The Luzhin Defense

Synopsis

Nabokov's third novel, the luzhin defense, is a chilling story of obsession and madness. As a young boy, luzhin was unattractive, distracted, withdrawn, sullen--an enigma to his parents and an object of ridicule to his classmates. He takes up chess as a refuge from the anxiety of his everyday life. His talent is prodigious and he rises to the rank of grandmaster--but at a cost: in luzhin' s obsessive mind, the game of chess gradually supplants the world of reality.