continues all night. At latitudes from 54.5° to 60.5° - nautical, and up to 48.5° there are days when astronomical twilight lasts all night.

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2. Beyond the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not sink below the horizon in summer. 3. At the latitude of St. Petersburg, the Sun slowly sinks below the horizon in summer and remains shallow all night - in the twilight zone. So we can say that white nights are characteristic of most of the territory of Russia. Another thing is where they pay attention. St. Petersburg (59.9°N) is the northernmost city in the world with a population of over a million people. The combination of special lighting conditions with the architecture of the city gives rise to a unique spectacle, thanks to which the white nights are always closely associated with St. Petersburg.

Alexander Kuprin "Staff Captain Rybnikov":

"It was neither light nor dark. It was a warm, white, transparent night with its delicate iridescent colors, with mother-of-pearl water in quiet channels, clearly reflecting gray stone embankment and the motionless green of the trees, with a pale sky, as if weary of insomnia, and with sleeping clouds in the sky, long, thin, fluffy, like shreds of disheveled cotton wool.

Or here he is "Blondel":

"On the banks of the Neva, we are sitting in a light, swaying restaurant float and eating crayfish in anticipation of a modest dinner. Ten and a half o'clock in the evening, but it is still quite light. There are long, languid, sleepless white nights - the glory and torment of St. Petersburg."

Daniil Granin "Unknown Man":

"... And then suddenly he stopped hearing what Usankov was saying. The deep, booming voice moved away, indistinguishably entered the sound of a running engine. This happened when they turned onto the Fontanka, drove into the white night. It turns out that white nights have already come in the city. Between the granite walls of the embankments rested a shining strip of water, it was lighter than the sky. The water was silver-smooth, motionless, light came from it. There was nobody on the embankments.

Y. Slepukhin. "Cimmerian summer. Southern Cross":

"Time did not extinguish the memories. It condensed them, compressing them into a chain of images, and each such image gradually grew, absorbed everything that came with it, became a symbol. Thus, the picture of the white night became the image-symbol of Leningrad. Not just one, specific, - nights in general, many, merged in his memory into one: a deserted embankment, wide waters behind the low granite parapet and a bridge span, lifted by a gigantic wing into an empty, transparent sky discolored by the close dawn.

(...) And now there are white nights in St. Petersburg. He looked at his watch, it was a quarter past nine. What is it, the third after midnight? Perhaps some bridges have already been littered. He began to remember what time the Foundry, Palace, Kirovsky are bred; the picture was clear in his memory, as if he had seen it only yesterday: an undying dawn over Petropavlovka, wet empty asphalt, wide, the same color as the sky, the pinkish expanse of the river ... "

Mamin-Sibiryak "Features from the life of Pepko":

"Beauty in general is a thing too conditional, and typical beauty is a certain value. Northern
twilights and dawns with their silky skies, milky haze and quivering half-light, northern white nights, bloody dawns, when morning and evening converge in June - all this was our home, from which the Russian soul aches and burns with fire ... "

Dymov F.Ya. "Prosperous planet":
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“Kharkiv asked permission from the World Council to organize white nights at home,” Stas said, addressing no one in particular. Bagir was offended by Kharkovites. Okay, be patriots of your city, but don’t envy others! long dawn, sorry for Leningrad, which, regardless of the current decision of the Soviet, may someday be deprived of Pushkin's unique white nights. Or, let's put it this way: not to be taken away, but copied, diluted with repetition. But all the same, it's a shame. put a miracle on stream. In the same way, even a holiday should not be imposed on anyone."

L.Sobolev. "Sea Soul" Stories:

“It was time to go down to have dinner, but the senior lieutenant remained on the bridge, peering into the smoky horizon of the Baltic white night. The high bright dome of the sky, where delicate tones softly mixed, rested lightly and weightlessly on the smooth calm water. It glowed with pink reflections. The sun, having set, was making its way under the very horizon, ready to rise again, and a spacious pale glow stood over the sea, covering the entire northern part of the sky. short night in the year, on the night of the twenty-second of June...

The sun had already risen over the sea, and all the mysterious indistinctness of the white night had long since disappeared. Sober and clear, the water ran over the sides, the blue sky was clear and transparent. The paint shone on the bridge, and the colored flags of the wind vane fluttered brightly at high speed. The day began, the first day of the war, and in thoughts, in the whole being there was the same clarity, sobriety and transparency.

Alexander Chakovsky. "Blockade":

"They drove past forests and groves, past lonely peasant houses with tightly closed shutters or curtained windows from the inside, and all this - forests, and groves, and houses, and wells with cranes upturned above them - bathed in the ghostly light of the white night, it seemed embedded in someone's domineering and strong hand into a whitish motionless twilight, felt as something material, material, merging both earth and sky into one. And the more Zvyagintsev peered into everything they passed by, the more incredible the thought seemed to him that the enemy could reach here.

E. Bogdanov. "Lodey Feeder":

"After the tightly closed stuffy and dank cabin, which smelled of something rotten, foreign, he breathed with pleasure fresh air, looked at the sky. In the west, in rare, fibrous, like combed flax clouds, glowing sunset glowed in red-hot patches. The sun hid behind the horizon for a short while, in order to immediately begin to rise again. The June white nights on the Dvina are short, like the wingspan of a sandpiper.

Alexander Shchegolev "Night invented by someone":

“We have, after all, starting from May, the evenings are practically canceled, and in June the nights are also canceled. This is called “white nights” - well, when the sunset is at midnight, the sky will darken a little for the sake of decency, and that’s all - sunrise at five in the morning. I remember last summer my mother and I saw off one relative from the Finland Station, and so, instead of going back by bus, we trampled on foot.
an unforgettable phenomenon". Interesting, of course. White Night is indeed a phenomenon. Darkness seems to be brought by the wind for a couple of hours and then carried away. And what a darkness there! Chickens laugh, you can easily read if you don’t feel sorry for the eye. Until now, the picture is before my eyes: it’s night all around, but the gray sky quickly turns red, turns red, then the clouds begin to glow, and suddenly it’s morning. We then walked almost the entire Neva - we watched how the bridges were drawn up, we were surprised,
how many people are on the streets...

To admit that very often we think in stereotypes is unpleasant, but necessary. For example, what can we say about the work of F.M. Dostoevsky? School program, within the framework of which, most likely, only Crime and Punishment was read, develops a reflex: Dostoevsky’s surname evokes memorized phrases in the mind, for example, “the hero’s internal conflict”, “mental throwing”, “realism”, “hostile the world", "small man". Take Raskolnikov - that's it perfect example mental rushes, internal conflict. And how Dostoevsky describes Petersburg? “It smelled of lime, dust, stagnant water”, “huge, crowding and crushing houses ...” - this is the hostile surrounding reality; No wonder in such a city to become a murderer, right? So you can continue to find confirmation that all these memorized phrases are true; in other most famous works of Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot, The Gambler, The Teenager - the same heavy insoluble internal conflicts, hostile surrounding reality. The triumph of realism in the work of Dostoevsky, in a word.

Is it possible, after such a serious set of terms, to suspect that Dostoevsky wrote something sentimental, even a little childishly naive? Hardly. But a genius is a genius, to be able to write in completely different directions.

So, 1848 is the date of writing the novel "White Nights". More precisely, a sentimental novel, as the author himself defined the genre. It is worth mentioning: it is generally accepted that "White Nights" is a story, but we will follow the author's lead and in some cases we will call them a sentimental novel. Even the subtitle sounds like this: "From the memories of a dreamer" - an extra indication of sentimentalism. The specificity of this direction lies in the fact that the focus is on the inner emotional experiences of the characters, their feelings and emotions. Let's figure out what can be sentimental in this novel by Dostoevsky?

Summary: what is the work "White Nights" about?

In the center of the plot is the relationship between two people - the narrator and Nastenka. They randomly intersect during night walk Petersburg and, as it turns out, are kindred spirits - dreamers. They open up to each other, and the girl shares with him a story about her lover, who left for a year in Moscow, and now should return for her, but still does not come. The narrator volunteers to help her, hands over the letter, waits with her for the arrival of her lover, who eventually arrives. Everything is shaping up as well as possible, but ... It is with this “but” that sentimentalism begins. The hero is in love with Nastenka and, as you might guess, unrequited. Therefore, a large part of the narrative is the description of his feelings, thoughts and emotions in climax- the moment of waiting for the beloved heroine.

Why did Dostoevsky call the novel sentimental?

The manner of describing these feelings evokes a clear association with another sentimental work - “The Suffering young Werther» Goethe. However, "White Nights" by Dostoevsky and "Werther" by Goethe, even at the heart of the plot, have much in common - love triangle, where main character turns out to be rejected.

It is worth noting that in "White Nights" the writer does not make the hero's experiences dramatic - Werther Goethe's inner emotions are much more complex and impulsive, they lead to a tragic ending - suicide. In the novel, F.M. Dostoevsky's mental torment does not lead to a tragic end; on the contrary, the narrator, even having suffered a love failure, is grateful to fate at least for the short happiness that fell to him. It turns out that the hero of this sentimental novel is in some harmony with himself. Dostoevsky's hero in harmony with himself? Unusual, but true.

The image of Petersburg in the story "White Nights"

However, the genre of sentimentalism in this novel is predetermined not only by the plot, but also by the nature of the characters and the manner of narration. The narrator becomes the embodiment of sentimentalism - this is noticeable from the first lines of the work, when the hero's routine life, his relationships with other people and St. Petersburg are described. It is characteristic that he perceives his city as a living being, all people as his acquaintances. From the mood of the hero, his perception also changes. native land- another one feature sentimentalism. True, usually the authors of sentimental works connect the inner experiences of characters with images of nature - an example of this is the already mentioned Werther. Petersburg plays the role of landscape here.

The very description of Petersburg is also completely uncharacteristic of Dostoevsky; the Petersburg of White Nights is not at all the same as in his other works. Usually Petersburg is the embodiment of vices, the very hostile surrounding reality that the heroes are forced to confront. Here the city acts as a friend of the narrator, his interlocutor; the narrator loves him, enjoys his spring. Petersburg responds to the inner experiences of the narrator, but does not become hostile. In this work of Dostoevsky, the problem of the external world is completely absent, which is not customary. We don't know anything about social status heroes, they themselves do not see the cause of their failures as something in the outside world. The focus is only on the inner world.

Linguistic features in the work

It is also impossible not to pay attention to the manner of speech of the characters - how internal monologues, and dialogues - which is not at all typical for the heroes of the realist-Dostoevsky. It is full of various metaphors, it is characterized by a high style. The sentences are long and detailed. A lot of statements with a pronounced emotional coloring.

It is thanks to this character of speech that the image of the characters becomes clear to us. They both subtly feel, carefully treat the feelings of others. Emotional, very often excited. From their dialogues it becomes clear that they are able to pay attention to minor details that become very significant for them. There are a lot of loud phrases and promises in their conversations. Heroes are quite radical in matters relating to feelings , throw words like "forever", "love", "happiness". Their thoughts about the future, love and friendship sound childishly naive. But then they are both dreamers.

The image of Nastya in the novel "White Nights"

So what are they, these atypical for Dostoevsky, sentimental characters? We see Nastenka, of course, only through the eyes of the narrator. The narrator is in love with the girl, so he, in many ways, perhaps idealizes her image. Nevertheless, she, like him, is isolated from the outside world, though not of her own free will, but at the whim of her grandmother. Such isolation, however, made a dreamer out of the heroine. For example, she, at times, in her dreams came to marrying a Chinese prince. The girl is sensitive to the experiences of others, and when she finds out about the narrator's feelings for her, she worries that she could hurt his feelings with some sloppy phrase. Nastenka dives into feeling with her head, her love is pure, unshakable, like any dreamer. Therefore, when doubts visit her whether her lover will come to her, she so childishly, so helplessly tries to give up these feelings, change love to hate, build happiness with another, that is, with the narrator. Such convinced naive love is also characteristic of sentimentalism; in realism, everything can be complicated and confusing, as, for example, the relationship between Prince Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna, in sentimentalism, everything is simple - either you love it or you don't.

The image of the main character (narrator) in the novel "White Nights"

The type of Petersburg dreamer is a variety extra person, unadapted to realities and not the world needs. He has a lot in common with his Nastenka. True, the narrator is perhaps even more of a dreamer than she is. His detachment from the world is not forced, like that of the heroine, but "voluntary". No one forced him into such a hermit's way of life. He is sensitive to the emotions of his beloved, afraid of hurting or hurting her. At the moment when he realizes that his love is unrequited, he does not feel for her at all. negative feelings and continues to love her dearly. There is no internal conflict in his soul, whether to love Nastenka or not.

At the same time, it is impossible not to notice that the narrator has absolutely no connection with the outside world. Even St. Petersburg is somehow a little fictional for him. The heroine, on the contrary, seems to strive to break out of this alienation. In many ways, her fiancé becomes her connection to the outside world.

Themes in White Nights

One of the central themes, of course, is love. But, which is typical for sentimentalism, this is a love story unrequited, and, at the same time, sublime. The characters themselves attach unprecedented importance to this feeling of theirs.

But even though the plot revolves around love story, other topics besides love are raised here. Dreamers, as Nastenka and the narrator call themselves, are different from those around them. So the theme of loneliness appears in the novel. The characters suffer from their isolation from other people. That's probably why they got along so easily. Nastya says that she had a girlfriend, however, and she went to Pskov. What is it like for a young girl to live in the company of only her grandmother? Therefore, her fiancé is a saving thread from this world of loneliness. The narrator is even more lonely than Nastenka. At the same time, he does not dare to try to avoid this loneliness, even his acquaintance with the heroine is just a happy accident. The young man is so lonely that he imagines every passer-by to be his acquaintance, or, what is even more absurd, he talks to houses. When a girl asks him to “tell his story”, he confesses to her that such a dreamer as he does not seem to live, his life is not filled with anything.

The idea of ​​"White Nights" by Dostoevsky

Probably, this is also why he is so attached to Nastenka. She is his only interlocutor, his salvation from this loneliness, familiar to him. Communication with her, her attachment to him, becomes for the hero the only thing in this world that matters. When he realizes that he will not get Nastenka's love, he withdraws into himself; the city and everything that surrounds it seem to become dimmer and older in his eyes. It fades and ages, and he himself. If this were a character familiar to Dostoevsky, perhaps hatred for Nastenka would have followed disappointment. But he also continues to love her, purely and reverently, wishes her only the best. Or the hero could become disillusioned with life, like, for example, Svidrigailov, commit suicide. But this does not happen either - the hero says that for the sake of this short happiness it was worth living. “A whole minute of bliss! But isn’t this enough even for the whole human life? .. ”This phrase consists of idea of ​​the work. The idea of ​​happiness: what is it and how much happiness can one person demand in his entire life? Due to the fact that the hero of Dostoevsky is sentimental, he is grateful to fate for these few nights. Probably, these are the memories with which he will live his whole future life and will be happy that he managed to survive it. This will be enough for him.

What is the difference between "White Nights" and other works of Dostoevsky?

This sentimental novel by Dostoevsky, by virtue of its genre, is fundamentally different from his other, more famous works. Completely different, not hostile Petersburg. Quite different characters - sensitive, simple, loving, dreamy. A completely different language - metaphorical, sublime. A completely different range of problems and ideas: not thinking about problems little man, for example, or about the application of any philosophical ideas, but about the loneliness of dreamers, the transience and value of human happiness. This sentimental novel reveals to us a completely different Dostoevsky; Dostoevsky is not gloomy, but light and simple. But in some ways this great Russian author remains true to himself: even despite the outward lightness and simplicity of the work, the writer touches on important philosophical issues. Questions about love and happiness.

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