Uzrakstīts tā, ka lasītājs jūtas kā sapnī, sekojot līdzi Lužina gaitām. Par šahu grāmatā ir diezgan maz, bet tas mani neapbēdināja. Romāns vairāk ir par izcila cilvēka personību un dzīvi, par likteni slikteni utml. Autora tekstā pašā redzami tādi spēlīgi paņēmieni, kas atklāj arī viņa humora izjūtu. Labs gabals.

La vita vista su una scacchiera.
Vladimir Nabokov ci regala un'opera in cui il suo genio narrativo si intreccia con una riflessione ossessiva sull'alienazione e il fragile equilibrio della mente umana. Pubblicato nel 1930, il romanzo racconta la storia di Aleksandr Ivanovič Luzin, un bambino prodigio degli scacchi la cui straordinaria abilità strategica si trasforma lentamente in una prigione mentale, fino a farlo diventare un campione "perdente".
La trama, in apparenza semplice, esplora l'identità e la vulnerabilità di Luzin come durante una partita a scacchi. Egli è un antieroe: introverso, inetto nei rapporti umani e prigioniero delle proprie ossessioni. Nabokov ha una prosa impeccabile: cesella un ritratto che oscilla tra il comico e il tragico in un atmosfera labirintica. La società attorno a Luzin, incapace di comprenderlo o aiutarlo, contribuisce alla sua rovina, in questi casi si scorge un'eco di temi dostoevskiani, ma il tocco di Nabokov è più freddo, quasi entomologico.
Una lettura imprescindibile per gli amanti degli scacchi e della letteratura russa.

“E’ l’unica soluzione – disse – Devo uscire dal gioco.”

It’s Never Too Late for a Happy Childhood

A boy who doesn’t want to grow up; a mother who loses interest in him as he does; a father who writes an idealised version of the boy’s life in which he doesn’t; and an agent who values only his client’s youthfulness: clearly not the best conditions for psychic maturation; but hardly signs of abuse.

The boy finds his solace and calling in the game of chess: “everything apart from chess was an enchanting dream... Real life, chess life, was orderly, clear cut, and rich in adventure.” In this life he was safe and secure as well as internationally famous.

The death of the boy’s father, in some sense a sign of forced adulthood, is resisted. The boy won’t attend the funeral. Instead he falls in love, with a woman who possesses that

“mysterious ability in her soul to apprehend in life only that which had attracted and tormented her in childhood... to find constantly an intolerable and tender pity for the creature whose life is helpless and unhappy...”

A perfect match, therefore: she a compulsive caretaker; he the eternal child. Whether either or both is psychotic or merely neurotic when they meet is an open question.

What could possibly go wrong?

Marriage brings with it a new adult provider, the father-in-law, and a new tender carer in his wife. But it also brings something unfortunate, the recognition of the “full horror of the abysmal depths of chess.”

He has a breakdown. His wife and his doctor begin to explore his “dark period of spiritual blindness,” that is, his childhood. But it is clear to the reader that his condition is not the result of childhood trauma. Rather it is his desire to remain in a re-created childhood, free from the cares and sufferings of life outside of chess, and his fear of being removed from it, that is the cause of his distress.

Part of his therapy is complete isolation from chess. The wife knows it was necessary to find “some other interesting game.” But socialising, travel, typing, water-colouring can’t fill the chess-shaped hole in his soul. The result, of course, is that his highly functional life playing chess becomes a psychotic disaster in which he can no longer distinguish his life from the game that gave it meaning and coherence.

It’s often possible to detect who’s being helped through analysis by the haunted look in their eyes. Thank you Dr. Freud.

Nabokov is probably the most soporific of the classic Russian authors. Not exactly boring, but just like a calming sedative. It's the overtly flowery language I think, which is absolutely fine style wise, but doesn't ever seem to reach a clear point. It just lulls you as you try to stay on the thread of his story; he clearly has a turn of phrase or two in his pocket though.

But I mainly find it very difficult to read him because of his apparent refusal to have anything approaching character development in his novels. A sweeping statement I know, but also true.

I didn't like any of the characters in this novel, and that's not always a bad thing, but I didn't like them because they were bland, two dimensional ciphers, not because they were unlikeable. I don't know if we were supposed to feel sympathy for Mrs Luzhin, I ended up wanting to tell her to get a life. And the main character was literally dripping off the pages into a weak puddle at my feet.

I'm fairly certain that Luzhin does what he does at the end of this book as a way of escaping his wife and the universe of the story. If he didn't take that drastic action Nabokov would have droned on about him for a few thousand more non-eventful pages and really, that would be hard to take for anyone.

Chess was my drug of choice in college. I started small, played chess on dates. But the boys always had something else in mind. Then, I met my partner. She lived down the hall and played a mean game. We soon were going at it multiple times a week until our wins evened off. That kills good play. So, we went on to pinball. Playing hard in the dormitory basement. When that started to take over, I knew I was obsessive. Knowing you have the trait isn't a cure but it helps. It makes you stay away from what's illegal or harmful to your health. When you can't love a little, only a lot, you have to protect yourself.

Now, Luzhin's guard is always up from when he was a shy child. His defensive game makes him a winner at chess. But what will happen when he has to stop playing?

Nabokov proves he is a storyteller with The Luzhin's Defense. I recommend it even for those who don't play chess, pinball, or have that obsessive gene.

Non ho altro da aggiungere su questo romanzo, tutta l’analisi essenziale e necessaria l’ha già fatta Nabokov nella Prefazione, che vi consiglio di leggere a fine romanzo.
Che personalità questo Nabokov! Sono felice di averla conosciuta con questo suo romanzo “sconosciuto” piuttosto che con i suoi più gettonati, mi sono fatta un’idea precisa del suo carattere, del suo ego, della sua volontà e della sua innegabile abilità di scrittore.
Un romanzo dalla costruzione scacchistica, come ci si aspetterebbe dal tema, una bellissima partita ricca di dinamismo che ricalca l’ultima giocata (e abbandonata) dal protagonista Luzin.

The Luzhin Defense, Vladimir Nabokov

The Luzhin Defense is the third novel written by Vladimir Nabokov during his emigration to Berlin, published in 1930. The plot concerns the title character, Aleksandr Ivanovich Luzhin.

As a boy, he is considered unattractive, withdrawn, and an object of ridicule by his classmates. One day, when a guest comes to his father's party, he is asked whether he knows how to play chess.

This encounter serves as his motivation to pick up chess. He skips school and visits his aunt's house to learn the basics. He quickly becomes a great player, enrolling in local competitions and rising in rank as a chess player.

His talent is prodigious and he attains the level of a Grandmaster in less than ten years. For many years, he remains one of the top chess players in the world, but fails to become a world champion. ...

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز نخست ماه آگوست سال 2006 میلادی

عنوان: دفاع لوژین؛ نویسنده: ولادیمیر ناباکف؛ مترجم: رضا رضایی؛ تهران، کارنامه، 1384؛ در 334ص؛ شابک 9644310519؛ چاپ دوم 1393؛ در 342ص؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان روسیه - سده 20م

این رمان راجع به شخصیت خیالی لوژین (با نام کامل آلکساندر ایوانوویچ) استاد روس تبار شطرنج است، که در چهارده فصل روایت می‌شود؛ بخش عمدهٔ داستان، ماجراهای زندگی او در سی سالگی را روایت می‌کند، و چند فصل ابتدایی نیز به کودکی او می‌پردازد.؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 13/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

2,4

از ناشناخته‌ها، از غافلگیر شدن به تکرار فرار می‌کنی اما تکرار آدم‌ رو می‌کشه.

Dazzling moments among amateur hour

2.5 stars--which is shocking for Nabokov (my all-time favorite author)--but it's an early novel he didn't bother to have it translated to English until his 60s, which tells most of the story. Sadly, he didn't really know how to construct a novel--at least this one.

The language and descriptions are gorgeous--not as consistently as his later work, and frequently little control--ie, sense of how much is enough. Descriptors that would be a line in a later work go on for paragraphs or pages. Just not that interesting, and not the point--more like reading through all his notes, a very rough first draft. (The thumbnail sketches of minor characters are extraordinary, though. Over and over, he nails them in a single line. I actually wrote them down. You could teach a class installment on them.)

The big problem, though, is the story. Not much of one. Or not very interesting much of the time. There are about 20 brilliant, riveting, just genius pages around the center (I'm avoiding spoilers on the plot point), and that's it. It was really tedious leading up to that, and hard to trudge through. Then I was thrilled that I'd made it, though the novel had really opened up, but it was brief. After the big plot point, it's REALLY banal. Turns into kind of a New Yorker short story of annoying in-laws and tedious domestic life--but with the protagonist inert, and barely there. No interesting characters, doing nothing much of interest, all for us to watch the inert protagonist warm up glacially to maybe do something eventually.

And frankly, it feels like stalling. Over a hundred pages, and there's just one simple idea, repeated endlessly--stalling, stalling, overtly stalling--to get there, to not much of anything.

You could make a good case for this as a stunning short story, if you cut 250 pages that don't really work. Or, I'd REALLY love it as a novel, but this feels like a very early draft, with the kernel of an amazing idea, but he hasn't figured out what to do with it yet.

Looking back--while I was still just out of the good stuff, hoping the muddling part would pass quickly--I thought about the 100-plus page lead-up to the good part. No, you couldn't just hack that off and start around page 120, because the backstory--or some of it--really established this character. (Hmmmmmm. I wonder, though. You maybe could have started there, and just plunged us int.) Regardless, though, all this might be necessary, but Nabokov needed to figure out some STORY to take us through all that. Something interesting to keep us turning more than 100 pages. He didn't.

Also, there were some shocking amateur elements throughout. The point of view was a mess. There was something very cool and intentional about the shifts, but they were really awkward and felt...amateur. We'd be on Luzhin and just drift to his wife. They felt sloppy and unintentional. (And starting with page 1, where it was very unclear which Luzhin we were experiencing this from, and which Luzhin was which (son or dad). It opened on the son, but we were getting the parents' POV. Incredibly confusing, and not in a way that felt intentional, or that served any purpose. Just sloppy.

Later, there were also jarring shifts in time. There was a really jarring passage midway, where the wife was thinking what it would be like for Luzhin to meet her mom (for multiple pages!) and the thought was interpreted by the first meeting, already underway. We'd jumped ahead a few days, with the author forgetting to get us there. I went back over and over it: not a device, clearly just a mistake. Shocking that he didn't correct this. Amateur.

Definitely worth reading if you're a writer or hardcore Nabokov fan, to witness his evolution as a writer. He's already showing so much brilliance, but desperately needs an editor, and a lot more work. He's still learning how.

“Oyundan çıxmaq lazımdı!”
Şahmat oyununa izaholunmaz ehtirasla aludə olan bir insanın həyatından bəhs edən bu maraqlı hekayəni oxumaq mənə necə də zövq verdi. Söhbət Nabokov`un “ Lujın müdafiəsi” əsərindən gedir. Bu yazı, kitaba rəydən daha çox təəssürat xarakteri daşıyan bir icmal olacaq. Bəlkə də əsər mənimçün şəxsi xarakter daşıdı, bilmirəm. İş orasındadır ki, hekayənin poetikliyi qəlbimi fəth etdi və mən Nabokova aşıq oldum. Onun düşünmə tərzinə, ifadə tərzinə aşıq oldum. Oxuduğum əsər klassika və müasirliyin vəhdəti olub özündə emosiyaları, cəmiyyət problemlərini və kədərli olsa da tragediyanı birləşdirirdi.
Əsərin baş qəhrəmanı olan Lujın autizm sindromundan əziyyət çəkir və bu, bütün həyatı boyu onun reallıqla barışa bilməməsinə, illuziyalarda yaşamağı seçməsinə səbəb olur. Heç kimin pozmağa icazə verilmədiyi ciddi qanunlara uyğun yaşamaq – həyat onun üçün şahmat lövhəsinə çevrilir. Ancaq real dünya özünü illüziyalarla ondan kənarlaşdıran hər kəsdən amansızcasına qisas alır. Hətta sevgi də burda gücsüz qalır. Lujın insanları - sosial çərçivəyə sığmayanları birləşdirən bir obrazdır. Çaşqın və sadəlövh belə Lujın hər birimizin içində yaşayır. Biz də bu anlaşılmaz, dəyişkən dünyanı necə qaydaya salacağımız axtarışındayıq. Lujınlərə heç yerdə yer yoxdur - nə fantaziyalarda, nə də reallıqda. Bu cür fərqli insanlara ətrafda insan qayğısı, düzgün, layiqli rəftar, zəriflik yoxdur. Ancaq lazımsız mərhəmət hissi, acınacaqlı sevgi və təhrif edilmiş şəfqət.
Lujın dahidir, lakin həyata uyğunlaşa bilməyən dahidir. O, Şahmat gedişləri ilə fikirləşir, adi həyatda da oyun lövhəsindəki fiqurlar ilə hərəkət edir və Lujin rahatlıq tapmadığı, heç yerdə gizlənə bilmədiyi bu möhtəşəm oyunun təsirinə düşərək yorulur. Çıxış yolunu tapa bilmədikdə isə “oyundan çıxmağa” qərar verir. Sözün əsl mənasında onun oynadığı oyunun sonu gəlib çatır. Lujının məhs bu cür müdafiə seçməsini böyük təəssüf və kədər hissi ilə qəbul etməli oldum.

...”Onun axtardığı - sadəlik, ahəngdar sadəlik, ən çətin sehrdən belə daha çox təəccübləndirən sadəlik idi.”

Niestety strasznie mnie meczy styl pisania i nic nie rozumiem. Jest dziwnie i wręcz groteskowo