Wednesday 29 June 2011

Dostoewsky, Fyodor "The Gambler"


Dostoevsky, Fyodor "The Gambler" (Russian: Igrok - Игрок) - 1866

Apparently, Dostoevsky wrote this book simultaneously with "Crime and Punishment" as he was suffering from gambling compulsion.

After reading "The Adolescent" with my book club, I definitely had to read another Dostoevsky. This won't be my last. I enjoyed his story, the characters, the description of the characters, everything. A lively story, yet a lot of musings, as well. I like the style of the Russian authors. If you do, too, and haven't tried Dostoevsky, you should definitely give him a chance.

From the back cover:
"Its story of passion and despair is based on Dostoevsky's own experience as a compulsive gambler—but Dostoevsky was able to break away, whereas Alexei vows to quit as soon as he breaks even—an event, it is clear, that will never happen.
Like so many other characters in Dostoeveky's novels, Alexei is trying to break through the wall of the established order and the human condition itself. But instead he is drawn into the roulette wheel's vortex."

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