num_pages: 186
description: Dostoevsky's short novel is told in the first person by a young man, Alexei, who is addicted to gambling. Its story of passion and despair is based on Dostoevsky's own experience as a compulsive gambler―but Dostoevsky was able to break away, whereas Alexei vows to quit as soon as he breaks even―an event, it is clear, that will never happen.Like so many other characters in Dostoeveky's novels, Alexei is trying to break through the wall of the established order and the human condition itself. But instead he is drawn into the roulette wheel's vortex.
language: English
title: The Gambler
titlecomplete: The Gambler
characters: Polina Aleksandrovna, Alexei Ivanovich
genres: Russia, Novels, Literature, Roman, Classic Literature, Russian Literature, Classics, Romance, Fiction, 19th Century
ratings_count: 84527
places: Russia, Eastern Europe
awards: awardedAt: 94723200000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Translation
publisher: W. W. Norton & Company