The Royal Game, Stefan Zweig
The Royal Game, Stefan Zweig
List: $10.00 | Sale: $7.00
Club: $5.00

The Royal Game
A Chess Story

Author: Stefan Zweig

Narrator: Dan Mellins-Cohen

Unabridged: 2 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/10/2020

Categories: Fiction, Drama, Classic


Synopsis

The fame of the "The Royal Game" is evident in the number of translations. The last work of the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig can be read today in over 60 languages. The first translation into English appeared in New York in 1944. In Germany, the book has become a constant bestseller. The first-person narrator learns of the presence of the world chess champion Mirko Czentovic on a boat trip from New York to Buenos Aires. Together with his acquaintance Mc Connor and other chess players, the first-person narrator manages to challenge the world champion to a game of chess.As expected, Mc Connor and the others clearly lose the first game. In the second game, the only way they can get is with the help of a strange man who later turns himself into Dr. B imagines preventing an embarrassing defeat at the last moment and getting a draw. Fascinated by the talent of Dr. B's, the first-person narrator asks him to take on Czentovic. Dr. B. agrees. During the conversation, Dr. B. under what tragic circumstances he started playing chess.This narration is based on the English translation of the novel, which was created in 2020 by Philip Knueppel for Aureon Verlag GmbH.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Janelle on December 17, 2020

Very impressive short stories. Zweig writes deceptively, the stories seem to start in a quite ordinary way and before I knew it I was drawn into them, compulsively reading to find out what was going on in his character’s heads. Each story has at its heart an extreme emotion, from the monomania of th......more

Goodreads review by M. on September 30, 2013

Overall a very enjoyable experience. Every story a literal telling that was done masterfully. Though I typically enjoy a less literal work, Zweig can make you read on, and for that I am grateful, and also quite glad he has been rediscovered and getting his proper due.......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on March 21, 2014

Zweig is a masterful storyteller. These are some of his finest examples, beginning with a man with chess-mania.......more

Goodreads review by Jack on August 15, 2024

Had he been born a century later and on the other side of the pond, and if by some good grace he wasn’t caught up in making money, as you do when there, via the sweltering dot-com bubble at the time, for example, had attended my suburban high school, then I’m certain that Zweig would’ve written abou......more

Goodreads review by Mitch on August 27, 2023

I really enjoyed this collection of stories by Stefan Zweig. Though varied, these stories are all entertaining, contain a deeper lesson, and share the beautiful writing of this magnificent author. My favorite stories are the namesake, The Royal Game, and Fear. Both of these stories introduce you to......more