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24th out of 283 books
—
1,013 voters
The Gambler
In this dark and compelling short novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky tells the story of Alexey Ivanovitch, a young tutor working in the household of an imperious Russian general. Alexey tries to break through the wall of the established order in Russia, but instead becomes mired in the endless downward spiral of betting and loss. His intense and inescapable addiction is accentuated...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
April 8th 2003
by Modern Library
(first published 1866)
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4.0 stars. Fyodor Dostoevsky is a phenomenal writer and an icon of Russian literature. In this story, he has once again written a novel comprised of superb prose, unique characters and some very insightful comments about the human condition. For that, this novel deserves nothing less than 4 stars.
HOWEVER, as a native of Las Vegas who has just recently been given the opportunity to read this book after the lifting of the 100 year ban imposed by the State of Nevada on public dissemination of thi...more
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This story powerfully describes the game-table hunger of its narrator and the mania of gambling. Not surprisingly, it equates this maniacal appetite quite successfully with sexual obsession. I'm not a gambler myself, but I found the descriptions of nights spent at the roulette table riveting. This is Dostoyevsky at his most raw and least philosophical. He makes no attempt at a sweeping tale with allegories and theology, in fact here he's almost reportorial in slavish attention to the psychologic...more
Perhaps English speaking readers did not notice that via main hero (Alexei), Dostoevsky, on the sidelines of this piece, is comparing widely domestically (that is within Russia itself) stereotyped Russian character, which Dostoevsky shared and eagerly supported, - its spirituality, wholesomeness, lack of calculation, impulsiveness, kindness, compassion - versus a Western European character (such as, for example, Mademoiselle Blanche), showing it very negatively: as being manipulative, calculativ...more
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و در جایی که آدم تک و تنها و دور از یار و یاور در سرزمین بیگانه مانده است و اگر آخرین، آری آخرین گولدنش را به بازی بگذارد دیگر پولی برای خورد و خوراک فردا نمیماند، چنین احساسی، باور کن، طرفه احساسی است! بردم و بیست دقیقه بعد از قمارخانه که بیرون زدم، صد و هفتاد گولدن در جیبم بود. بلی قربان، خلاف نمیگویم! گاهی آخرین گولدن یعنی این! ولی اگر آن بار شهامت از دست داده بودم، اگر جرئت نکرده بودم آخرین بخت را بیازمایم؟
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Originally published on my blog here in August 2001.
Dostoyevsky wrote The Gambler in three weeks to clear his debts. It is, like many famous nineteenth century Russian novels, partly autobiographical, but it paints a very different picture of that country's soul from any other. Almost uniquely, it is set abroad; the Russian countryside is completely absent.
The theme of The Gambler is addiction; its narrator starts playing roulette in a German resort, just as Dostoyevsky did, and is continually w...more
Dostoyevsky wrote The Gambler in three weeks to clear his debts. It is, like many famous nineteenth century Russian novels, partly autobiographical, but it paints a very different picture of that country's soul from any other. Almost uniquely, it is set abroad; the Russian countryside is completely absent.
The theme of The Gambler is addiction; its narrator starts playing roulette in a German resort, just as Dostoyevsky did, and is continually w...more
داستان جوانی است عاشق، که ابتدا برای اثبات عشق دیوانه وارش به پولینا، دخترخوانده ی یک ژنرال که در ظاهر به او اهمیتی نمی دهد، مقدار اندک داراییِ خویش را به قمار می گذارد و پس از چندی به شکلی معجزه آسا مقادیر هنگفتی پول و طلا در قمار برنده شده و ثروت زیادی به دست می آورد. او که اکنون مسخ شده، همه چیز را فراموش می کند و با دختر دیگری که چشم به مال او دوخته به پاریس فرار می کند و تمام پولش را در راه این دختر، به باد می دهد. پس از مدتی مفلس و سرشکسته به هامبورگ باز می گردد. او دیگر بی آنکه خود بداند...more
This is one of the last Dostoevsky I had left unread, saved for a rainy day, and finally I let myself read it. I badly needed a dose of Dostoevsky and I was not disappointed. There were a couple things that worried me about it when I first started, particularly the foreign setting. I thought the story might get bogged down in Dostoevsky's prejudices, but it turned out to be very much peopled by human characters each with their own classic Dostoevsky complexities. Yes, some racial slurs were thro...more
Just after I read this book, I watched the movie Alex and Emma, in which Luke Wilson writes a book that plagiarizes this story. It made me very uncomfortable. As far as I know (and I watched pretty carefully) the movie did not cite Dostoyevsky at any point. It also made me feel weird about myself that I am a person who would read a novella by Dostoyevsky (because I just can't get enough) and then go watch a pretty lame romantic comedy with Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson because it sounded like a go...more
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This book was good, but the critical introduction (which I read after reading the book) to it really helped me to get more out of it. While gambling certainly plays a central role to the whole thing, what is more interesting to me is the various ways people approach the gambling, and the type of "gambling" that goes on in their own day-to-day activities.
However, what appealed to me most was the idea of putting everything on the line in order to reach that exquisite moment when you feel most ali...more
However, what appealed to me most was the idea of putting everything on the line in order to reach that exquisite moment when you feel most ali...more
Algunas de las muchas razones por las que 'El jugador', y por extensión todo Dostoievski, es tan bueno:
- Es sorprendente. Prácticamente todas sus novelas son desconcertantes en un primer momento: no acabas de entender a los personajes y las relaciones que hay entre ellos, porque son tremendamente contradictorios; pero sobretodo porque no tienes ni idea de hacia dónde va a ir la trama y qué se propone Dostoievski con semejante enmarañamiento. Pero, al final, todo encaja de una manera magnífica. E...more
- Es sorprendente. Prácticamente todas sus novelas son desconcertantes en un primer momento: no acabas de entender a los personajes y las relaciones que hay entre ellos, porque son tremendamente contradictorios; pero sobretodo porque no tienes ni idea de hacia dónde va a ir la trama y qué se propone Dostoievski con semejante enmarañamiento. Pero, al final, todo encaja de una manera magnífica. E...more
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المقامر (بالروسية Игрок) ، رواية من تأليف الكاتب الروسي فيودور دوستويفيسكي تدور حول أستاذ روسي مثقف ليس ميسور الحال اقتصادياً, يقع في حب امرأة أرستوقراطية لا تعيره أي اهتمام, بل إنها تحتقره حسب رأيه و همسته المذكورة في القصة ، تهينه بشكل يثير قلق القارىء من صحة أو واقعية القصة, تدور القصة في ألمانيا, بالنسبة للقمار و المقامرة فان الأستاذ يؤمن في داخله بإستطاعته كسب الكثير من المال إن حاول لعب القمار في الكازينو. و تصف القصة حال المقامرين في الكازينو و يشرح لعبة الكازينو و نفسية الناس المقامرين ه...more
This book surprised me with an engaging plot and a few twists. Alexei throws a hotel full of bourgeois parasites into turmoil with a small prank to impress a woman. It also contains enough grim gambling addiction to appease my desire for insight into the dark side of human nature, one of Dostoyevsky's specialties.
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I curse the Mickey Mouse Law, which is the reason why publishers continue to insult us with bad translations. Who could trust a translator who cannot even express herself well in her own native language? Here is an example of Constance Garnett in action. Page 57:
"A Frenchman is not often naturally polite. He is always polite, as it were, to order, with a motive."
And here is a more coherent translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky. Page 217:
"A Frenchman is rarely amiable by nature; he is always a...more
"A Frenchman is not often naturally polite. He is always polite, as it were, to order, with a motive."
And here is a more coherent translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky. Page 217:
"A Frenchman is rarely amiable by nature; he is always a...more
رائع دستوفسكي
لم اقرأ رواية بشغف مشابه لشغفي عندما قرأت المقامر منذ زمن
ممتع/ مشوق/ بديع
ولا اعرف كيف لم اقرأ له قبل الآن
وكان من الحكمة أن قرأت مذكرات زوجته فأخذني الحماس إلى اقتناء كتابه هذا والقراءة له وقد جاء في رواية المقامر بعض تفاصيل ذكرتها زوجته عنه وقد كان دستوفسكي يلعب القمار حقيقة
هو فعلا من عظماء الأدب الروسي =)
I just loved the book from the first pages. Alexsey is a complex character that in the most unexpected times goes to gamble and when that hot blood come to him he won the jackpot. He was truly in love with Polina and from that love a sparkle appeared and introduced him in this addictive world. The psychological portrait is so well centered and amazed me. This mad world where you don't know how to stop absorbed him and in the last instance he lost his personality.He forgot everything,he lived fro...more
Neste romance, escrito em apenas 15 dias, Dostoiévski cria Alexis Ivanovitch, preceptor de uma abastada família russa que, em jeito de memórias, relata os acontecimentos em que se viu envolvido numa cidade alemã chamada Ruletemburgo. Á roda dessa família, giram outros excêntricos personagens que acabam por ter alguma relevância em toda a acção. Mlle. Blanché, amante do general (patrão de Ivanovitch), mulher interesseira que gosta de se expressar na sua língua materna (francês). Um inglês que tem...more
I really enjoyed this piece, especially after trudging through Notes from the Underground, which left me in a sort of existential funk for a little less than week.
This relatively short--about 150 pages--story tells of a learned Russian, Alexey Ivanovich, who works as a tutor for a self-important, blundering army General. As our story begins, Alexey meets the General and his entourage in a remote, picturesque German village. The General's company is a diverse crowd, consisting of a a frenchman, t...more
This relatively short--about 150 pages--story tells of a learned Russian, Alexey Ivanovich, who works as a tutor for a self-important, blundering army General. As our story begins, Alexey meets the General and his entourage in a remote, picturesque German village. The General's company is a diverse crowd, consisting of a a frenchman, t...more
Dar vienas Dostojevskio kūrinys, kurį perskaičiau. Ši knyga pasirodė kaip tarpinis variantas tarp egzistencinės pamišėlio ("Laiškai iš pogrindžio")ar katorgoje gyvenančio inteligento ("Užrašai iš mirusiųjų namų") išpažinties ir kitų didžiojo kūrėjo darbų, tokių kaip "Idiotas" ar "Pažemintieji ir nuskriaustieji".
Visumoje tai lengvai ir greitai persiskaičiusi, gana nesudėtinga knyga. Kuri turėjo niūraus atspalvio, susijusio, su pagrindinio veikėjo priklausomybėmis - pradžioje Polinai ir lošimui,...more
Visumoje tai lengvai ir greitai persiskaičiusi, gana nesudėtinga knyga. Kuri turėjo niūraus atspalvio, susijusio, su pagrindinio veikėjo priklausomybėmis - pradžioje Polinai ir lošimui,...more
This was my first Dostoyevsky book I've read. I really enjoyed the book and the characters in this book. I really got a kick out of Granny! She seemed so full of life who was so care-free. When everyone was waiting on Granny to die, Granny just shows up and surprises everyone that she was just fine! I really see how there is a gambler in many people, it doesn't matter what class, or ethnic background of a person.
It also showed me that gambling isn't all about the money. It really seemed to me t...more
It also showed me that gambling isn't all about the money. It really seemed to me t...more
مع بداية العطلة كانت اللهفة للقراءة تكاد تقتلني
وقفت امام بعض الكتب المقترحة لأقرأها
ولأني أردت ومن فترة القراءة بالأدب الروسي
كنت محتاراً هل ابدأ بـ"إبنة الضابـط" لبوشكين
أو بـ"المُقامِرْ" لدوستويفسكي ، وقع الإختيار على
رواية دوستويفسكي لتكون أول الضحايا ، وبيني
وبينكم أشوف كثير من الناس تهايط فيه فقلت نشوفه .
لعلني أن أقول في البداية أنني ولجتُ مجال الرواية الروسية من
الباب الكبير جداً ، الكبير جداً .
ذلك أنني قرأت رائعة من روائع كبير الأدباء الروس ،
دوستويفسكي . نعم ، نعم إني أرى علامات
التعجب والإس...more
وقفت امام بعض الكتب المقترحة لأقرأها
ولأني أردت ومن فترة القراءة بالأدب الروسي
كنت محتاراً هل ابدأ بـ"إبنة الضابـط" لبوشكين
أو بـ"المُقامِرْ" لدوستويفسكي ، وقع الإختيار على
رواية دوستويفسكي لتكون أول الضحايا ، وبيني
وبينكم أشوف كثير من الناس تهايط فيه فقلت نشوفه .
لعلني أن أقول في البداية أنني ولجتُ مجال الرواية الروسية من
الباب الكبير جداً ، الكبير جداً .
ذلك أنني قرأت رائعة من روائع كبير الأدباء الروس ،
دوستويفسكي . نعم ، نعم إني أرى علامات
التعجب والإس...more
This was a fun, short novel. Dostoevsky drops the reader into the middle of the story with no introduction to the characters; names are used and you have to figure out who the characters are and how they're related to each other as you read. For this reason it took me a few pages to "get into" the story because I was terribly confused about what was happening. However, once I had a handle on the characters and setting, it quickly became a humorous and enjoyable read. In fact, I enjoyed it so muc...more
Sep 11, 2011
Dumbledore11214
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
russian-literature-of-19-century
I have read the book in the language of the original, so I just randomly chose the edition to post the review. What can I say? Every time I read Dostoevsky, I have that urge to send most of the writers I have read to some sort of writing school, I think of his talent that highly. I know very few writers who can analyse the person in such depth and write about it with such grace. What a spot on description of gambling addiction and at the same time I could feel nothing but pity for the narrator.
M...more
M...more
Romanzo splendido,permeato del carattere conflittuale e tormentato dei personaggi,costante di Dostoevskij;eppure molto diverso da altri romanzi dello stesso,ad esempio del contemporaneo Delitto e Castigo. Questo probabilmente perchè è scritto con molta ironia,che cela un significato estremamente profondo : la sorte di un uomo in balia della fortuna casuale tanto quanto della volontà dell'uomo stesso e delle sue passioni.
"E sapete che è pericoloso che veniate in giro sola con me? Molte volte ho a...more
"E sapete che è pericoloso che veniate in giro sola con me? Molte volte ho a...more
Picked this up since it's all about gambling (and other things) and Dostoevsky loved to gamble in Baden-Baden (and other places) and I was going to visit Baden-Baden. This book didn't take place in Baden-Baden, mostly, but rather in Roulettenburg (which is apparently modeled on Wiesbaden). Still, it was fun to wander past a casino where Dostoevsky lost a bunch of money.
This isn't really a review so far. The book is a quick read, filled with characters with many different agendas. I hadn't read a...more
This isn't really a review so far. The book is a quick read, filled with characters with many different agendas. I hadn't read a...more
The Gambler is one of the shorter books of Dostoyevsky as well as the easiest to get into. The book is about the essence of gambling. The chance to create miracle that lets the winner be reborn again. The plot set in the 19th century concerns Alexei Ivanovich a tutor of a General's family who is love with the General's ward Polina. Alexei is a compulsive gambler who rationalizes his addiction as the opportunity to transform himself as an aristocrat and acquire Polina. Almost all the characters i...more
Comparada con la profundidad y complejidad de los Hermanos Karamázov, el Jugador parece una obra con una trama más bien sencilla y hasta cierto punto predecible. Sin embargo, lo que me encantó de este libro es la vívida descripción que hace Dostoievsky del ambiente sulfurante de los casinos y centros de apuestas. Los principales personajes son jugadores empedernidos que se arruinan por su afición al juego, aunque este parece darles efímeros momentos de gloria y salvación.
El personaje principal e...more
El personaje principal e...more
Sucumbiendo a la presión de mi público recibe este libro la cuarta estrella, muy justita, a decir verdad. En puridad, le hubiese otorgado tres, eso sí, altas, pero bueno, me debo a mi crítica, y la cuarta estrella podría llegar a ser justa, también en su acepción de justicia.
Bien escrito por el traductor de Dosto, en mi caso, Juan López-Morillas. Imagino que de haber sabido ruso podría haber apreciado mejor los matices de la pluma del escritor original, pero que se le va a hacer. Me quedo tambié...more
Bien escrito por el traductor de Dosto, en mi caso, Juan López-Morillas. Imagino que de haber sabido ruso podría haber apreciado mejor los matices de la pluma del escritor original, pero que se le va a hacer. Me quedo tambié...more
This book was famously written in a few weeks, and being bedridden with a cold, I decided to read it in a few days. It is one of his minor works, but I did enjoy it once I was far enough along. The book begins with the same loathsome misanthropic tone as most of Dostoyevsky's work, but really comes to life with the introduction of the "Grandmother" character, perhaps my favorite that I've yet to encounter in Dostoyevsky. I can't help but share Nabokov's opinion that Dostoyevsky would have been m...more
مقتطفات من رواية المقامر لديستوفيسكي
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الناس فيما يتصل بالارباح والخسائر لا في الروليت فحسب بل في كل مجال آخر انما يحركهم دافع واحد : هو أن يربحوا أو أن ينتزعوا شيئاً من شخص آخر
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لا شي أمتع من أن لا يتحرك المرء امام الآخرين , بل ينطلق في عمله صريحاً لا يصده عنه صاد . وفيم يخدع المرء نفسه ؟ أليس ذلك أسخف و أغبى ما يمكن القيام به !
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إنني من قلة الاحتفال بعواطفك بحيث لا اكترث اي اكتراث بكل ما قد تقوله , بكل ما قد تعبر لي عنه من عواطف
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ان تعاقب الحظوظ عرضاً يخضع لنوع من الترتي...more
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الناس فيما يتصل بالارباح والخسائر لا في الروليت فحسب بل في كل مجال آخر انما يحركهم دافع واحد : هو أن يربحوا أو أن ينتزعوا شيئاً من شخص آخر
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لا شي أمتع من أن لا يتحرك المرء امام الآخرين , بل ينطلق في عمله صريحاً لا يصده عنه صاد . وفيم يخدع المرء نفسه ؟ أليس ذلك أسخف و أغبى ما يمكن القيام به !
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إنني من قلة الاحتفال بعواطفك بحيث لا اكترث اي اكتراث بكل ما قد تقوله , بكل ما قد تعبر لي عنه من عواطف
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ان تعاقب الحظوظ عرضاً يخضع لنوع من الترتي...more
In all honesty, the only reason I picked this book up was because I had to read it for my 'psychology of addictive behavior' class. So naturally, I didn't analyze it as I normally do books, but rather I looked at it from a psychological perspective. Can't say I was the biggest fan of this story, but mostly because I was rather mandated to read it and I can't stand being told what to read.
Looking back, this was a pretty interesting story, delving into the gambling habits of a Russian family livin...more
Looking back, this was a pretty interesting story, delving into the gambling habits of a Russian family livin...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gambeler | 4 | 62 | Feb 04, 2013 03:56am | |
| Goodreads Librari...: Please combine edition to the others | 3 | 15 | Jul 13, 2012 09:09pm | |
| Indian Readers: The Gambler | 24 | 28 | Mar 29, 2012 04:14am |
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky (Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the human soul had a profound influence on the 20th century novel.
Dostoevsky was the second son of a former army doctor. He was educated at home and at a private school. Shortly after the death of his mother in 1837 he was sent to S...more
More about Fyodor Dostoyevsky...
Dostoevsky was the second son of a former army doctor. He was educated at home and at a private school. Shortly after the death of his mother in 1837 he was sent to S...more
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3 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“All my moral and intellectual being is penetrated by an invincible
conviction that whatever falls under the dominion of our
senses must be in nature and, however exceptional, cannot differ
in its essence from all the other effects of the visible and tangible
world of which we are a self-conscious part. The world of the
living contains enough marvels and mysteries as it is—marvels
and mysteries acting upon our emotions and intelligence in ways
so inexplicable that it would almost justify the conception of life
as an enchanted state. No, I am too firm in my consciousness
of the marvelous to be ever fascinated by the mere supernatural
which (take it any way you like) is but a manufactured article,
the fabrication of minds insensitive to the intimate delicacies of
our relation to the dead and to the living, in their countless multitudes;
a desecration of our tenderest memories; an outrage on
our dignity.”
—
13 people liked it
conviction that whatever falls under the dominion of our
senses must be in nature and, however exceptional, cannot differ
in its essence from all the other effects of the visible and tangible
world of which we are a self-conscious part. The world of the
living contains enough marvels and mysteries as it is—marvels
and mysteries acting upon our emotions and intelligence in ways
so inexplicable that it would almost justify the conception of life
as an enchanted state. No, I am too firm in my consciousness
of the marvelous to be ever fascinated by the mere supernatural
which (take it any way you like) is but a manufactured article,
the fabrication of minds insensitive to the intimate delicacies of
our relation to the dead and to the living, in their countless multitudes;
a desecration of our tenderest memories; an outrage on
our dignity.”
“But gamblers know how a man can sit for almost twenty-four hours at cards, without looking to right, or to left.”
—
7 people liked it
More quotes…
