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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
fast-paced
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I find no flaws in this excellent novella.
dark
reflective
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
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An engaging read and an admonishment about obsession, self-control, and the devastating effects of isolation. ‘The more a man restricts himself the closer he is, conversely, to infinity.’ I’ve never thought about it like this before. But then again, getting close to infinity isn’t quite my goal, I’d rather be with people and open myself up to experience the world. This is also a surprisingly eerie parallel to our reliance on AI and the subsequent involuntary self-isolation. One must know the limits as Dr B did so wisely.
Μια αναγνωστική απόλαυση! Ο αναγνώστης εισάγεται σε αυτόν τον φρενήρη ρυθμό με τον οποίο ξετυλίγεται η ιστορία του δρα Μπ. και δεν σταματάει να διαλύεται από τη "σκακιστική δηλητηρίαση" μέχρι το τέλος, που καταφέρνει στο χείλος του γκρεμού να διασώσει τον Μπ. από τα χειρότερα. Η μονομανία και το μυαλό του ανθρώπου σε μια παρτίδα σκάκι όπου το ματ είναι ακόμα αμφίβολο...
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.