July's Book: The Gambler

The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Literature (1867 - 172 pp.)

The Gambler is my first entry concerning a book by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and among the first - if not the first - concerning a book originally written in Russian. I have a good recent history with translations on this blog, from German to Polish to Japanese, so it is fitting that my gigantic Russian literature hole should be at least partially filled here.

The Gambler is partially autobiographical, written when Dostoevsky was an inveterate problem gambler who almost lost all his money numerous times while writing The Gambler in record time to pay off gambling debts. The protagonist, Alexei, sinks into a gambling problem while in a German spa town; his co-travellers Polina, the General, Mr. Astley (no relation to Rick), De Griers, and then Grandmother join him; everyone is waiting for Grandmother to die so Polina can inherit her vast fortune. Many games of roulette ensue.

Unsurprisingly, no one gets along for long with anyone else. Alexei, as unreliable a narrator as he is, is quick to self-deprecate. In the opening scenes of the book, when the characters first congregate in Germany, he admits that interacting with De Griers, "...eventually I got so irritated that I decided to be a bit boorish." (12) This behaviour is not a one-off: "...I once threatened to spit into a Monsignor's coffee." (12) Feelings between Alexei and De Griers appear to be mutual, as during a subsequent conversation, "De Griers glanced at me with a look of hatred." (59) Alexei's gambling affects his relationships later on, resembling a modern anti-gambling public service announcement. In the book's final scene, Mr. Astley remarks acidly on Alexei's fall from temporary riches to what seems like ongoing poverty: "You've ruined yourself beyond redemption. Once upon a time you had a certain amount of talent and a lively personality, and you were quite good-looking too."* (170)

Once Grandmother makes her grand entrance, she becomes the subject of favoritism from the hotel staff due to her riches. Alexei, always the humorous narrator, notes that the hotel uses its own class-based criteria for placing guests: "At spas - all over Europe, it seems - hotel owners and head waiters are guided in their allotment of rooms to visitors, not so much by the wishes and requirements of the visitors as by the hoteliers' opinion of the guests. It may also be said that they seldom make a mistake." (81) Alexei sees himself as above at least some of Grandmother's retinue, as he refers to her servants as "flunkeys". (70) To the crowd decrying wealth and income equality in 2020, in almost everywhere except Europe, this sight could have happened yesterday - even a hotel operating in Europe. Grandmother immediately becomes reckless at the tables; when Alexei is cautious, prior to his spiral into gambling madness, Grandmother states that "'He who fears the wolf should never enter the forest.'" (91)**

Alexei's sometime love match, Polina, becomes a loss as Alexei sinks closer to his enveloping love of roulette. Alexei suspects she will not love him: "I wanted her to come to me and say 'I love you', and if she would not come, or if to hope that she would ever do so was an unthinkable absurdity - well, what else is for me to wish for?" (100) When they finally meet again, Alexei offers her 50,000 francs; (142) her decline of the money ends up being trivial when she inherits Grandmother's fortune. After their final meeting, Polina becomes unattainable to Alexei, to the point that he gets word through Mr. Astley that she is travelling in Switzerland. Ironically, Alexei may well have become richer if he had been able to marry Polina but had never gambled.

The book's highlight is Alexei's emotional roller coaster at the tables. Roulette takes over Alexei's identity by the book's climax: "I myself was at heart a gambler. At that moment I became acutely conscious both of that fact and of the fact that my hands and knees were shaking and the blood was hammering in my brain." (93) This language could just have easily been used to describe Alexei's feelings for Polina. His self-confidence overwhelms him with every win until, finally, he sees that one lost bet would cost him the small fortune he had amassed to that point: "It was the only time during the evening's play when fear cast its cold spell over me, making my hands and knees tremble. For I had realised with horror that I had to win, and that my whole life depended on that bet." (135) Even if Alexei hadn't won the bet, there's always the desire to get back into gambling. After that aforementioned final meeting with Mr. Astley, when Mr. Astley tears apart every aspect of Alexei's character, Alexei thinks after they part: "I'm a lost soul. But why should I not rise from the dead?" (171) 

In 2020, The Gambler asks: To what extent can a 19th-century Russian in Germany be modeled onto present-day people from around the world? The rise of sports betting into online arenas, including fantasy sports, makes it possible for gamblers to use increasingly advanced stats while playing against people whose faces they'll never see. When Grandmother says "Let's hurry back, let's just hurry back. But I don't mean to wager a penny on that blasted zero, or on the equally damned red,"*** (110) it defies meaning compared to the minute calculations of fantasy points (does your fantasy NBA league subtract points for turnovers?) and equally minute calculations of poker odds. Movies like Rounders and 21 move closer, but a true 2020 The Gambler may be yet to be made. At least in Rounders and 21, the characters physically see each other. Movies about brainiacs behind screens tend to be about programmers, not gamblers.

Would a modern version of The Gambler take place online? 

Ease of Reading: 5

Educational Content: 3

*This is a Billy Madison-worthy string of insults, but perhaps worse, as Mr. Astley speaks to Alexei's entire life, not just one incident.

**This quotation makes me think of Jack London's Call of the Wild and White Fang. Having it be a metaphor for gambling may actually make it scarier.

***This quotation is an early statement of gambler's fallacy.