- Audio Cassette
- Publisher: Books on Tape (June 1984)
- ISBN-10: 9998223857
- ISBN-13: 978-9998223851
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
The Gambler brilliantly captures the strangely powerful compulsion to bet that Dostoyevsky, himself a compulsive gambler, knew so well. The hero rides an emotional roller coaster between exhilaration and despair, and secondary characters such as the Grandmother, who throws much of her fortune away at the gaming tables, are unforgettable. The book's publishing history is equally so: Under the pressure of a deadline from an unscrupulous publisher, and with rights to his entire oeuvre at stake, Dostoyevsky dictated the book in less than a month to the star pupil of Russia's first shorthand school. Then he married her.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“Dostoevsky gives me more than any scientist.” —Albert Einstein
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Brilliant
May 3 2008
Format:Paperback
Absolutely brilliant, which is quite in line with Fyodor's other works. Fascinating characters are presented in a very skillful way. The Granny character is particularly brilliant. Be prepared for the nuances of the authors style, though. Remember, this is Russian literature. It is very dialog-centered and character-focused. If you haven't read anything by Fyodor, please go read Brothers Karamazov first. That is not to diminish this book, but just to mention that first things should be first. Basically, you want to try to understand Fyodor as an author a bit before you plunge into this one. You'll get a lot more from it if you do that.
The loser takes it all
Mar 20 2004
Format:Paperback
Fyodor Dostoyevsky is not an easy writer --well, which Russian author can be called easy? -- but once you get into his books, it is difficult to put it down. One of the best ways to be introduced to his works is the short --and even funny-- novella 'The Gambler'. Working with fiction and reality, this is an addictive novel.
As the story goes, a gambler himself Dostoyevsky had been paid by his publisher and had a writer's block therefore couldn't write anything. He hired a stenographer to help him. So she did, and they ended up falling in love. And the world received one of the best novellas ever. On a lighter note, in 2003, this story was updated in a movie called 'Alex & Emma'. While it is a great plot, the film didn't succeeded for many reasons. On the other hand, there is a movie version, also called 'The Gambler', made in 1997, with Michael Gambon and directed by Károly Makk that is much closer to the novel and much better.
The book tells the story of a compulsive gambler named Alexey Ivanovitch that while in a German spa casino gets involved with a couple of people, and has the greatest gamble of his life. Alexey will find love and hate, friends and enemies and will learn a lesson he will never forget. To tell more is to spoil all the fun of discovering all the twists in this amazing book.
As someone who knows what he is writing about, Dostoyevsky paints a vivid portrait not only of Alexey but also of the casino and its gamblers. People win and lose in the question of minutes, and the more they lose the more obsessed they are. Just like life.
Dostoyevsky's prose is crafted and beautiful. This is one of the aspects that make this book so timeless. The other one that the novella deals with human nature, and it nave loses interest --no matter when or where. The human soul is the same everywhere. So are our wishes and failures. And to write about it, Dostoyevsky is first among equals.
Existential Delight
July 18 2003
Format:Paperback
Brilliant, emotionally twisted novel with subdued observations and madly intoxicating behaviors.
Souls are bared and hidden,feelings are life threatening and questions are unasked.
This is a different Dostoevsky,with the same amazing sweeping sheer power of writing but exploded in your face rather than carrying you along the minefield!
Souls are bared and hidden,feelings are life threatening and questions are unasked.
This is a different Dostoevsky,with the same amazing sweeping sheer power of writing but exploded in your face rather than carrying you along the minefield!
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Most recent customer reviews
Not bad for a month's writing (or is that typing?)
SYNOPSIS: The novel centers around the career of a natural gambler named Alexei, who, as a tutor in the household of a certain Russian General, is infatuated with two things: the... Read more
Published on Dec 10 2002 by PseudoDionysius
I'm a Gambling Man
The hero of this book is complicated, a lover and compulsive. His obsession quite possibly stemming from his granmother who too, was a gambler in her day. Read more
Published on April 21 2002 by Catherine M. Dorkin
For adults only?
I can only wonder what I, myself, would have made of this
terrifically funny and sarcastic novel, as a fifteen-year-
old, when I was reading bigger novels by... Read more
terrifically funny and sarcastic novel, as a fifteen-year-
old, when I was reading bigger novels by... Read more
Published on April 13 2002
Breathtaking!..
One of Dostoyevsky's masterpieces:
Shows all the human feelings in a triangle of love - greed & passion.
Absolutely recommended...
Shows all the human feelings in a triangle of love - greed & passion.
Absolutely recommended...
Published on Aug 31 2001 by "lion_65"
God as Lady Luck
The Gambler is primarily a book about obssession and mania, a topic that Dostoyevsky would go on to further explore using criminal, political and religious themes as a backdrop. Read more
Published on Aug 29 2001 by Cort McMeel
The Gambler
A great story dealing with the pschological harm and injury that a is the result of compulsive gambling by an intelligent individual. Read more
Published on July 11 2001 by roy panelli
Ambition and delusion
This novel traces the family intrigues and passionate affairs of a group of Russians in Germany. A great character, the Grandmother, is surrounded by potential heirs who are... Read more
Published on Feb 12 2001 by Guillermo Maynez
Glimpses of genius
The Gambler must be seen as a two-part work, whereof the first part is brilliant and hilarious, while the second is less interesting and shows some signs of the haste with which... Read more
Published on Aug 8 2000 by Knut Oyangen
An engrossing, fun short work
The story behind the creation of The Gambler is well-known--due to heavy debt, Dostoevsky had less than four weeks to write a novel to avoid losing the rights to all his works,... Read more
Published on May 7 2000 by "mikeu3"
Disappointing
Dostoyevski is my favorite author. But this book of his wasn't worth reading. He wrote this book in 2 weeks as he was pressed for money, and unfortunately, it shows. Read more
Published on Jan 25 2000
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