There's a book that I read almost every summer on the beach. I've read it more than 10 times now. The twists and turns of the story are hardly surprising me anymore. Now I read the book mostly to admire the writing.
My copy is a nice hardbound and leather-back book. It was printed in 1946, and I bought it 2nd hand from an antiquarian many years ago.
The book I'm talking about is The Gambler by Dostoyevsky. It's a relatively short narrative novel, just a little bit more than 200 pages. It's an easy and entertaining read, and a very suitable beach book, I think.
The story takes place in a German gambling town with the brilliant name Roulettenburg. The protagonist and narrator is a tutor employed by a poor Russian General who has lost his past fortune. The General wants to marry a beatuiful woman, but to be able to do this, he needs money. Back in Russia is the old and very rich Grandmother who is expected to die very soon. Every day the General telegraphs to Russia, asking about her health. He is impatiently waiting for her death, and to inherit her fortune.
One day, the old Grandmother unexpectedly arrives in Roulettenburg. She goes straight to the casino, to put her fortune (and the General's heritage) at stake by the roulette table ... and this is were the real fun begins. I say no more.
Dostoyevsky was addicted to gambling himself. In this novel he gives a brilliant and in-depth exposition of gambling psychology, built on his personal experience (and if you're cusious about Dostoyevsky, I recommend the biography by Geir Kjetsaa)
(That's my footsteps in the picture above. I had been out swimming in the chill and refreshing fjord, and walked accross that rock, on the way back to my towel and my Dostoyevsky book on the beach)
I've not read that one.
ReplyDeleteNow I have two books on my library list. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read that one either.
ReplyDeleteBut it's nice to have a beach reading tradition like that!
I'm interested in why you like it so much...
ReplyDeleteEvery Savage Can Reproduce
Hahahaha that does sound like fun. I think I'll try to get my hands on it for a read. :-D
ReplyDeleteAlex: It's a great book.
ReplyDeleteNessa: I hope you will enjoy it.
Kelly: It's become a nice tradition, and I hardly need to read anymore, because I know the book by heart >:)
Enid: Not sure, actually. It's a mix of different things that makes me like it; Dostoyevsky's writing of course, the dissection of the gambler's minds, and all the weird characters of the novel, such as the old Grandmother who is carried by servants to the roulette for her feverish gambling orgies. The outrageous characters (and the town of Roulettenburg) to me give the book a touch of humor, but I'm not sure this was intended by the author, who had serious problems with his own gambling addiction.
Misha: You should. It's a fabulous book, and a quick and easy read.