A reading of _Demons_ (please see my review), led me to renew my acquaintance with Dostoevsky, an author I love but whose works have had a varied effect on me. In previous reviews I mentioned my fascination with _Crime and Punishment_ and _The Brothers Karamazov_, and my perplexity with _The Idiot_ and _The Double_. After reading _Demons_, I decided to focus on Dostoevsky's shorter texts--his short stories and his novellas--before experiencing the few novels of his I haven't yet read. So far, my favorite novellas have been _The Eternal Husband_ and _Notes from Underground_. I now add _The Gambler_ to this list.
Before I say what _The Gambler_ (1867) is, let me say what it is not. This novella is not _Notes from Underground_ with a focus on gambling. _The Gambler_ is usually marketed as a psychological study on gambling addiction. Now, almost every work that Dostoevsky wrote is loaded with wonderful psychological insight, but the first thing that struck me about _The Gambler_ was the disparity between many of the descriptions of this story and the text itself. This is a marvelous narrative about a man who gambles, and as such it includes several comments on gambling as a problem, but if you are expecting non-stop descriptions of gambling followed by emotional despair, the text will surprise you. In my case, this was a pleasant surprise. _The Gambler_ is about gambling as Martin Scorsese's _Raging Bull_ (1980) is about boxing. Sure, that's the main topic, but there's so much more to the text than that.
In the Pevear & Volokhonsky translation, _The Gambler_ is offered together with _The Double_. This furthers the perception of the former as a study of obsession. As I suggested elsewhere, it would make more sense to couple _The Double_ with _The Eternal Husband_, another story of alter egos. At the same time, it does make sense to read _The Double_ and _The Gambler_ back to back, if not within the frame of obsession, in the light of the psychological phenomenon we refer to as masochism. Like many characters in Dostoevsky, the gambler is a man eager to surrender his freedom to someone else, thus avoiding responsibility.
The "hero" of _The Gambler_ is one Alexis Ivanovitch, a 25-year-old tutor with a university degree, who works at a general's house. He is deeply in love with Polina Alexandrovna, the General's stepdaughter, and is willing to do anything for her. At the center of the novella is an inheritance that the General is supposed to receive after the death of his mother, referred to in the novel as the Grandmother. Other characters in the household, such as the Marquis De Griers, Maria Philipovna, and Blanche de Cominges (the General's fiancée), care almost exclusively about this inheritance. Characters worthy of our sympathy? I count two: the gambler Alexis, and the pathetic and hilarious Grandmother.
Alexis plays roulette for Polina, as she has many debts to pay off. He keeps losing, but he is convinced that he would win if he were playing with his own money. He wants to be a winner so that Polina will see him as more than just a slave. It is because Alexis gambles for Polina that I suggest that our protagonist's core flaw is masochism rather than gambling; the latter is a means to an end, and through it he not only sacrifices himself but he also hopes to overcome his inferiority complex. Ironically, the activity only debases him more. To complicate matters, the rich Grandmother arrives in the middle of the story, and after having the game of roulette explained to her, gives way to an urge to try her luck. The result is one of the most hysterical passages I have encountered in Dostoevsky so far. As I was reading this part of the novella, I wondered whether the title, _The Gambler_, would not turn out to refer to the Grandmother.
Alexis’ realization that he is in love with Polina comes right after he gets the impression that she must have slapped De Griers at one point. "I love [you] without hope," he tells her; "I shall put off [killing myself] as long as possible, for I wish to continue enjoying the unbearable pain which your coldness gives me. [...] Man is a despot by nature, and loves to torture. You, in particular, love to do so." The other side of the coin is, of course, that some men love to be tortured. Polina is one of the unsung femmes fatales in Dostoevsky’s oeuvre.
In regard to gambling, Alexis has a moment of insight, and he says, right after he has lost some money: "That, of course, was the proper moment for me to have departed, but there arose in me a strange sensation as of a challenge to Fate--as of a wish to deal her a blow on the cheek, and to put out my tongue at her." Self-destruction as a form of rebellion. As Oedipus found out (the hard way), one cannot cheat destiny, and Alexis’ action, as he also discovers, is tantamount to spitting against the wind. Had these been the main concerns of _The Gambler_, we would be dealing with an entirely different text. Gambling could then be interpreted as a form of existential expression, as defiance even in the face of defeat. But Dostoevsky knew better. He developed a gambling addiction himself, and suffered the consequences. In this novella, he does not exactly explore the plight of the gambler; rather, he goes to the root of the problem, that is, the state of mind that precedes gambling in this particular character’s situation. Alexis is not happy with who he is. He defines his own person in terms of how he is or may be perceived by others, in this case Polina, who is only too willing to pull his strings. Gambling presents itself to Alexis as a shortcut to fame and power, and so he is hooked.
_The Gambler_ is one of Dostoevsky’s most satisfying texts. It is more polished than _The Double_, and in terms of narrative structure it flows more smoothly than _Notes from Underground_. It is compelling, just like _The Eternal Husband_, which I consider to be Dostoevsky’s best novella. What kept me away from _The Gambler_ for so many years was the fear that I would not understand the jargon, as I know absolutely nothing about gambling. If you are this situation, have no fear. The novella deals mainly with roulette, which is easy enough to understand. The explanations Alexis offers to Grandmother will furthermore clarify any doubts you may have about the game. The action, incidentally, takes place in the imaginary town of Roulettenberg, which may be a composite of Wiesbaden and Dresden, where Dostoevsky lived for a while.
The translation offered in this free Kindle version is by C. J. Hogarth. It is a bit awkward and wordy when compared to the Garnett version, but I would not say it is unreadable, as other reviewers have suggested. Both the Garnett and the Pevear & Volokhonsky translations are very good, so if you get the chance to experience _The Gambler_ in one of these versions, by all means do so.
Next on my list by Dostoevsky: _The House of the Dead_.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!
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M Clark
There are better novels to spend your time with
Reviewed in Germany on March 22, 2016Just sam
Reviewed based on kindle format not content
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2012