The Gambler

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

—

Title

The Gambler

Language

en

Book source

Global Grey

Description max 80 words

A tense psychological novel exploring gambling addiction, obsession, debt, and emotional turmoil among Russians abroad. The story follows a narrator's descent into ruin at a European casino, examining the destructive power of chance and the complex dynamics of wealth, class, and human vulnerability.

Summary up to 500 words

In Fyodor Dostoevsky's *The Gambler*, the narrative follows the narrator, a former teacher now serving as a lacquey to a wealthy Russian General and his family, during their stay in the gambling resort of Roulettenberg. Upon the party's arrival, the narrator feels a profound sense of alienation and resentment, exacerbated by the General's cold treatment and the family's sudden acquisition of significant funds. The story quickly establishes the narrator's volatile temper and deep-seated addiction to gambling, themes that permeate his interactions with the group. The plot intensifies at the casino, where the General's seventy-five-year-old grandmother becomes the focal point of a dramatic spectacle. Obsessed with betting on the number 'zero,' she stakes her entire fortune despite warnings that the number rarely appears. Her obsession drives her to gamble recklessly, eventually winning a massive sum of 4,200 gulden. The narrator, admitting his own nature as a gambler, watches with a mixture of cynicism and fascination, noting how the casino police manage disputes while thieves exploit the chaos to steal winnings. A moral counterpoint is introduced through Mr. Astley, a shy Englishman who acts as the narrator's conscience. Astley reveals the tragic reality of the situation: the General has died in Paris, Polina Alexandrovna is in Switzerland, and the narrator's former life is effectively over. Despite Astley's attempt to intervene by giving the narrator ten gold coins and urging him to stop, the narrator remains trapped in his addiction. He oscillates between despair and the delusion that he can win it all back, driven by a desperate need to 'rise from the dead' and reclaim his honor. The novel concludes with the narrator resolved to try one last time to change his fate, acknowledging that his gambling nature is his fatal weakness, yet unable to break free from the cycle of ruin and hope.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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https://www.globalgreyebooks.com/ebooks/fyodor-dostoevsky_gambler.epub

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data/epubs/url-267a2f5458f0d38a.epub

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2026-07-01 10:20 UTC

Categories

• Psychology
• Classics
• Fiction