Chapter 14 Summary

The Soviet visitor is gone, but her abhorrent political opinions still trouble the wife's mind. She knows that the woman is wrongheaded, but she's at a loss to explain why. Before now, she has unthinkingly subscribed to her parents' politics. The wife notes that her husband has returned to his original sullen self. She wonders whether or not politics would prove an interesting diversion.

The wife subscribes to several Russian newspapers, both émigré and Soviet. She worries that, since many of the papers have chess sections, they might catalyze a bad dynamic in Luzhin, but decides not to edit them. Unbeknown to his wife, Luzhin takes great interest in these articles, memorizing them at a glance and pondering them in his mind as his wife reads aloud editorials.

The wife is bored by the newspapers. The émigré publications are diverse and vitriolic, but...