1836: I Became a Literary Giant in Great Britain

Chapter 145 The Pinnacle of Psychological Novels

Dickens looked at the title thoughtfully.

Chess?

Then this is indeed a game.

In fact, chess is a very popular form of entertainment in London today.

It has moved from being an aristocratic pastime to becoming a popular activity among the middle class.

London alone has over fifty chess clubs.

Even almost all mainstream cafes in London have chess tables.

I just don't know what kind of story could make Michelle think chess is so terrible?

With this expectation, Dickens and Michael stood together and began reading.

His expression changed quickly.

Although he originally recognized Michel's talent, and could even be said to admire him to some extent.

However, Dickens did not have high expectations for Michel's work.

After all, in his opinion, something written so quickly still lacked polish in terms of details.

As a writer, he was well aware that the first draft and the final version were two different things.

But Dickens's expression changed after reading only the first paragraph.

In those bright eyes, there flickered an indescribable surprise.

It was not as rough as I had imagined.

Michelle's writing is concise, precise, and full of power.

Every word was used perfectly, and every sentence seemed to have been carefully crafted.

Although the story unfolds at a leisurely pace, it captivates the reader from the very beginning.

Michelle's story tells of how "I" met a chess champion by chance on a ship traveling from London to Dover.

Although this champion is cold and greedy, he has an exceptional talent for chess.

They have received numerous honors.

He accepted a chess challenge on the ship for a high price.

The story unfolds from there.

"My God..."

""

Michael couldn't help but let out a soft gasp.

As an editor, he reads a large number of manuscripts every day and can tell at a glance whether they are good or bad.

The writing skills in this manuscript are truly masterful.

Many people could spend a lifetime revising their writing and still not achieve the same level of quality as what Michel has written now...

In his opinion, this could never have been written in a hurry!

However, the facts are right before our eyes.

They watched as these words flowed from Michelle's fingertips in a short period of time.

The manuscript paper is still warm...

But how is that possible?

This completely overturned their common sense.

The two exchanged a shocked look, both seeing the same emotion on each other's faces.

Why does God love Michelle so much?

Meanwhile, the typewriter was still clicking away.

The new storyline is almost finished.

Dickens and Michael practically pounced on him, waiting for Michelle to finish.

They were completely captivated by the story and couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

So Michelle had barely put down the second stack of papers when the two of them eagerly snatched them away.

The story progresses to the point where the crew on the ship work together to fight against the chess champion, but suffer repeated defeats.

Who can defeat this chess champion?

The suspense reached its peak at this moment.

Just when everyone was at a loss, a mysterious stranger, Dr. B, appeared.

While it's said that a true gentleman observes chess without speaking, what does this have to do with Great Britain?

Dr. B simply offered a casual suggestion, and the game was immediately turned around, forcing the arrogant chess champion to a draw.

Clearly, this is a top-tier player in the field of chess.

But the story ends abruptly here.

"What happens next? What happens next?"

Dickens could no longer contain himself and pressed Michel for an answer.

He looks exactly the same way he did when he was urging for more updates to "A Study in Scarlet".

"Don't rush, Charles."

Michelle didn't turn her head; her fingers continued flying across the typewriter.

"The real show is just beginning."

The sound of the typewriter continued to echo in the living room.

Like a tireless and powerful heart, it infuses this newly born story with a continuous stream of life force.

Dickens and Michelle no longer cared about gentlemanly conduct.

It's great! I love watching it! I want to watch it again!

They were like two fledglings, eagerly waiting to be fed, huddled around Michelle's typewriter.

Awaiting the unfolding of a new chapter.

Every time a sheet of paper filled with writing comes out, it sparks a small scramble.

Catherine, on the other hand, sat quietly to the side.

She didn't rush to read the manuscripts; she simply watched the focused young man and the almost frantic expressions on her husband's and friend's faces.

She suddenly felt as if she were witnessing the birth of a great work.

As the story unfolds, Dr. B's long-buried past is gradually revealed.

The story then shifts its focus from the bustling ship deck to a secret room somewhere in Europe.

It turns out that Dr. B was imprisoned in a secret room because he had clues about a huge fortune belonging to a European royal family.

It was a prison isolated from the world.

There was no interrogation, no torture, no sound, nothing to read or anything to commit suicide with.

There were only four white walls, a bed, a chair, a washbasin, and a sealed-off window.

And the eternal nothingness that can drive people mad.

Extremely limited space, and infinite time ——————

Dr. B would be called out for interrogation only every so often.

When Dickens read this passage, he got goosebumps.

He subconsciously glanced around.

A warm and comfortable living room, flames dancing in the fireplace, decorative paintings on the walls, books on the bookshelves...

All of this is perfectly ordinary.

He never imagined what a horrific scene it would be to be stripped of all this.

This is not physical torture, but a far more cruel form of mental torment.

The cruelty of this torture probably far exceeds that of physical punishment.

"A demon... This is simply the work of a demon..."

"7

Michael's voice trembled slightly, and his face turned deathly pale.

He simply couldn't imagine how a person could remain rational in that kind of environment.

Michelle's story provided them with the answer.

Several months have passed, and Dr. B is on the verge of collapse, at any moment.

There's always a way out.

But during one of his interrogations, he accidentally stole a chess manual.

That thin booklet became his only lifeline in that endless void.

Dr. B originally knew nothing about chess, but in order to combat the torment of this emptiness...

He began to study chess intensely, memorizing chess scores.

At first, he simply used breadcrumbs instead of chess pieces.

Later on, he could even play chess in his mind using an imaginary chessboard and pieces!

Chess, this ancient and rational game, became his only weapon against nihilism.

It provided a refuge for his crumbling mental world.

"Genius! This is truly a brilliant idea!"

Dickens couldn't help but applaud in admiration.

He was completely captivated by Michel's bizarre imagination.

Use a purely intellectual game to combat a purely mental torment.

The tension in this story is so intense that just thinking about it sends chills down your spine.

But soon, Dickens's admiration turned into a deeper fear.

Because this weapon gradually turned into an even more solid prison.

A prison for the mind!

After Dr. B had thoroughly memorized all the chess records, he began to play against himself in his mind.

I, a white player, am playing against a black player.

This mental split drove him into an even more terrifying madness.

He was poisoned by a kind of ideological poison.

He was sometimes lucid, sometimes manic, engaging in an endless battle of chess in his own mental world.

Finally, he completely broke down, and during one episode, he strangled himself and was taken to the hospital.

Everyone thought he had gone mad, and Dr. B was thus released.

""

The living room was deathly silent.

The sound of the typewriter had stopped sometime earlier.

Michelle has finished the final part of the story.

Dickens' chest heaved violently, his face filled with shock.

This story is a profound analysis of a person's soul.

The extreme psychological terror it exhibits was something Dickens had never experienced in any of the works he had read.

There is no bloodshed, no violence, and no ghosts.

But the chill that seeps out from the words is enough to make one's soul tremble.

At the same time, he also noticed the extensive use of psychological descriptions by Michel in the story.

His intuition told him that there was something entirely new in this.

"This...this is more than just a novel..."

Dickens' voice was hoarse, and when he looked up at Michelle, his gaze had completely changed.

It's no longer an appreciation between friends, nor is it a eulogy for genius.

It was a sense of awe, even mixed with a hint of fear.

How did he come up with such a horrible story...?

"This is a report on how the human spirit has been imprisoned and destroyed."

Michael slumped into his chair, remaining silent for a long time.

He felt as if his brain had been hit by a heavy object, and it was buzzing.

This goes beyond the scope of contemporary literature.

It directly addresses the weaknesses of human nature.

Just reading it sent chills down his spine.

Michelle...

""

Michael finally came to his senses and asked with difficulty.

"How...how did you come up with all this?"

Michelle stood up from the typewriter and stretched her somewhat stiff fingers.

Looking at his friend's distraught appearance, he secretly marveled at the power of Zweig's writing.

This is indeed a case of overwhelming force.

Zweig's novel should be considered a psychological novel.

Using the best psychological novels of the 20th century to challenge the literary world of the 19th century, which was still in the realist stage, would undoubtedly have a devastating effect.

In fact, psychological novels have existed for a long time.

Both Rousseau's "Confessions" and Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther" can be considered prototypes.

But it wasn't until Stendhal's *The Red and the Black*, Balzac's works, and Flaubert's *Madame Bovary* that the psychological novel in its true sense was born.

These works began to meticulously depict the characters' desires, vanity, struggles, and hypocrisy, analyzing the psychological motivations behind their behavior.

Of course, the formal appearance of this term may not be until a century later.

The true maturity, or even the pinnacle, of psychological fiction didn't arrive until Dostoevsky's *Crime and Punishment* and *The Brothers Karamazov*.

By then, psychological novels began to delve into deeper themes such as guilt, conscience, religious anxiety, and schizophrenic conflict.

Psychological novels have since reached the pinnacle of depth.

"I just..."

""

Michelle thought about it and carefully considered her choice of words.

"I was just thinking, what happens when a person is stripped of everything except their thoughts?"

"Will his thoughts become his heaven or his hell?"

Is it heaven or hell?

This question lingered in the minds of Dickens and Michael for a long time.

They looked at the thick stack of manuscripts on the table, as if they were seeing more than just a story.

Rather, it is a soul trapped in a cage, struggling in agony.

This also gave Dickens and Michael a lot to think about.

After much deliberation, Dickens made a new judgment.

"What you wrote is a lament of a soul imprisoned, which is very different from our existing literature."

"But some of these elements are also reflected in your previous works, such as 'Sleepy' and 'Sorrow'."

"But in this story, your style is taken to its extreme..."

'

Michael nodded vigorously to the side, completely agreeing with Dickens' assessment.

This novel, titled "The Story of Chess," has completely exceeded their understanding of literature.

It's like a sharp blade, precisely dissecting the most vulnerable and darkest side of the human spirit, and then coldly showing it to them.

"I've never read a novel like this before," Michael added.

"It made me feel...fear. Not fear of the European royalty who imprisoned Dr. B in the story, but fear of the power of the human mind itself."

It turns out that a person's thoughts can be both a fortress against despair and the most terrible prison that confines them.

Michelle looked at their deeply shocked expressions and felt a pang of emotion herself.

As expected of Zweig, and as expected of "The Royal Game".

This immortal masterpiece, even after a century, continues to captivate readers with its profound insights and powerful appeal.

"What happened next? What became of Dr. B?"

Catherine couldn't help but press for an answer, her voice tinged with reluctance.

Michelle smiled and handed over the last page she had just finished typing.

At the end of the story, Dr. B plays chess against the champion on a ship.

With the pure and exquisite chess skills he had honed in prison, he easily defeated the arrogant chess champion.

However, in the second game, when the chess champion deliberately stalled for time, Dr. B could not bear the torment of waiting.

After mentally considering countless possibilities, I once again fell into that frenzied state of self-confrontation.

He fell ill...

Finally, reminded by a friend, he suddenly realized that he was deeply addicted to chess, calmly gave up the competition, and also gave up chess altogether.

He finally broke free from the mental prison he had built for himself.

After reading the ending, the three people in the living room all breathed a long sigh of relief, as if they had been freed from their burdens.

"Thank God, he was saved in the end," Catherine said softly.

Dickens shook his head, his expression remaining solemn.

No, he cannot be saved.

"He has only learned how to coexist with his inner demons. But that scar will forever remain in the deepest part of his soul."

He looked up and examined Michelle with a completely new gaze.

"Michelle, you must publish this story."

Dickens's voice was full of excitement.

He resumed his dramatic speaking style.

"If A Study in Scarlet ushered in an age of reason, then The Story of Chess will lead us into a completely new realm."

"The abyss of the mind!"

"The human mind is in no way inferior to the external world..."

""

Michelle nodded in agreement.

He truly deserves to be called one of the top writers of this era; he has grasped the essence of this work in a short period of time.

Of course, he had to publish this work.

It's time to give the British people, who are obsessed with wish-fulfillment novels, a change of pace...

Thus, it wasn't just Dickens and his companions who were shocked; the citizens of London the following day were also greatly impressed...