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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Zweig’s “Chess Story” is a short novella which focuses on the clash between two distinct characters. On one side is the rural unthinking greedy shameless brute Czentovic and on the other urban imaginative cultured humanistic intellectual Dr. B. In the case of Czentovic, he rises out of an unnamed poor Yugoslavian village, his genius unexplained and unexplainable. In contrast, Dr. B’s genius emerges from the isolation of the Nazi takeover of his homeland of Austria where a chess book and the game itself becomes his sole focus driving him to madness. They are driven to a clash by a host of surrounding characters who lead to his clash between two very different characters.
The book is well-written and flows very well as Zweig writing — with random side tangents and twists and turns. As some others have discussed, Dr. B likely has some relation to Zweig’s own character as an Austrian intellectual in exile suffering poor mental health and who ultimately took his own life the next year.In some way, like Dr. B, the distress of the game was too much and so he removed himself from the game against the impossible brute. I honestly would not have minded reading this as a whole novel, I really like Zweig’s writing and his psychological approach. I was left a bit unsatisfied by the end as I was craving more and the book though good felt to lack greater lesson or meaning (not that great books need that). Nevertheless, I acknowledge Zweig’s skill.
The book is well-written and flows very well as Zweig writing — with random side tangents and twists and turns. As some others have discussed, Dr. B likely has some relation to Zweig’s own character as an Austrian intellectual in exile suffering poor mental health and who ultimately took his own life the next year.
Ich bin mir unsicher, was genau mich an Zweigs Werken greift.
Seine Prose ist tatsächlich einfach fantastisch und er ist ein unheimlich guter Geschichtererzähler!
In Schachnovelle stellt er uns vier schachbegeisterte Männer vor, wovon Dr. B stark eraussticht. Seine Hintergrundgeschichte - ehemaliger Gestapo-Gefangener - war so gut umgestaltet, dass ich die Anfangserzählung auf dem Boot kaum noch auf dem Schirm hatte.
Seine Prose ist tatsächlich einfach fantastisch und er ist ein unheimlich guter Geschichtererzähler!
In Schachnovelle stellt er uns vier schachbegeisterte Männer vor, wovon Dr. B stark eraussticht. Seine Hintergrundgeschichte - ehemaliger Gestapo-Gefangener - war so gut umgestaltet, dass ich die Anfangserzählung auf dem Boot kaum noch auf dem Schirm hatte.
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
02/07/2025
2025 reads book 33
“People and events don't disappoint us, our models of reality do. It is my model of reality that determines my happiness or disappointments.”
I can't comment on how correct or incorrect the chess-parts are, since I have no idea how to play chess and would be beaten within 3 moves if I actually would try. Luckily the story is about way more than just chess.
What an interesting way of looking at the effects of fascism/Nazism and how isolation influences the human mind! Where the one thing that can save you can also turn into obsession and trauma, and what breaks you in the end. I only read up on the author (and found out what happened to him) after finishing the story, which makes me want to go back and reread to really see all the connections to the author's life and thoughts.
2025 reads book 33
“People and events don't disappoint us, our models of reality do. It is my model of reality that determines my happiness or disappointments.”
I can't comment on how correct or incorrect the chess-parts are, since I have no idea how to play chess and would be beaten within 3 moves if I actually would try. Luckily the story is about way more than just chess.
What an interesting way of looking at the effects of fascism/Nazism and how isolation influences the human mind! Where the one thing that can save you can also turn into obsession and trauma, and what breaks you in the end. I only read up on the author (and found out what happened to him) after finishing the story, which makes me want to go back and reread to really see all the connections to the author's life and thoughts.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Ich würde das Hörbuch gelesen von Christoph Maria Herbst auf jeden Fall weiterempfehlen. Gerade der Abschnitt mit Dr. B hat durch die Art der Lesung für mich an Intensität gewonnen.
I'm impressed. I think I've learned a lot from this book and how the human mind functions. silence and isolation is dangerous and they portrayed this very well
fast-paced
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced