Set in a northern capital at the end of the nineteenth century, this novel follows a young, unnamed writer drifting between hope and desperation. With no steady work and little to eat, he roams streets and parks, pawns his last belongings, and tries to sell short pieces to newspapers. Each moment of hunger sharpens and warps perception: small slights loom large, kindness feels like insult, and stray details glow with strange meaning. Inner monologue and quick shifts of mood replace plot mechanics, building a portrait of a mind tested by cold, pride, and need. The city itself becomes a partner in this struggle—beckoning, refusing, and mirroring the narrator's faltering steps.

Written in spare scenes and restless bursts of thought, the book helped pioneer psychological realism and the turn toward modernism. It remains a vivid, unsettling study of survival, dignity, and the cost of holding on to art when the body is failing.