The Gambler

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Casa editrice: BookRix

Sinossi

The Gambler is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian general. The novella reflects Dostoyevsky's own addiction to roulette, which was in more ways than one the inspiration for the book: Dostoyevsky completed the novella under a strict deadline to pay off gambling debts.

The first-person narrative is told from the point of view of Alexei Ivanovich, a tutor working for a Russian family living in a suite at a German hotel. The patriarch of the family, The General, is indebted to the Frenchman Des Grieux and has mortgaged his property in Russia to pay only a small amount of his debt. Upon learning of the illness of his wealthy aunt, "Grandmother", he sends streams of telegrams to Moscow and awaits the news of her demise. His expected inheritance will pay his debts and gain Mademoiselle De Cominges's hand in marriage.

One day while Polina and Alexei are on a walk they see a Baron and Baroness. Polina dares him to insult the aristocratic couple and he does so with little hesitation. This sets off a chain of events that details Madame de Cominges's interest in the General and gets Alexei fired as tutor of the General's children. Shortly after this, Grandmother shows up and surprises the whole party of debtors and indebted. She tells them all that she knows all about the General's debt and why the French man and woman are waiting around the suite day after day. She leaves the party of death-profiteers by saying that none of them are getting any of her money. She then asks Alexei to be her guide around the town famous for its healing waters and infamous for its casino where the tables are stacked with piles of gold; she wants to gamble.

Alexei starts to gamble to survive. One day he passes Mr. Astley on a park bench in Bad Homburg and has a talk with him. He finds out from Astley that Polina is in Switzerland and actually does love him. Astley gives him some money but shows little hope that he will not use it for gambling. Alexei goes home dreaming of going to Switzerland the next day and recollects what made him win at the roulette tables in the past.

Disponibile da: 19/12/2023.

Lunghezza di stampa: 243 pagine.

Narrativa

Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

Bertie's Theory of Ice Cream

Alexander McCall Smith

"It’s like ice cream, Mr Flynn," Bertie continued. "When you have ice cream, you need to eat it straight away, otherwise it melts. If there are people who haven't got any, you should share it, if you can." 
 
When despair for the world grows, Bertie’s theory of ice cream reminds us that it’s the simple pleasures in life that we should hold onto. And everyone’s favourite seven-year-old has a lot to put up with: at home, Irene is planning lessons on Irish Culture for Bertie; at school, he is forced to join Olive and Pansy’s book group, and during a day out with his best friend Ranald Braveheart Macpherson, the boys find themselves unexpectedly invited to a wedding. 
 
Meanwhile, Bruce’s latest property venture goes horribly wrong after trying to move a flat’s front door to give it a more prestigious address. At Nine Mile Burn, Matthew and the triplets try to adopt an unwillingly-vegan dog. And Sister Maria-Fiori dei Fiore Montagna discovers the missing part of the Stone of Scone in Drummond Place Gardens. 
 
Filled with Alexander McCall Smith’s trademark warmth and humour, this latest book in the series is a must-read.

Mostra libro

My Biker

Winter Travers

Life is not a romance novel. At least not for Sloane McDare. 
 
 
 
Destined to be forever alone, the romance novels lining her bookshelves and filling her e-reader are the closest she'll ever be to finding true love. 
 
 
 
Cowboys, millionaires, hockey players, shapeshifters, and vampires? Sloane has read them all and everything in between. But the one that really gets her motor running? That bad boy biker. 
 
 
 
Determined to meet some of her favorite MC authors, Sloane makes the trip to the Motorcycles, Mobsters, and Mayhem book signing with her best friend in tow. 
 
 
 
Sloane knows what to expect. This isn't her first book signing. Books, authors, and cover models. Oh my! 
 
 
 
What she doesn't expect is the Iron Fiends Motorcycle Club also at the hotel for the weekend. Sloane needs to remind herself that this isn't a romance novel, and she isn't going to get swept off her feet by a sexy biker. Right? 
 
 
 
Contains mature themes.

Mostra libro

The Blood of a Dragon

Anonimo

Anuka Sandbar is the most interesting half-goblin alive. Just ask him. 
Anuka is a daring, dagger-wielding half-goblin con artist. When his Papa disappears, Anuka sets sail to find him. While on his way to a sleazy Dragon-run city, Anuka and his unlikely companions are enslaved by pirates and sold to a DragonLord. 
Anuka would rather eat his hat than work for a Dragon, but with his chances of finding Papa dwindling, he’s left with no choice. Anuka and his friends agree to conduct a dangerous investigation in exchange for a chance at freedom. With different Dragon factions on the precipice of war, what they discover could be catastrophic. 
What will these unlikely heroes do when failing their mission means enslavement, but revealing what they’ve learned could lead to a war between the gods?

Mostra libro

Key To Savannah - Made in...

Hope Callaghan

Months after the untimely death of mafia-made man Vinnie Garlucci, his devoted wife, Carlita, discovers a mysterious key in one of his pockets while sorting through his belongings.With help from her daughter, Mercedes, she sets off to find out what the mysterious key belongs to and soon discovers she has inherited property in historic Savannah, Georgia. Carlita views the property as a sign and remembers Vinnie's dying words to her to get their family out of the mafia.Against the wishes of her three sons, mother and daughter embark on a road trip to explore the property. While they're gone, someone breaks into their home and vandalizes it. This is the second time it has happened since Vinnie's death and Carlita is convinced that it's somehow tied to the mafia.Carlita and Mercedes are looking forward to leaving their old life behind with a fresh start in beautiful Savannah. They quickly realize you can run but you can't hide from the past.

Mostra libro

Come the Dark Night

David Tregarthen

In this sophisticated novel of suspense, a killer with a taste for literature lurks in the shadows of Oxford University . . . After a student is found decapitated in the cupola of the Sheldonian Theatre and a cryptic note in an unknown language is discovered, DS Kate Stewart and her partner turn to medievalist Dr. Jonathan Reynolds. He identifies the note as a passage from Beowulf and explains that the murder replicates a killing in the epic poem. Then a second, equally grisly murder escalates the situation. The victim is Tom, Jonathan’s former student and stalker. Horrified, Jonathan identifies the crime’s literary connection to another early English poem. Is the killer obsessed with medieval times—or with Jonathan? When another death suggests that a serial killer is working his way through the English Literature syllabus, both the police and the scholar are drawn into a baffling mystery . . .

Mostra libro

History of Herodotus The - Book...

Herodotus, George Rawlinson

One of the masterpieces of classical literature, the "Histories" describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus' natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colorful digressions - a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; an account of European lake-dwellers; and far-fetched accounts of dog-headed men and gold-digging ants. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fact and legend, the "Histories" offers a compelling Greek view of the world of the fifth century BC.
BOOK 4: MELPOMENE: After the taking of Babylon, an expedition was led by Darius into Scythia. Asia abounding in men, and vast sums flowing into the treasury, the desire seized him to exact vengeance from the Scyths, who had once in days gone by invaded Media, defeated those who met them in the field, and so begun the quarrel.

Mostra libro