The Gambler

I literally just finished The Gambler, and there is a satisfaction of growth in literature; I feel like I have been making great progress in comprehension and a tiptoe’s pace of deeper thinking. Plus, Dostoevsky mentions Madame Blanche being dressed “to the nines”, which is a phrase that I would use sometimes. It is so cool to find relevancy in the things you read!

Anyways, this was a short and sweet sort of book where it is not so much about action, like in The Old Masters [past review], but more about a character dissection when we pertain to addictions amidst drama within our social circle. As I process through it and come to realizations, it dawned on me how quick Alexei’s gambling went from casual to a serious problem, but then it makes you wonder how little we notice people who develop addictions. We think it really is not as bad as it could very well be and may even… crap I forgot the word. It is when you feed the problem instead of stopping it… Sorry. When you get caught up in things that happen all at once in a small group, I feel like things like this are the first to be overlooked. In this instance, everyone was so concerned about being greedy for a grandmother’s money when she was not even dead, yet at the same time are worried about paying people off, so naturally you have people who give Alexei the excuses he would need to go play roulette. It is sad, really.

The word I was looking for earlier was “enabling”. There I go.

I liked Mr. Astley; he was one who did not want to get personally involved in the family drama and Alexei’s escalation, yet still hung around to hear Alexei out and care for Polina. The English, I tell you.

I would read this again, fer sure; this may be an extreme, but I would recommend reading this with someone going through a hectic life for the first time, to show them an example of different ways people interact in a situation like this, whether it is gambling, or other addictions, or mental health. The Gambler shows the positives of being on the outside of things, of not getting involved in the drama, but still being around to notice things that should be noticed. You can find it here.

10/10