Fedor Dostoevskij
Il giocatore

"The Gambler" is a novel by Fedor Dostoevsky, probably the foremost exponent of 19th-century Russian literature, one of the greatest writers of all time.

A "minor" novel written in just 28 days to cope with debts (gambling debts, as Dostoevsky was himself a gambler) and simultaneously during the drafting of another novel also written with a certain urgency but which turned out quite well given that it is CRIME AND PUNISHMENT... in short, the debts were many and Dostoevsky was in any case subject to a "noose" publishing contract that forced him to produce rapidly and in great quantities.

Set in an imaginary German spa town called Roulettenburg, The Gambler is the story of Aleksei Ivanovich, a young tutor in the service of a Russian general.

Our protagonist, who is also the first-person narrator, finds himself in a hotel with the general and his relatives. Around him is a story of debts, failures, coalitions, intrigues, all to avoid falling into disgrace, into failure. Only the general's very wealthy grandmother, the "baboulinka," one of the most extraordinary literary characters ever and an unparalleled standout figure in this novel, could save everyone from the impending financial disaster and everyone is hoping for her death... but the grandmother, is alive and well and about to arrive in town... and guess what the main attraction in Roulettenburg is?

The Gambler is undoubtedly a ROCK novel. Extremely readable, the dialogues... it's hard to find such frankness especially today, in this reactionary dark age of political correctness and hypocrisy (what a pity though, I thought that as time went on, humanity was supposed to evolve not devolve). The scenes at the casino are unmissable and it is incredible how the demon of gambling can reduce a person to the likeness of a worm-eaten raft in the middle of a stormy ocean...

Dostoevsky describes this universe of weaklings with mastery, after all, he deals with a subject he knows directly and in which he is totally involved.

The book is easy to read both for the fast-paced dialogues that always keep the momentum high and because there are no lifeless points or long descriptions of this and that as often happens in other novels...

Lastly, I would say it is also read with interest and pleasure because... it is BEAUTIFUL!