Resumen
Resumen de The Gambler
Para quién es
For readers who love fast, feverish stories driven by character, and anyone curious about addiction seen from the inside, with love, pride and money at stake.
De qué trata este libro
The Gambler is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, published in 1866. He wrote it in great haste, dictating it to a young stenographer, Anna Snitkina, to meet a publishing deadline that threatened his rights to his earlier work. Anna later became his wife. Dostoyevsky knew the subject from the inside, because he had lost money at roulette tables in German spa towns himself.
The story is told by Alexei Ivanovich, a young Russian tutor who travels with a general's household to a fashionable resort called Roulettenburg. Everyone around him is waiting for money, and he is in love with a woman who treats him with scorn. Then he sits down at the roulette wheel. In this summary you will meet the people in that household, follow the story up to its last stretch, and see what the book says about desire, pride and the pull of chance. Let us begin with a family that is waiting for someone to die.
En este resumen
- 1A household waiting for an inheritanceFree
- 2Love that feeds on humiliation
- 3Alexei sits down at the wheel
- 4Grandmamma arrives and throws the house into chaos
- 5What the book says about luck, nations and self-destruction
- 6A confession told in a hurry
Idea clave 1 de 6
A household waiting for an inheritance
The story opens in Roulettenburg, an invented German town built around a casino. Alexei Ivanovich has come there as tutor to the children of a Russian General. The General's party is a crowded one. It includes his stepdaughter Polina, his young children, a French gentleman called the Marquis des Grieux, and a Frenchwoman named Mademoiselle Blanche, who travels with her mother.
The household looks wealthy, but it is not. The General owes a great deal of money to the Marquis, who holds a claim on his estate. The General is also in love with Mademoiselle Blanche and means to marry her. She will only agree if she believes he is rich, and he is not rich yet.
Their hope rests on a single telegram. The General's aunt, a wealthy old woman in Moscow whom everyone calls Grandmamma, is said to be gravely ill. If she dies, the General will inherit her fortune, pay his debts and win his bride. So every day the family sends and receives messages and waits for news of a death, while pretending to enjoy their holiday.
Alexei watches all this with a sharp, mocking eye. He is a servant in the house, and he sees how thin the respectability is. His position gives the book its first tension, because he is both an insider and a hired outsider. He knows the secrets, yet no one in the family considers him their equal. That mix of closeness and humiliation shapes everything he does next.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Alexei Ivanovich
- A proud young Russian tutor, Alexei narrates the story and loves the General's stepdaughter, Polina.
- Polina Alexandrovna
- The General's proud, secretive stepdaughter keeps Alexei close while refusing to explain her financial troubles.
- The General
- A retired Russian officer burdened by debt, he hopes for his aunt's fortune and courts Mademoiselle Blanche.
- Mademoiselle Blanche
- A calculating Frenchwoman seeking a wealthy husband, she encourages the General while his inheritance seems likely.
- The Marquis des Grieux
- A polished Frenchman, he exercises financial power over the General and has a mysterious influence on Polina.
- Mr. Astley
- An honest Englishman and Alexei's friend, he quietly loves Polina and offers a steadier perspective.
- Grandmamma
- The General's wealthy aunt, Antonida Vasilievna, is a formidable presence among relatives eagerly anticipating her fortune.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 61,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about The Gambler
What is The Gambler by Dostoyevsky about?
It is about Alexei Ivanovich, a young Russian tutor at a German casino resort. He is in love with a woman who torments him, and he becomes caught by roulette, while the family he serves waits for an inheritance.
Is The Gambler based on a true story?
It is fiction, but it draws on Dostoyevsky's own life. He had gambled heavily in German spa towns, and he wrote the book in 1866 under severe money pressure and a tight publishing deadline.
Who is Polina in The Gambler?
Polina Alexandrovna is the General's stepdaughter. Alexei loves her, and she treats him with a mix of scorn and need. She has money troubles and a hidden bond with the Marquis des Grieux.
Is The Gambler hard to read?
No. It is one of Dostoyevsky's shortest and fastest novels. The first-person voice is lively, the chapters are short, and the plot moves quickly.
What is the main message of The Gambler?
The book shows how obsession grows by excuses and how a person can stake pride, love and freedom as recklessly as money. It suggests that the thrill of risk can become a trap.