weak-willed Russian; his singular adventures with an old criminal and
his mistress in the first part of the story, and with a harlot in the
second, have only occasional and languid interest; it is one of the
many books of Dostoevski that one vigorously vows never to read again.
The sickly and impractical Ordinov spends most of his time analysing
his mental states, and indulging in that ecstasy of thought which is
perhaps the most fatal of all Slavonic passions. Soon after appeared a
strange and far better novel, called "The Gambler." This story is told
in the first person, and contains a group of highly interesting
characters, the best being an old woman, whose goodness of heart,
extraordinary vitality, and fondness for speaking her mind recall the
best type of English Duchess of the eighteenth century. There is not a
dull page in this short book; and often as the obsession of gambling
has been represented in fiction, I do not at this moment remember any
other story where the fierce, consuming power of this heart-eating
passion has been more powerfully pictured. No reader will ever forget
the one day in the sensible old lady's life when all her years of
training, all her natural caution and splendid common sense, could not
keep her away from the gaming table. This is a kind of international
novel, where the English, French, German, and Russian temperaments are
analysed, perhaps with more cleverness than accuracy. The Englishman,
Astley, is utterly unreal, Paulina is impossible, and the Slavophil
attacks on the French are rather pointless. Some of the characters are
incomprehensible, but none of them lacks interest.

Of all Dostoevski's novels, the one best known outside of Russia is,
of course, "Crime and Punishment." Indeed, his fame in England and in
America may be said still to depend almost entirely on this one book.
It was translated into French, German, and English in the eighties,
and has been dramatised in France and in America. While it is