Stefan Zweig - Chess Story BOOK REVIEW

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  • Опубліковано 3 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 132

  • @BetterThanFoodBookReviews
    @BetterThanFoodBookReviews  3 роки тому +8

    Big thanks to Ridge for sending me this wallet and supporting the channel! Here’s the site if you want to check them out! > ridge.com/BETTERTHANFOOD

  • @RB939393
    @RB939393 3 роки тому +89

    Finally got prescribed meds for my adhd and now I can finally read again. I'm ecstatic!

  • @connorwatersmith5575
    @connorwatersmith5575 3 роки тому +15

    Cliff -- I'm glad you enjoyed the book! Happy to have sent it to you!!

  • @jh1618
    @jh1618 3 роки тому +37

    "The World of Yesterday" is also very well worth reading, as well as his "Decisive Moments in History", a collection of small moments that changed the world forever.

  • @alexanderhenriquez9354
    @alexanderhenriquez9354 3 роки тому +22

    I choose to do a Short Film based on this story back with one of my classes for adapting literature works. Brings me back!

  • @celiampena
    @celiampena 3 роки тому +41

    My boyfriend and I have this tradition; we both read 1 Zweig book every year and then we discuss it. Last year it was this one. It was very surreal to read during quarantine. We love Zweig. His stories are always surprising and is the most beautiful german I've ever read.

    • @NobodylikesSoup
      @NobodylikesSoup 3 роки тому

      Ah! Awesome tradition!

    • @niko9461-r8r
      @niko9461-r8r 3 роки тому

      Great idea! Should try it with my partner sometime

    • @Morfeusm
      @Morfeusm 3 роки тому

      That’s brilliant!

  • @AlexiaCambaling798
    @AlexiaCambaling798 3 роки тому +10

    Chess Story introduced me to Stefan Zweig and just made me fall in love with his writing. One of the best novellas I've ever read. Twenty Four Hours In The Life of a Woman is excellent as well. I'm a little sad I couldn't read his books in the original German.

  • @rafaelquinta7541
    @rafaelquinta7541 3 роки тому +39

    Well Cliff, I don't think you failed in the creative creation of this channel

    • @ipons-jv9ll
      @ipons-jv9ll 3 роки тому

      Pollock - 40 out of a factory

    • @TeatroGrotesco
      @TeatroGrotesco 3 роки тому +3

      I think he won when he DIDN'T call it Cliff Notes!

  • @michaelborek378
    @michaelborek378 3 роки тому +3

    Cliff it hurt when you said you are a failure you got me back into my love of books and your reviews and insight I look forward to. You are a hell of a teacher.

  • @goran9355
    @goran9355 3 роки тому +15

    I'm praying for the day you would review a Lázló Krasznahorkai book; Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance 🙏

  • @melissadbm
    @melissadbm 3 роки тому +18

    Just wanted to watch a book review and ended up purchasing a really cool wallet (wish I actually had something to put inside though)! Thank you so much cliffy boi :)

  • @nolandost3070
    @nolandost3070 3 роки тому +7

    OH, this is one of the first times I've beaten you to the punch on a book. I read this right before beginning college in 2015 and It lives on in an English assignment that I used this as inspiration for. Great choice!

  • @uniquechannelnames
    @uniquechannelnames 3 роки тому +1

    I see your bookshelf has moved from the neatly lined up phase, to needing to pile books up phase. A natural progression of course. Mine has the same amazing problem. Thanks again for your years of dedication to reviewing and introducing all of us to such a massively diverse set of authors and books. Truly invaluable!

  • @alexjohnson9798
    @alexjohnson9798 3 роки тому +3

    One of my favorites. Glad you're reviewing it.

  • @GrafWattenburg
    @GrafWattenburg 3 роки тому +4

    I read this book two days ago and now you release this, cool coincidence.

    • @DTJ2024
      @DTJ2024 3 роки тому

      You enjoyed it too?

    • @GrafWattenburg
      @GrafWattenburg 3 роки тому

      @@DTJ2024 I did. I liked the stark contrast between Dr. B and his ability to visualize the check pieces and the Chess master being completely unable to visualize it without the physical pieces in front of him. One being a natural genius at it, the other being an expert through extreme practice. Polar opposites of the spectrum of skill.

  • @debloated9589
    @debloated9589 3 роки тому +1

    I lost u in the algorithm a while ago, been searching u like crazy and like 5 secs ago I randomly remembered your channels name lol. Nice to know u never stopped uploading, YT just trolled me

  • @demidevil666
    @demidevil666 3 роки тому +1

    I am a native German speaker and for whatever reason had never come across or been introduced to Zweig before. I saw this box set collection of some of his "most important" works on Amazon and decided to buy it on a whim. I have yet to receive my parcel, but I wanted to see what other people said about the man's work.
    This video of yours serves a a great encouragement for me to dive into this man's legacy. When you read the passage where the ex-prisoner describes his learning of the game of chess, I immediately began so smile. The descriptive language Zweig uses rolls off the tongue beautifully.
    I'm very eager to read it in its orginial German form.

  • @ellelala39
    @ellelala39 3 роки тому

    I have to add my name to the chorus who admire your creative hard work and devotion to your channel, Cliff. Thanks for sharing it with us.

  • @davidlee6720
    @davidlee6720 Рік тому +1

    being a bibliophile is a talent in itself. Glad your are. I enjoy the synopses. Make me want to read them myself..

  • @mishababernathy7165
    @mishababernathy7165 3 роки тому +5

    Ohh god... I love this story... Zweig is just amazing...

  • @tylerlabrie6347
    @tylerlabrie6347 3 роки тому +3

    Beware of Pitty is a personal favorite and can't wait to revisit Zweig with Chess Story

  • @somniloguy12
    @somniloguy12 3 роки тому +7

    Incidentally, I am reading 'the world of yesterday' at this very moment. It is his autobiography which Zweig wrote briefly before his suicide. The book absolutely guts you as he describes the sun setting on a world which, in his eyes, was succumbing to fascism.

  • @johncrwarner
    @johncrwarner 3 роки тому +1

    Stefan Zweig is naturally readily available here in Germany
    and just checking on my local bookshop's website
    it is definitely taught in the equivalent of High School here.
    The language is seen as easy but there are, as you alluded to,
    some well drawn parts and things that make you think.
    As our bookshops are currently closed I cannot browse
    to see if they have them out on the tables like they do
    with the set books for Abitur
    the exams at age 18 in Germany
    (I suppose like SAT tests but assessed with essays)

    • @celiampena
      @celiampena 3 роки тому

      You can look for his books on the kindle app. His books are public domain now and you can download them for free. Auf Deutsch natürlich :)

    • @johncrwarner
      @johncrwarner 3 роки тому

      @@celiampena
      I might be old fashioned
      and I do prefer paper books.
      I have a 2€ copy from Reclams Universal-Bibliothek
      in their distinctive yellow and tiny print.
      I use my local bookshop however
      in this kind of case as informing me
      about the set books in the local schools this year
      So in English "A Raisin in the Sun"
      has suddenly appeared in the bookshop(s)
      here in Bielefeld
      They are in student friendly editions
      with others with critical apparatus.
      The implication is that it is on the syllabus this year
      at least in one school.

  • @SmallSpaceCorgi
    @SmallSpaceCorgi 3 місяці тому

    Zweig's "The World of Yesterday" is a very melancholy classic-- Zweig's rose-colored memories of a childhood and youth in late-Habsburg Vienna. You can see how lost Zweig is and how he doesn't grasp what happened from 1914 on.

  • @vb2twodos
    @vb2twodos 3 роки тому +2

    I'm heading to the Nevada Desert this summer and want to pick up as many books on the desert as I can before I head out there. Fiction, science, anthropological, anything really. I was looking but couldn't find anything that piqued my interest, so naturally I thought to come here. Got any books on/in the desert? The only thing I've read is Fear and Loathing.

    • @leadbellymidnightangel
      @leadbellymidnightangel 3 роки тому

      Read America by Baudrillard

    • @celiampena
      @celiampena 3 роки тому

      Roberto Bolaño's has a few books that play in the desert. Although is not his main setting.

  • @thomaskember4628
    @thomaskember4628 3 роки тому +2

    I have just finished reading The world of yesterday, so this would be a good follow up.

  • @ggo2000
    @ggo2000 2 роки тому

    One of your best reviews, Cliff! Something I’d like to add that I’ve been sitting on upon finishing the book is that *spoiler warning…*
    the very last line ties the story full circle to Czentovic’s own cluelessness about the second game. It establishes a stark contrast between him, whose savant syndrome granted him impeccable prowess with the game’s mechanics but very little knowledge/recollection of previous games; and Dr. B, whose prior circumstances granted him impeccable knowledge/recollection of previous games but very little mechanical ability. It’s two extraordinarily heightened skills put against each other and ultimately collapsing with the dearth of the other skill

  • @JacobeWilson
    @JacobeWilson 3 роки тому

    Loved this book and this edition! So cool to see you review it.

  • @matheinrich5245
    @matheinrich5245 3 роки тому +2

    Surprised to see this title! I recommend Zweig's novel "beware of pity." Although it is a bit long.

  • @clivebroadhead4857
    @clivebroadhead4857 Рік тому

    A similar premise in William Golding's Freefall, an author ripe for examination on this channel. Best known for Lord of the Flies which may have lost some its edge by being used as a school text he operates at so many levels and is equally rewarding.

  • @andrewlin212
    @andrewlin212 3 роки тому +2

    Hi man! Ive just recently started to watch your shows and I immediately fell in love with it! Well as a non-native speaker working desperately to become good at english, i picked up the hobby of reading 2 or 3 years ago. Im currently reading Pride and prejudice and i find it quite challenging tho not too far beyond my english levels. Since I have some problems memorizing the stuff in books, i decided to underline the keypoint as i went through the story. It makes my book looks incredibly awful yet i find it of little help lol. Im just curious if anyone here has the same habit to underline words while reading the story, like is it weird or not lul

    • @TheStupidEggs
      @TheStupidEggs 3 роки тому

      It's not weird. Read the way you like to. I underline passages I really like f. e.

  • @HamellTV
    @HamellTV 3 роки тому

    These are so incredibly enjoyable and so generous on your part. Inspirational as well when you consider how one has to come out of the closet these days to embrace intellectual thought. But never too high brow, coupled with the proletariat in the trenches. Big thanks brother.

  • @joelswo
    @joelswo 3 роки тому +1

    Read this today in just a few hours! Incredible!!

  •  3 роки тому

    I was really not surprised by the "... then the book turns to a kind of psychological horror story of obsession and madness" since I'm currently revisiting Zweig's novellas and obsession is present in some way or another in most of them. I didn't like his early writings (1906-1913), but "Confusion of feelings" (1927) is amazing.
    The premisse of Chess Story reminded me of The Queen's Gambit, also about chess, genius and madness. I didn't read this one yet, but I plan to, anytime soon.
    By the way: the people responsible for Zweig's house (now a museum) here in Brazil are about to start organizing online talks (in Portuguese) about him this year, if anyone is interested. Their channel is Casa Stefan Zweig.

  • @gopal72719
    @gopal72719 3 роки тому +1

    Just picked it oneday in the library and sat down. 3 hours later I was mindblown

  • @wahabmarahman
    @wahabmarahman 3 роки тому +1

    One of my favourite books! When you read it you won’t forget it.

  • @chase36chase
    @chase36chase 3 роки тому +3

    I love zweig. his biographies are great also

  • @therealignotus7549
    @therealignotus7549 3 роки тому +7

    If you want to read more Austrian/Austro-Hungarian books I recomend Robert Musil, maybe start with Young Törless then The Man Without Qualities (I warn you it is scary long))

    • @Desdeotraparte
      @Desdeotraparte 3 роки тому

      The Man Without Qualities is not only long, but also really difficult to read. Moreover, Musil died before finishing it. It´s a remarkable book, though.

    • @therealignotus7549
      @therealignotus7549 3 роки тому

      @@Desdeotraparte Spot on, it says something about it that he wrote for years and years and didn't manage to finnish it before his death (altough it is kindoff a ''book without end'' book.)

    • @Desdeotraparte
      @Desdeotraparte 3 роки тому +1

      @@therealignotus7549 There is kinda like an ending (something Musil wrote somewhere else), but it leaves you even more clueless. Once I finished it, I thought I would never find another person who has read it. It´s been five years now and counting hahahaha!

  • @Givoleinesom
    @Givoleinesom 3 роки тому +2

    Duuuuuuude this Author is AMAZING. Try on his other novels (all short stories) specially "24 hours in the life of a woman" just as amazing as (if not better than) Chess Story

  • @abbaquantum431
    @abbaquantum431 Рік тому

    In the midst of the moment, time stops. Yet the game goes on: win, lose or draw. It's all up to "focus" / will of the players.

  • @danielarreola6492
    @danielarreola6492 3 роки тому

    Hey Cliff, been a fan of this channel for a while. I just sent a book to the PO box listed on your Patreon: There There by Tommy Orange. It's about living as an Urban Native American, but is incredibly relatable for anyone who's dealt with trauma. It's explosive, profane and tragic, but also very human and hopeful. Should be arriving tomorrow so keep an eye out, hope you enjoy it.

  • @queensigal
    @queensigal 3 роки тому +2

    Have you ever considered the fact the distractions are what probobly keeps you sane and functioning ?

  • @JohnnyComelately-eb5zv
    @JohnnyComelately-eb5zv Рік тому

    My life has improved immensely since buying a Ridge card holder and some Central American coffee. Next I'll get business cards made with off white colouring, maybe a water mark, and some beautiful understated lettering. I'll make sure that the overall design is more sophisticated than Paul Allen's. This would make me complete and at ease with the universe.

  • @blackrockproposal
    @blackrockproposal 2 роки тому

    How about beware of pity? Stefan Zweig another book. Was it a great book? In a sense that makes you see other things when you read it. I really love when i can see other things when i read a novel.

  • @queensigal
    @queensigal 3 роки тому

    Interrsting tibit;i was in an Israeli book club in Zurich,Switzerland around 2002 with stephan zweig's nephew Adam who was then a retired psychiatrist. He was a very nice man. I googled him and he died this April My son is reading this book for class in German. I will listen to the English audio book now that you sparked my interest.

  • @LeonardoFazan
    @LeonardoFazan 3 роки тому

    I read the whole book in a night! This video fitted like a glove in my life right now, I've been actively playing chess since January and since November/2020 I've been reading about isolation and stories about confined spaces (I even managed to write some stories about it). Chess Story was almost a surreal fit in my expectations. I literally devoured the whole piece without skipping a beat, and how I loved it!
    If any of you guys could recommend something like this book I would be very happy to read it, as I love writings about ordinary disturbing facts, like the "chess sickness" portrayed in this book, or like Shirley Jackson writes her stories, like The Lottery.
    I look forward to reading some more of Stefan Zweig, as well as his life and how he ended up dying in the country that I was born.
    I apologize for the unsharpened English, hopefully, my future readings can fix that. Cheers, and thank you!

    • @bradleymcdonald6273
      @bradleymcdonald6273 3 роки тому

      Have you read Death of a salesman or The Crucible by Arthur Miller
      You might like those

    • @LeonardoFazan
      @LeonardoFazan 3 роки тому

      @@bradleymcdonald6273 Thank you so much! I'll put them on my list right away

    • @bradleymcdonald6273
      @bradleymcdonald6273 3 роки тому

      @@LeonardoFazan I'd say out of those two novellas... The crucible would be the one I'd recommend more
      it is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-93.

    • @bradleymcdonald6273
      @bradleymcdonald6273 3 роки тому

      @@LeonardoFazan chess though is hard to beat in my opinion... It was really well written, the pace was great and I never felt bored at any point... Loved how it built up to the climax, by the end I felt like I was going mad with the narrator

    • @bradleymcdonald6273
      @bradleymcdonald6273 3 роки тому

      @@LeonardoFazan I'm currently reading impatience of the heart by Stefan Zweig

  • @UpUpDnDnLtRtLtRtBAStart
    @UpUpDnDnLtRtLtRtBAStart 3 роки тому

    Love this guy

  • @blakealexander9729
    @blakealexander9729 3 роки тому

    Another great one.

  • @sut1833
    @sut1833 3 роки тому

    Great review. Have you ever read any Flemish literature before? I would highly recommend War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans and The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus.

  • @jungastein3952
    @jungastein3952 3 роки тому +3

    Look here man! You're the best booktuber on UA-cam; and that is a new art. Cut yourself some slack. Give yourself a break. I think you are too hard on yourself.

  • @marshallbarrows5626
    @marshallbarrows5626 3 роки тому

    This sounds right up my ally, very much sounds like a book in the same vein, but more grounded obviously, as Steppenwolf.

  • @eneszendeli
    @eneszendeli 3 роки тому +2

    Angst is my favorite book of his it's a really thrilling story

    • @ilqar887
      @ilqar887 3 роки тому

      Don't know why people love it so much

  • @ethandull6770
    @ethandull6770 3 роки тому +4

    I need to learn how to completely deprive myself of everything except that which is essential because I’m a college student taking my 4th term completely online...kill me

    • @prachi8771
      @prachi8771 3 роки тому

      Good luck man! You got this!

    • @mayanksahu6385
      @mayanksahu6385 3 роки тому

      My exams are online too, I'm an engineering student

  • @FlintSL
    @FlintSL 3 роки тому

    Mr Sargent, I find myself waiting for your reviews almost daily...I'm starting to question my own sanity! Also, you need another shelf to display your books!

  • @connorwilliamson3
    @connorwilliamson3 3 роки тому +3

    Damn, I saw this book in a bookstore once. I was intrigued but decided against it in the end...

  • @williamneal9076
    @williamneal9076 3 роки тому

    YOU certainly survived. For a time I did not like to read work from 'suicides', for "obvious" reasons. I think you are BRAVE. It seems to me, I would enjoy a beautiful person to learn me the game of 'GO', and to be able to write. However, I do NOT want to 'end up' as Hunter Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, or Stephan Zweig!!! Keep Writing, Young Man. One day we can read your work.

  • @gibarel
    @gibarel 3 роки тому

    I know this has nothing to do with anything, but have considered reading the works on the SCP wiki? It's a collaborative writing project of fiction, with very similar themes as the works of H.P. Lovecraft. I recommend reading at least a few to get the overall feeling, and i think the project as a whole needs more attention.

  • @mraduldubey9614
    @mraduldubey9614 3 роки тому +2

    Amazing. Please review A fine balance by Rohinton Mistry

  • @inquisitivemind8672
    @inquisitivemind8672 3 роки тому

    I loved this novella.

  • @busracelik3059
    @busracelik3059 3 роки тому

    This was the last book of Stefan Zweif before commiting the suicide.I think, there is a relationship with Dr.B and Zweig. Dr.B was playing with himself in order to defeat and also win the game. Playing with black and white pieces...Both of them show his mind and at the end of the day he went mad. The last game with Czentovic led him to understand both of them were him so he would like to end up not only the chess game but also his life game that is also fake.

  • @renoesmaeilian9489
    @renoesmaeilian9489 3 роки тому

    I watch chess videos every night. It is very relaxing. It also brings some order to my usually chaotic days.

  • @Jbirdsprings
    @Jbirdsprings 3 роки тому

    Great review. You should take a look at Hans Fallada Every Man Dies Alone. It is based on real gestapo case wherein they hunted down someone who posted anti war post cards around Berlin in WWII.

  • @sdexplorer2062
    @sdexplorer2062 3 роки тому

    Great review! Random question, where can you get that chess set you showed at the beginning 0:21?

  • @rafaelvaidergorn1315
    @rafaelvaidergorn1315 3 роки тому

    There’s a brazillian author called Lima Barreto who wrote several short stories. Do yourself a favor and read just one: “A nova California”

  • @SabineThinkerbellum
    @SabineThinkerbellum 3 роки тому +2

    I just finished the book last week. It was a re-read and it just gets better and better.

  • @matthiasstaber9216
    @matthiasstaber9216 3 роки тому

    The world of yesterday next... Pleeeaaassseee

  • @angiedilaj
    @angiedilaj 3 роки тому +1

    I finally get three days off work to descend into this solitude of the arts. Oh yes...

  • @rockyscarlet
    @rockyscarlet 3 роки тому

    Hola señor Sargento, le recomiendo The time of the hero by Mario Vargas Llosa, es una novela emblemática de la literatura latinoamericana

  • @rainblaze.
    @rainblaze. 3 роки тому +1

    "I never have to leave the room, i have the internet"-- God i felt that
    By the way. It's not OCD you have but ADD

  • @senmurw4428
    @senmurw4428 3 роки тому

    your appearance reminded me of him

  • @DemeterTelphousia-Erinyes
    @DemeterTelphousia-Erinyes 3 роки тому

    An excellent read.

  • @afanasymarinov2236
    @afanasymarinov2236 3 роки тому +1

    Would you consider to review Pushkin's Eugene Onegin? Charles Johnston's translation into English is particularly beautiful. You may enjoy it. Spoiler alarm: the book contains foot fetish. An excerpt:
    From early on Cliff loved romances
    They were his only food... and so
    He fell in love with all the fancies
    Of Richardson and of Rousseau.

  • @dag-vidarbauer80
    @dag-vidarbauer80 3 роки тому

    You should absolutely read The world of yesterday

  • @Efesus67
    @Efesus67 3 роки тому

    Did Cliff just confess he gets ASMR with cheese?! Haha.

  • @ТимофейСвириденко-е9м

    Do you read Mo Yan ? If don't I really recommend you to read his works.
    It is the best China author who get Nobel in 2014.

  • @prayeressenceblood
    @prayeressenceblood Рік тому

    I have a theory, the slav chess champ can be lenin and Dr B. Can be Hitler maybe.

  • @cmco.8836
    @cmco.8836 3 роки тому +2

    Sounds like Oldboy but with chess instead of MMA

  • @AbrahamLincoln4
    @AbrahamLincoln4 3 роки тому +1

    Dude literally looks like Stefan Zwieg lol.

  • @ELGÜEROGERÓNIMO
    @ELGÜEROGERÓNIMO 3 роки тому

    You recommend books faster than I can read them. And I buy them faster than I read them too.

  • @MarianaCreme
    @MarianaCreme 3 роки тому

    great review as always, reminds me of queens gambit
    also just to let you know the nazis didn't take over england.

  • @athousandgreatbooks
    @athousandgreatbooks 3 роки тому

    The Bet by Chekhov

  • @bobcabot
    @bobcabot 3 роки тому

    ja the same old thing: life imitates art, but here it is even worse he committed suicide one day before the end of the WW2 ( in Exile...

  • @StopFear
    @StopFear 3 роки тому

    The people who have played chess more or less seriously for more than a year will probably realize that this book whose plot device is chess is written by someone who probably knew very little about chess.

  • @StopFear
    @StopFear 3 роки тому

    The book’s premise too ridiculous

  • @tomaslaskovsky722
    @tomaslaskovsky722 3 роки тому

    You look like Stefan Zweig, btw..

  • @killmrdarcy4367
    @killmrdarcy4367 3 роки тому

    What's so disturbing about this review is that this guy is an absolute dead ringer for Stefan Zweig!

  • @quitefranklyjosh
    @quitefranklyjosh Рік тому

    Yep, I agree with all those points. Didn't like it though... Just about as boring as the actual game of chess.

  • @jamessheridan4306
    @jamessheridan4306 2 роки тому

    You lost any hope of credibility with: "Gooooood afternoon..." Better than food, huh? Good luck with that.

  • @FHK1817
    @FHK1817 3 роки тому

    Sounds like the queens gambit

  • @eleniux8585
    @eleniux8585 2 роки тому

    You talk tooo fast not good at all

  • @nouriaasrorova8986
    @nouriaasrorova8986 Рік тому

    Talk about the novel pleas. Please zip it up.