The Gambler (novel)

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The Gambler is a novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian General.

The book was the basis of an opera by Sergei Prokofiev, also called The Gambler, as well as Hungarian director Károly Makk's film The Gambler (1997), which is about Dostoyevsky writing the novella.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story is written in the first person, like many of Dostoevsky's short works. The Gambler chronicles a period of time spent in a spa town in Germany - (although not directly mentioned, this refers to the town of Baden-Baden) in the mid-19th century. The story is narrated by a tutor in a once prosperous General's household. The protagonist (the tutor) is Alexei Ivanovich. Aside from the narrator, the main subplot is the General's financial problems (and marital too) for which he feels the solution is his ill aunt's death; to add an even more morbid twist the General and his party send telegrams almost daily to find out if she has died.

The narrator, Alexei, is in love with the General's stepdaughter, the manipulative Polina. He often speaks of doing whatever Polina would ask him to do, including jumping off the Schlagenberg, a mountain near the town.

Alexei often finds himself gambling for other people, a vocation he claims to despise. His game of choice is roulette, and Alexei is successful on some occasions in winning money for Polina.

Eventually the General's aunt comes to visit. She begins to gamble with Alexei. After a good start, her luck plummets and she loses thousands of roubles, much to her family's despair.

After his prospective fortune disappears, the General's prospective wife, a Frenchwoman, loses interest in him. She tempts Alexei of promises to bring him to France, but her promises simply turn out to be another form of the manipulation that he experienced with Polina.

Alexei continues his gambling, becoming further entangled in a cycle of betting and loss. The novel closes with Alexei hoping for the big win that would rescue him from debt.

Spoilers end here.

The novella reflects Dostoevsky's own addiction to roulette, which was in more ways than one the inspiration for the book. Dostoevsky completed the novella under a strict deadline so he could pay off gambling debts. There are some small points in the book where Dostoevsky switches from using English to French and then back again.