Book Review: The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
I’ve read mostly science fiction literature or religious texts this year due to my studies, so I decided to sprinkle in some realism with Dostoyevsky’s The Gambler. It was the dose of depressing literature that I needed before diving into another fantastical science fiction world. The story follows a tutor, employed by The General, who develops an addiction to gambling at the behest of Polina, the General’s daughter. His employers are on the brink of financial ruin and their situation goes from bad to worse through the course of the narrative, leaving them all mentally scarred by what unfolds.
The Good
Dostoyevsky’s persona comes alive in the protagonist Alexei Ivanovich, the tutor. His philosophy on wealth, beauty, and the chaos of living bleed through every raving monologue the character performs. It is cautionary in nature against addictions of all kinds, most explicitly gambling, but also money and even love. The men and women in the story are both vulnerable to the vices explored through eclectic characters that could have been in a Dickens novel. Dostoyevsky highlights their superficial and nationalistic differences well while exposing the universal human propensity for self-sabotage. Though they are all trying hard to conceal the complex cocktail of emotions, motives, and desires, circumstances force them to bubble up to the surface, the wealthy and opinionated grandmother.
One of the highlights of this book was the arrival of the grandmother, Antonida Vassilievna Tarasevitcheva, who would be perfectly suited for the late Maggie Smith. If the plot is a village, the grandmother is the castle in the center because everything is built around her arrival and departure. What Dostoyevsky does masterfully is assert that even the most fortified castles can come crumbling down. No one is invulnerable to the consequences and risk of love, addiction, and gambling. Her interactions with the characters are delightful, illuminating an otherwise gray and dismal story.
The Bad
This may depend on the translation, but one of the things that made the story difficult to get through was all of the French dialogue. There are a few characters who only speak French, which the narrator clearly understood; and though he translates for other characters, there is no marginalia with translations to English. I had to look them up myself to comprehend what was going on in pivotal points of the plot. Dostoyevsky speaks to German philosophy of wealth, French obsession with titles, and antisemitism that seems to have been common knowledge for nineteenth century Russia, but I had to look up why he draws those conclusions. Though Russia has always been involved in Western European conflict and enterprise, Dostoyevsky attempts to distance their Eastern Orthodoxy from the Western views of money and socioeconomic status. This can go over the reader's head if we are not familiar with the history of Europe.
Who Should Read it?
Fans of Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamazov who long for a bite-sized appetizer of Dostoyevsky will really enjoy this book. The internal conflict of the protagonist who is losing his grip on reality while wrestling with the moral implications of his actions is on brand in The Gambler. For those of you who do not know, Fyodor Dostoyevsky actually had a gambling problem in real life. His publisher pressured him to write them a book, so he produced this book within a couple of months because it was his present struggle. His description of the rush of gambling is almost enticing. However, those who enjoy a lighthearted love story with upbeat characters will not enjoy this book. This book is a little darker like the Bronte sisters rather than Jane Austen. The story is not as philosophically dense as Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamazov, so I wouldn’t recommend it as an introduction to Dostoyevsky. This book is more for people who already enjoy reading his work.
