I made this one out of sequence which is highly unusual. We typically don't choose a page -- we work on them in order. However. I had been reading the book (Volume II, Part One, Chapter XIII) and was mesmerized by this gambling scene where Nicolai Rostov loses the family fortune to his former friend (and bad boy) Dolokhov. So I grabbed it and did it early. At one point Rosrov was behind 800 roubles. At the end of the scene he lost a whopping 43,000 rubles. Otto can probably figure out how much that would be worth in today's US $$. Rostov was terrified and humiliated to tell his father of his loss."He laid down the seven of hearts and wrote eight hundred above it with a piece of chalk in round, straight figures; drank the glass of now warm champagne that had been served him, smiled at Dolokhov's words, and, waiting with a sinking heart for a seven, began watching Dolokhov's hands which held the deck."
It's a scene worth reading. The tension builds and you want to shout out, "stop, you fool! Can't you see that Dolokhov is a cheat? -- Lola
Lola Baltzell
from page 425-426 of original text
made 7/16/10
collage, playing cards
page 337-339 of Pevear/Volokhonksy translation
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