The story of chess/象棋的故事

This book is the last novel by Austrian writer Zweig and is also his famous masterpiece. On the surface, the novel tells the story of an amateur chess player defeating the world chess champion. In fact, it tells the story of the torture and destruction of the human soul by Nazi fascism. This amateur chess player had almost never played real chess because he accidentally stole a chess book when he was under fascist supervision. Since then, this book has become his only spiritual sustenance. He studied chess books crazily, and even split into two selves playing chess in his mind. In this work, Zweig truly presents the psychological changes that occur when the body is imprisoned and the spiritual life is deprived.

本书是奥地利作家茨威格最后一篇小说, 也是其著名代表作。小说表面讲述了一位业余国际象棋手击败国际象棋世界冠军的故事, 实际上讲诉了纳粹法西斯对人心灵的折磨及摧残。这位业余国际象棋手, 几乎没碰过真正的象棋, 只因他在被法西斯监管时, 偶然偷了一本棋书, 此后这本书变成了他唯一的精神寄托。他疯狂研究棋书, 甚至精神分裂出两个自我在脑中对弈。在这部作品中, 茨威格真实呈现了人在肉体被禁锢、精神生活被剥夺后产生的心理变化。