A review by likecymbeline
The Gambler, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

2.0

I've listened to people talk about [b:Crime and Punishment|7144|Crime and Punishment|Fyodor Dostoyevsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1382846449s/7144.jpg|3393917] in such a passionate way that I've put off reading it because I want to be able to deeply devote attention to it. In the meantime, my desire to watch Gregory Peck looking handsome in The Great Sinner meant that I ought to pick up The Gambler in advance, and I'll admit it's soured some of my interest in Dostoevsky. I loved reading [b:War and Peace|656|War and Peace|Leo Tolstoy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413215930s/656.jpg|4912783] in the Pevear & Volokhonsky translation, so I thought I'd try them again for this book. Knowing how smooth I found the former book in their hands, it made me feel fairly sure that my problems with the tone weren't just a matter of the translators. Especially in the first part of the novella the pace and sounds seemed so staccato and brusque. And everything was just so obvious! I didn't find much in the way of deep insight to a gambler's psyche, not anything new, and I always had it in my mind that the psychological aspect was one of the chief defining factors of Dostoevsky. Overall it seemed inelegant in style and not at all groundbreaking in substance. I will probably still read Crime and Punishment one day, I had it in my head to read it this summer, but I can't say I'm as hopeful for it as I was before.