I have been anxiously trawling the blogosphere, and it is unanimous. Zweig’s Chess is a masterpiece, a triumphant and exemplar instance of the novella. “Creepy and disturbing” are not words that I am seeing much. In fact, not at all.

Its strength, according to those others, is in part clear and precise writing (seamlessly translated by Anthea Bell) and an intense narrative that propels the reader compulsively through the scant pages. Easily a one-sitting read. And I am with his admirers up to that point.
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