In the past couple years or more, when came the time to pick up a new book, I've been focusing hard on the newish releases in the realm of sci-fi and fantasy.
As a consequence, I've neglected other genres and especially classics. I can't even remember the last time I read one, mostly because in our day and age of instant gratification and widespread ADD, I found myself hard-pressed to find the will, focus and patience needed for the slower pace of a nineteenth-century novel.
But as I was waiting for a copy of Sylvain Neuvel’s newest novel, A History of What Comes Next (I heard great things about it and will give an update later on), I picked an novella from my bookshelf. It was Dostoevsky’s The Gambler.
And wow.
I remembered why classics are classics. He's got such an incredible mastery of the craft it's just breathtaking. Granted, some parts feel strange, alien even, because their world is so far apart from our own in terms of hierarchy and culture, but the psychology of the characters! You can definitely feel the excitment and the joy of the people who are playing the roulette, and I experienced real pain when one of them loses everything (although it all ends up in irony which is great). And the descriptions and even the suspense were amazing. All that knowing that it’s far from being one of his best books!
The Gambler inspired me so much it led to two things:
1- I started a short story of my own with similar themes, but in a Fantasy setting. (The short is also inspired by a great story written by my writer friend CK).
2- With my RPG group on Thursdays, we’ve started playing Mage: The Ascension, and I created a gambling magician who is eerily similar to the character in my short story, and shares some traits with Alexei Ivanovitch (the novella’s MC).
So it definitely gave me the desire to start reading outside of my “niche” again. As much as I love a great SFF story, it never gets anywhere close to what the masters of old have accomplished. I mean, look at it this way: how many Russians wrote novels back in the 1800s? Hundreds? Thousands? And how many have reached us all the way down here in the 21st century? Let's count—I promise it won't take that long:
1- Fyodor Dostoevsky
2- Leo Tolstoy
3- Nikolai Gogol
4- Anton Chekhov
5- Alexander Pushkin
I can't even include Vladimir Nabokov because he's a 20th century writer and he’s Russian-American really. So, what? Five? That’s it? Out of how many hundreds or thousands who did their best?
I wonder who will still get read 200 years from now. In the Fantasy realm, Tolkien… sure. JK Rowling? Maybe. GRR Martin? Who knows. N.K. Jemisin? No clue. Stephen King? Might. Brandon Sanderson? Your guess is my guess. Robbin Hobb? Unlikely. Naomi Novik? Perhaps. Patrick Rothfuss? If he ever finishes his Kingkiller Chronicle, there’s a chance. Or maybe all these greats of our time will be forgotten like so many before them.
One thing is for certain: the guy writing this blog will definitely be forgotten. Is it sad? Not really. I'm sure Fyodor doesn't give a shit that I'm reading his novella right now. I mean, he might have cared if I had a time machine and went and told him. But today? He has turned to dust a long time ago. And dust has no ego.
Ah, so that's why your character is a gambler! Makes sense