Zugzwang: A Novel
Written by Ronan Bennett
Narrated by Stephen Lang
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Zugzwang: A chess term used to describe a position in which a player is reduced to utter helplessness-he is obliged to move, but every move serves to make his position even worse.
The year is 1914, and St. Petersburg is spellbound by the international chess championship, even as the city seethes with revolutionary plots. One blustery April day, a respected newspaper editor is murdered in front of a shocked crowd. Five days later, Dr. Otto Spethmann, the celebrated psychoanalyst, receives a visit from the police. There has been another murder in the city-and somehow he is implicated. The doctor is mystified and deeply worried, as much for his young, spirited daughter as for himself.
Meanwhile, he finds himself preoccupied by two new patients: Anna Petrovna, a society beauty plagued by nightmares with whom he is inappropriately falling in love, and the troubled genius Rozental, a brilliant but fragile chess master on the verge of a complete breakdown. As Dr. Spethmann is drawn deeper into the murderous intrigue, he finds that he, his patients, and his daughter may all be pawns in a game larger in scope than anything he could have imagined. Thrilling, romantic, and rife with intrigue both on the chessboard and off, Zugzwang is a masterpiece of literary suspense.
Ronan Bennett
Ronan Bennett grew up in Belfast. He is the author of four novels: The Second Prison, Overthrown by Strangers, The Catastrophist (shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award), and Havoc, in Its Third Year (longlisted for the Booker Award). He has also written screenplays for film and television. He lives in London with his family.
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Reviews for Zugzwang
73 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Zugzwang is a term used in chess to describe a position in which a player is reduced to a state of utter helplessness. He is obliged to move, but every makes his position worse.This book is set in 1914 pre-revolution St. Petersburg where Dr. Otto Spethmann is a prominent psychoanalyst and widower living a comfortable life with his daughter, Catherine. Otto is apolitical but when a newspaper editor is murdered in broad daylight and an apparent car accident turns out to be a murder he is drawn into a world of political manoeuvring and intrigue when his business card is found on one of the victims. The novel's action takes place over a few days' time, during which Spethmann meets a bewildering array of characters ranging from police officers and undercover agents of the Interior ministry to Bolshevik party activists and oligarchs with their own ulterior motives.Meanwhile Otto's personal life is undergoing a major upheaval life due to two of his patients. One Anna Petrovna, a married woman with whom he is falling in love with and developing an unprofessional relationship. The other, Avrom Rozental, a Jewish chess master, visiting the city from Poland for a major chess tournament. Rozental is on the verge of a mental breakdown and fixated on his up-coming matches but for some reason the police seem to be unduly interested in his movements.Zugzwang is a thriller that centres on the choices that Otto must make as he and his daughter are buffeted by forces that are far out of their control. All the choices they make seem to put them more and more at personal risk.Running throughout the book is a long-running chess game played between Otto and a friend. Otto contemplates the moves and counter moves that his opponents will play. As events in the novel heat up, so does the chess game. This is a side dish that will no doubt thrill chess enthusiasts but should not be enough to put off non-players from enjoying this novel. I found it well written and fast paced with plenty of twists and turns (a few too many for my taste) but if I'm honest it didn't have enough about it to really stand out from the crowd.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5A bit weird!