The novel’s protagonist, Alexei Ivanovich, is not a professional card sharp or a calculating swindler; he is a tutor, an intellectual, a man of sentiment. This is Dostoevsky’s first masterstroke. He demonstrates that the gambling fever does not prey on the greedy but on the desperate dreamers. Alexei is in love with the cold, manipulative Polina, and his obsession with roulette is a perverse surrogate for his inability to control his romantic fate. At the green baize table, he believes he has found a loophole in the tyranny of cause and effect.
Ovo je ključno za razumijevanje knjige. Dostojevski je i sam bio strastven kockar. Napisao je ovaj roman u samo 26 dana pod pritiskom ogromnog duga i prijeteće zatvorske kazne. Vjeruje se da je lik Aleksija zapravo sam Dostojevski, a lik Polinke njegova buduća supruga, Ana Snitkina.
"The Gambler" is a semi-autobiographical work, drawing from Dostoevsky's own experiences with addiction and financial struggles. The novella is a commentary on the destructive nature of gambling and the psychological effects it has on individuals.
You will recognize Aleksej in yourself: in your own small obsessions, in the way you refresh betting apps, in the irrational hope that the next time will be different.
The novel’s protagonist, Alexei Ivanovich, is not a professional card sharp or a calculating swindler; he is a tutor, an intellectual, a man of sentiment. This is Dostoevsky’s first masterstroke. He demonstrates that the gambling fever does not prey on the greedy but on the desperate dreamers. Alexei is in love with the cold, manipulative Polina, and his obsession with roulette is a perverse surrogate for his inability to control his romantic fate. At the green baize table, he believes he has found a loophole in the tyranny of cause and effect.
Ovo je ključno za razumijevanje knjige. Dostojevski je i sam bio strastven kockar. Napisao je ovaj roman u samo 26 dana pod pritiskom ogromnog duga i prijeteće zatvorske kazne. Vjeruje se da je lik Aleksija zapravo sam Dostojevski, a lik Polinke njegova buduća supruga, Ana Snitkina.
"The Gambler" is a semi-autobiographical work, drawing from Dostoevsky's own experiences with addiction and financial struggles. The novella is a commentary on the destructive nature of gambling and the psychological effects it has on individuals.
You will recognize Aleksej in yourself: in your own small obsessions, in the way you refresh betting apps, in the irrational hope that the next time will be different.
