Vladimir Nabokov's early novel is the dazzling story of the coarse, strange yet oddly endearing chess-playing genius Luzhin.
Discovering his prodigious gift in boyhood and rising to the rank of International Grandmaster, Luzhin develops a lyrical passion for chess that renders the real world a phantom. As he confronts the fiery, swift-swooping Italian Grandmaster Turati, he brings into play his carefully devised defence. Making masterly play of metaphor and imagery, The Defense is the book that, of his early works, Nabokov felt 'contains and diffuses the greatest warmth'.
| ISBN: | 9780241720486 |
| Publication date: | 30th January 2025 |
| Author: | Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov |
| Publisher: | Penguin Classics an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 192 pages |
| Genres: |
Classic fiction: general and literary Board games: Chess Narrative theme: Health and illness Narrative theme: Interior life Fiction in translation |