Review: Chess

Chess by Stefan Zweig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my word! Such an extraordinary work. I've read this master, Stefan Zweig's work before. But never have I been so thoroughly enthralled. This work like many others by the master starts like a concert. With slow tunes at first and dabbling with the nice melodies before the concert reaches the main event song and ending in a feverish crescendo. This is a beautiful piece of work. I thank Anthea Bell for such sublime translation that it never felt like a translated work. Who but Zweig can capture the nuanced aspects of mental health in an engrossing story. And who but a master can pack such a punch in such a seemingly inconsequential number of pages.

The narrative is as gripping as the writing masterful. Some sentences made me stop and think and but nod in thoughtful appreciation. I know I am gushing, but this is such a delightful work of art. See for yourselves some of those polished thought provoking sentences.

“Chess, the only game ever devised by mankind that rises magnificently above the tyranny of chance, awarding the palm of victory solely to the mind”

“[chess] mechanical in structure, yet made effective only by the imagination; limited to a geometrically fixed space, yet with unlimited combinations; constantly developing, yet sterile; thought that leads nowhere; mathematics calculating nothing; art without works of art; architecture without substance – but nonetheless shown to be more durable in its entity and existence than all books and works of art”

A must read.

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