| Title | : | The World Played Chess |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1542029384 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781542029384 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 400 |
| Publication | : | First published September 14, 2021 |
The World Played Chess Reviews
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The World Played Chess
Robert Dugoni (Author, Narrator), Todd Haberkorn (Narrator)
Summer of 1979, Vincent Bianco's eighteenth year, the summer before college, he does construction work along side two Vietnam vets. He plans to spend his time off goofing around with his buddies, getting drunk, seeing some of them for the last time. But William Goodman, twelve years older than Vincent, changes Vincent, changes how he sees that summer and how he sees things later in life. William is unraveling, was already unraveled, and although he'd written a diary during his time in the service, he'd stopped writing it when he couldn't put the things he saw and did on paper anymore. It's been bottled up inside of him and for that summer, Vincent becomes William's verbal diary.
In 2016, Vincent receives a parcel from William, with no return address. Inside the parcel is William's diary that he started in 1967 and William asks Vincent to read the diary in order, as it was written. In the diary are William's thoughts and feelings and later some of his horror, although there was no way William could put it all down on paper or even really think about what he'd seen and done. The war transformed William and it would never leave his mind, He thought he'd crushed it all down where it couldn't hurt him but instead it ate him from the inside out.
When Vincent gets the parcel, he's a husband, father of two, and his own son is eighteen and heading to college. He knows that the things his son thinks are important right now pale against the tragedies of the war William faced, and the tragedies of the life ahead, the kinds of loss an eighteen year old thinks won't happen to him, at least not for a very, very long time. William's story teaches us and warns us, there is dumb luck, there is luck we make ourselves, there are things that will happen that will change us forever. The story told here is important and I appreciate how far Dugoni took the story, I don't feel like I was hanging, wanting more, at the end. I think that Dugoni did William justice and I appreciate all that we learn from William and all that we learn about him.
Pub September 14th 2021 by Brilliance Audio
This is a KU selection. -
I’m a huge fan of Robert Dugoni, his Tracy Crosswhite series but especially The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. This book is another standalone. It follows the lives of three 18 year old men at different time periods. William, starting in 1967 when he enlists in the Marines and is sent to Vietnam; Vincent, in 1976 when he meets William, and Beau, Vincent’s son, in 2016, when Vincent receives William’s journal from his years as a Marine.
Dugoni does a fabulous job of putting us in the time and place of the war in Vietnam and I learned how a whole group of phrases involving the word sh** came about. I was often hit with the parallels between the war in Vietnam and the one in Afghanistan. War is always hell, but a war where you’re the foreigner, the outsider, the unknown seems worse.
It’s an important point that none of us ever know how much time we have left. “Growing old is a privilege, not a right.” The boys in Vietnam had to learn it a lot earlier than most of us.
As is so often the case with books that have multiple storylines, I was most drawn to William’s. Vincent’s story seems mostly designed to forward William’s story ten years after his stint in the war. Beau, the son of privilege, also discovers at an early age that a long life isn’t a given. The book tended to slow down when it shifted away from Williams’s direct story and a part of me wondered if it would have worked better if it had only focused on him.
The ending bowled me over. And make sure to read the Acknowledgments. They go a long way to explaining what led to the book and the research involved.
Dugoni makes some interesting points about religion, friendship and responsibility. He puts to lie the idea that there are no atheists in foxholes. This would make an interesting book club selection. Lake Union obviously thought the same as they were smart enough to include discussion questions.
My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance copy of this book. -
The title phrase in Robert Dugoni’s The World Played Chess is a take-off on the old saying “You are playing checkers while they are playing chess”. In other words, you are playing a more simple game while the world is involved in a strategic, complicated game. This title is so appropriate since this book focuses on three time periods, all involving 18-year-old boys, just at the brink of manhood.
The story begins in 2015 when Vincent Bianco, a happily married lawyer with an 18-year old son and a 16-year-old daughter, receives a journal in the mail from William Goodman. William had written the journal in 1968 when he was an 18-year-old Marine serving in Vietnam. William knew that Vincent had dreamed of being a writer and thought the journal might aid him in writing an owner’s manual for young men.
Vincent met William in the summer of 1979 when they worked together for a contractor doing home remodels. Vincent had just graduated from high school and thought he was invincible. William, who had lost his faith during the war, was suffering from PTSD. Vincent received the education of a lifetime from William that summer and again when reading the journal. These lessons are now passed on from Vincent to his own son.
The journal gives the reader an authentic Vietnam experience that is chilling. The antics of the 18-year olds in 1979 are all too relatable as are the tough choices Vincent must make for his own son.
5-stars for this very moving story. I recommend this book to Book Clubs, to parents, to anyone interested in learning about life as a soldier in Vietnam, and to manly-men fiction readers. -
Vietnam is real......
No one transcribes the human element as well as Robert Dugoni. He takes the complexities of the inner workings of his characters and lays them all out: bare, brutal, and extremely telling. The World Played Chess is a remarkable work of parallels. Dugoni offers his readers the realities of what constitutes an eighteen year old in 1967, 1979, and 2015. Age is a number. Nothing prepares you for where it takes you in the prime of your youth......somewhere into the unspeakable and somewhere into the darkness of the mundane.
Vincent (Vincenzo) Bianco is a successful California lawyer. Dugoni wraps him in the regrets he is now experiencing for the path not taken. We've all been there. In his youth, he wished to become a journalist. Writing was his passion. But Law became an alternate life course. He and his wife, Elizabeth, now have two children, Mary Beth and Beau. It's 2015 and Beau is approaching his senior year in high school and perusing colleges and careers. And this junction brings back memories for Vincent in his own senior year and graduation in 1979.
Sometimes the presence of something tangible lifts us from one present mental situation to a locked-in memory from the past. And this is what occurs when Vincent receives a package containing a beat-up leather journal from so long ago. Vincent already knows that its contents will be heavier than anything he has ever encountered before.
Robert Dugoni takes us back to that Summer of 1979. Vincent has secured a job after graduation at a construction site in order to save money for community college. The impact of 1979 will have more of a far-reaching impact on Vincent than he could ever have imagined. It's here that Vincent meets William Goodman and Todd Pearson, both Vietnam Vets. Just from their appearances and early interactions, Vincent knows that these are men with damaged souls.
William is at the center of this intricate circle while Vincent will relay the telling in slow, jagged attempts with his own simple voice. But the weight and the heaviness is with William. (Oh, how I wish that William's story would have been linear in nature. It deserved a book of its own.) Dugoni's intent is to compare and contrast what was layed at the feet of most eighteen year olds in times of war, in times of prosperity.
William's journal is one of the most pressing examples of a young man's plunging into the nightmare of the Vietnam War. A call to duty as war often is. A call that still resounds today. There was never a word or phrase that likely described what these young individuals experienced before, during, and after. PTSD doesn't even adequately nail it. There was no time to process in the thick of this combat in jungle warfare. "Running into a wall over and over again until you knock yourself out." The toll in lives lost and the toll in youth squandered in war.....
The World Played Chess is a must read. Dugoni has done a stellar job in presenting the lives of these men. Be sure to read his Acknowledgements at the end which gives more insight into his writing. We'll never fully comprehend the horrors experienced in war unless we've been there. And we should be hellbent on preventing just that. The World Played Chess does give us pause. I shutter to think of the price being paid out still in generation after generation to come.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to the highly talented Robert Dugoni for the opportunity. -
I found the religious propaganda to be offensive; otherwise, I would have given this book a rating of five. Except for that propaganda, this is a brilliant book.
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The novel features three young men all turning 18 in the years 1967, 1979 and 2015. All looking forward to college and starting the journey to become men. But they will all have very different journeys.
In 1979, Vincent Bianco, newly graduated from high school has landed himself a summer job working on a house extension with two Vietnam vets. He becomes close to one of the men, 30 y old William who is clearly suffering from PTSD, a condition not yet recognised or treated. In his senior year at high school William had an athletic scholarship lined up for college, but an injury saw it disappear and instead he was drafted to Vietnam, enlisting in the Marines. As they work together Vincent listened as William shared some of his stories about his time in Vietnam and what it was like to be an eighteen year old in the midst of so much death and killing. The third eighteen year old in the novel is Vincent’s son Beau, who has had a safe, carefree childhood with a loving family but will have to grow up quickly when tragedy strikes.
In 2015, William is cleaning out his house when he finds the journal that he kept in Vietnam and sends it to William as thanks for listening to him all those years ago. It is mostly through extracts from the journal that we learn of his time there, told in parallel with Vincent’s summer working with William and his own son’s senior year in college.
William’s journal makes for pretty gritty reading. It makes me feel pretty guilty that we (Australia as well as the US) sent these young men into such horrific conditions expecting them to kill and potentially be killed for reasons that they didn’t really understand or even agree with. As in William’s case, we also didn’t do enough to support them and acknowledge what they had been through when they returned home traumatised and shaken from their experiences.
In the afterword Dugoni describes how the novel is partly based on his own experience working on a construction site with two Vietnam vets during his summer breaks, when their stories opened his own eyes to the world. Before writing the book, he researched the experience of soldiers in Vietnam through watching documentaries, reading first-hand accounts, as well as articles and military papers and consulted with a friend who served in Vietnam over the correct terms and weapons. This attention to detail makes the passages in Vietnam ring true and the nightmare the men endured feel so real. The lessons William learns in Vietnam about mateship, love, endurance and faith he passes on to Vincent who in turn will try to pass them on to his son to help him through a tough time in his life. Although the book is a tough one to read, it is sensitively told and had me totally engaged with William’s story.
With many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for a copy to read -
"Regret is so much harder to live with than failure."
1979 - Vincent Bianco has graduated from high school and is working as a laborer for a construction crew with two Vietnam Vets. It is a summer before college, he hopes to earn beer money, what he earns instead is a friend, William, with PTSD who will have an impact on his life.
1967 - William enlists in the Marines after high school. He is 18 years old and on his way to Vietnam. He hopes to be a journalist and due to his shooting abilities is sent to fight armed with a gun and a camera to take pictures. He is given the name "shutter" by his fellow marines.
2016 - Vincent received William's journal in the mail. The arrival of the journal has him looking back to 1979 and his friendship with William. Vincent has a son named Beau who plays football and will be off to college soon. His son also has him looking to the future.
Three young men are depicted in this book at various times. Dugoni expertly weaves their tale though Vincent in the present, receiving Willian's journal which takes him back to 1979. He recalls meeting William, the work they did and even more so the talks about Vietnam. William's journal entries vividly describe his time in Vietnam. They are raw, devastating and heartbreaking.
Beau, Vincent, and William all have/had dreams. All were/are young and had their lives ahead of them but fate and for William, war changed things. This book is a coming-of-age tale for all three of them. It is poignant, gripping, raw, and powerful. I loved the use of the journal as a means of telling the story.
This book is not only thought provoking it evokes emotion. I felt for all of them but for William the most. His journal entries are like a punch to the gut. Plus, the author's note is a must read as he informs readers what inspired him to write this book.
If you have not read Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series - you should. If you have not read his Charles Jenkins series - you should. If you have not read his stand-alone books - you should. If this book is not on your radar - it needs to be! Seriously Dugoni knows how to deliver, and he does so effortlessly in this powerful book.
Gripping, Raw. and Powerful.
Highly Recommend.
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at
www.openbookposts.com -
This book was heavily promoted and has had many great reviews, so I was looking forward to it. I’m also a huge fan of coming of age stories. This seemed to fit me perfectly.
Unfortunately, the story is undermined by several things. The book is filled with clichés. It employs genuinely awful turns of phrase, and replaces potentially profound moments with tired, overused expressions.
The writing is dry and dull. While the character development was mostly good (with the exception of Beau), the situations were as clichéd as the writing.
Vincent was unbelievable as an 18 year old. And that was exacerbated by the way his story just happened to fit perfectly with William’s story. The perfectly-fitted story made the suspension of disbelief difficult.
The book was filled with weird religious language and assumptions, and the wrestling with God wrapped in a neat and predictable bow. It was a very odd portrayal of Christianity, and more American than Christian.
I was also bothered by the frequent self-righteousness of all of the characters, but especially young Vincent. His self-congratulatory "hard, dedicated worker" storyline felt like a person patting their own back.
Finally, the war stories relied heavily on tropes. This was true right down to the ending, which wrapped up in a way that I should have been able to see coming, given how predictable much of the rest of the story was.
I do not typically write reviews, and it is even more rare that I write a critical review. But this book was a genuine disappointment, and I'm shocked at the overwhelmingly positive reviews. I certainly do not think it is worthy of them. -
4.5 stars
Yes, the world did indeed play chess while we played _________________(fill in the blank)
This beautifully done story pays homage to three men trapped in the world of being an eighteen year old boy, thinking they were invincible, men about to embark on life but little did Vincent Bianco realize that his life would be surely effected by two Vietnam vets he worked with. The education he thought he would attain in college was really pushed aside by the life lessons he learned by working side by side with these vets.
Vincent is brought back to memories accumulated forty years ago, when his son is about to leave for college. Received in the mail at the time of Vincent's son, Beau, journey to college, Vincent thinks back to the men particularly William. In the diary, Vincent learns the horror of being eighteen in a place where death lurks behind every blade of grass. The loss of life is ever so poignantly presented by the author as William learns he should never make friend nor talk of home. It's a little over a year that this marine must be in country, a year of hell, or not even knowing why his own country was there.
One can't help seeing the parallels between Vietnam where 282,000 military deaths occurred and Afghanistan, where it seemed they played chess while we played Go Fish where 2,448 people serving their country lost their lives.
This story gave me goosebumps as we think of those men and women, so young with their path of life cut ever so short. As William says to Vincent at a point in the stoy, "Growing old is a privilege." These servicemen and women never got that chance to grow old.
I definitely recommend this moving and tender story of three generations of men. The lessons they learned could never come from a classroom, for life is an eternal teacher, perhaps the best teacher of all. My heart continually broke for all those who have lost their lives to fight useless wars.
Thank you to Robert Dugoni, Lake Union Press, and NetGalley for a copy of this story which published September 14, 2021. -
You may be familiar with Robert Dugoni’s thrillers, but one of my favorite books is The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, a historical fiction/coming-of-age story. I could not wait to pick up The World Played Chess because Dugoni is revisiting the genre.
Set in the late 1970s, The World Played Chess is Vincent’s story. He’s just graduated from high school and has plans to enjoy every bit of summer before college starts. He finds a job working construction where he meets two Vietnam vets, one who has PTSD. Needless to say, Vincent learns so much from these men, and his world is opened up through their stories, especially William’s life (and journal) as a Marine. Fast forward to the future, and Vincent’s son is now heading off to college. The story is told across these three timelines - William, Vincent, and Beau, Vincent’s son.
The World Played Chess is a must-read page-turner about coming-of-age alongside the horrors of war. I found it emotional and powerful. The author’s note is not to be missed, as it explains the author’s inspiration for this stunning book.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog:
www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram:
www.instagram.com/tarheelreader -
Calling Robert Dugoni’s
The World Played Chess, a “coming of age” novel seems to me to be an understatement. The novel, which Dugoni’s second stand-alone, features not just one, but three 18-year-old men in three different time periods. Vincent’s life is the common point at which the stories intersect. He’s the father of Beau. He’s also a former co-worker of William Goodman back when they toiled together on a summer construction crew when he was 18 and Goodman was 30. Dugoni masterfully merges the men’s stories: William’s journal of his nightmare that was the Vietnam War alternates with Vincent’s past experiences with William just after Vincent had graduated high school. Added to those viewpoints, now Vincent himself as the father of a son who is finishing high school, heading to college, becoming a man, as it were. What kind of man will he be? This book is a look back at the journeys of William and “Vincenzo,” as William called him, in that brief summer that opened young Vincent’s eyes to the realities of a world far beyond himself. Years later, as a father, he is reading the journal William has sent him, and his viewpoint, his mind, and his heart are expanded even further. Can it serve as a guide for his own son?
A word of warning to those who love and admire Robert Dugoni’s writings – this is not anything like Tracy Crosswhite or David Sloan or Sam Hell, or even Charlie Jenkins. In a word, this book is grim. As William Sherman famously said, “War is hell.” The author did tons of research to make sure that William’s journal would come across as sounding authentic. I believed it. It sounded an awful lot like hell to me. The teenage Vincent gets only the bits and pieces that William feels comfortable sharing; even the inexperienced college-bound kid knows that this hard-working, beer-swigging, cigarette-smoking veteran is a tortured soul. Every so often, the ghosts of the jungle rear their ugly heads.
The teenage Vincent is a regular guy, a smart kid. He meets William when a friend tells him about a construction job paying five dollars an hour under the table. How can a kid without a scholarship pass that up? Between that and hanging out every night with his buddies, Vincent has a busy summer. As he gets to know William, however, his world expands. Trying to do dangerous work with a hangover and doing stupid stuff with the guys proves to be a wakeup call, and the stories about Nam teach him just how sheltered his life has been. And this is years before he has access to William’s journal!
The journal arrives when Vincent is married and has two teenaged kids of his own. What can he learn from it? How can it help his son as he prepares to enter the “real world”?
I’ll admit that I had a tough time with portions of this book. WAR IS HELL. Dugoni did tons of research and had a veteran read and critique his manuscript. It comes across as credible. Frighteningly so. But much like
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, Dugoni doesn’t simple “tell” a story. He plants ideas that spread like ground cover in the reader’s mind and heart. What does one know about friendship, about love? What does one believe about God? What kind of When a person is young, there is so much to learn and discover – he’s just playing checkers. The rest of the world – those who have experienced much – are playing chess. Parts of this book, mainly William’s war journal, but events and feelings expressed by Vincent and Beau also, evoked incredible sadness. At times, I simply had to stop reading and close my eyes. Just. Be. Just be with those emotions. Other times, I couldn’t help hearing Joan Baez’ beautiful voice in my head,
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the light surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright, and be strong
And may you stay
Forever young
Forever young
Mr. Dugoni wraps it all up with a marvelous Epilogue, one that healed my heart from the battle wounds he inflicted upon it through some of those difficult chapters. I don’t know if veterans of foreign conflicts or their loved ones will be able to read this story. Perhaps it would be too difficult; perhaps it would be healing. What I do want to say is that, no matter how we feel about our nation’s involvement in those wars, we owe those soldiers who served honorably our thanks.
As always, my thanks to Robert Dugoni, to NetGalley, and to Lake Union Publishing for providing me with this ARC copy of The World Played Chess in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.
5 stars -
“Growing old is a privilege, not a right.” (3.5 stars)
Having finished THE WORLD PLAYED CHESS, the first thing that comes to mind is that anyone who has lived to middle age will cringe with recognition at the stupidity of adolescence. One of the subplots in the text deals with the narrator’s 18-year-old self, and he and his friends are dumb. And so was I. And so probably were you!
The plot of this novel is made up of 3 coming of age tales. They take place in 1968 (in county in Vietnam), 1979, and 2016. In 1979 Vincent Bianco is a senior in high school and that summer he works with William, a young man who served in Vietnam in 1968. The third story line takes place in 2016 during Vincent’s son’s senior year of high school. They are slightly connected, and although different in specifics, they are alike in dealing with the universal aspects of one’s gaining maturity. This is a novel about going from boyhood to manhood, and what it means to be a man. This is something that the loud idiots in contemporary society mock, which tells you that it is something that its true and important to understand.
There are moments where author Robert Dugoni borders on melodrama and is a little cheap in his devices (especially in chapter 24). Yet despite the moments where the writing is not stellar, I enjoyed this read. The text held my attention and I never dreaded picking it up. I also found myself equally interested in all three plot threads, which I think is an impressive feast for the author to pull off.
Quotes:
• “A purpose, I have learned, is rarely found, but revealed.”
• “Dreams are hard to catch, aren’t they?”
• “…taught me that you can’t expect to be treated as a man if you act like a child.”
• “I was going to live forever. Aren’t we all at eighteen?”
• “I am like the pencil I constantly sharpen with a knife; I am just a dull nub of the person I was.”
• “The hardest thing to accept is that death is real.”
• “I looked at my friends and thought of all the dumbass things we’d done, and I wondered how long we could continue to get away with them without something bad happening.”
• “Maybe speaking the truth was contagious.”
• “Never get in a fight if your heart isn’t in it. You’ll lose.”
• “It was part of growing up. It was part of realizing you don’t know a damn thing about the world, that at times, you weren’t even playing the same game.”
• “Everyone’s past contains things we are not proud of, skeletons in our closet that we do not share, not with strangers and not with those we love and who love us.”
• “You can make your own luck by making smart decisions.”
As mentioned, I enjoyed all three plot lines in this novel, but the journals from William’s time in Vietnam was a part that stuck with me. There is a section on the bottom of page 267 that made me stop and take pause. I won’t discuss it here, but the idea of evil within us, and how it affects every view we take in is an intriguing thought. There is a reason evil does stupid things. It’s because it is convinced of its invincibility.
All in all, I found THE WORLD PLAYED CHESS to be honest in its sentiments, and I appreciated its embrace of things currently out of fashion: manhood, faith, service to country, the importance of family, etc.
It was a worthwhile read, and I am glad I picked it up. -
I received a free e-copy of The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni from NetGalley for my honest review.
A beautifully brilliant and emotional read that will stick with me for a long time.
This is the first book I have read by Dugoni. I don't normally read books on the war but I had so many people recommending this book to me. I am so glad I took their advice and read it. It wasn't an easy read due to it's emotional content but it was brilliant and so absolutely real. These young boys/men being sent to war and so many that don't come back. A book that is so rich and powerful. I highly recommend this book to everyone. -
Audiobook/sync Kindle unlimited
Audio-narration by Robert
Dugoni and Todd Haberkorn
….10 hours and 3 minutes
Robert Dugoni’s personal storytelling style (where the characters feel like friends), works well in the audiobook format.
It’s easy to understand why many readers rave about Robert Dugoni.
He covers many life relatable topics and themes.
Yet…
I don’t think I’m equally as enchanted with this book as many other readers. I liked it in parts, and appreciate the goodness of the author.
This book is a tribute to Vietnam vets, and those of us who grew up in the Vietnam aura of the United States.
I appreciate the historical/culture aspects, and purpose in educating new generations about this war.
Dugoni’s writing is ‘average’.
Nothing wrong with average —[I don’t think most readers care as long as their emotions are involved]…
I don’t always care either —his books serve a purpose.
The easily relatable scenes were also easily ordinary—soon forgettable. (the construction details, football and baseball details were more than enough for me)…
“The World Played Chess”, has the same soap opera escapism quality that
“The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell” had.
I was more forgiving about Sam Hell … with the average-sappy writing but today, I’m a little bored with Dugoni’s sentimental simplistic storytelling -style. (maybe I'll like his thriller-genre though)
This is a cornucopia of sorts:
High school graduation and college hopes, male bonding friendships (some that last a lifetime -some that don’t),
a summer construction job, (too much asbestos/ construction details), Vietnam vets war stories, baseball & football stories, love-wish-stories, PTSD sufferings, friendships, loss, regrets, family, parenting themes, father-son relationship, memories, love, loss, death ….
For those of us who grew up with the Vietnam war-living in the states —
our own memories will surface:
the draft, horrors of brothers and friends killed, missing in action, college protests, political confusion and anger, drugs, sex, and rock ‘n’ roll, Vets returning home with missing limbs, The Monterey Jazz Festival, flower-power, bell bottom days, our naivety, dark days, shared dreams, and how
the Vietnam war was changing all us from the inside out.
3.5 rating…. rating up. -
I always seem to gravitate to this author. His book, “The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell” was stunning. Review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... His Tracy Crosswaite police procedurals compelling.
So…
When I heard about this one, I needed to check out his book from my local library.
Dugoni has a way of immersing his readers not only in his settings, but in his characters’ viewpoints and experiences.
This story expertly weaves together 3 coming-of-age stories set in three dramatically different time periods.
Alternating between William’s teenage journal entries, Vincent’s own last summer as a teen, and present-day Vincent watching his son become a man, Dugoni explores 3 people on the precipice of tremendous growth and change.
As readers…
We are exposed to life in 1967, the early days of life as a marine, the first glimpses of Vietnam, and the brutalities and violence witnessed by too many young soldiers.
It is…
Emotional. Poignant. Powerful. Compelling.
With…
Incredible historical detail.
And…
Through the author’s eyes we will experience Vietnam coming alive; the camaraderie of the men, the smells, the brutal training, and, the desire to come home alive.
Which…
Helps us to understand the characters – the younger versions and the current ones. Where PTSD becomes central to the story…
And as readers we come to ask…
What happens when we survive the war, but come home with these painful scars – both physical and emotional?
If you haven’t read Dugoni yet, do so. He is truly a masterful author, and one to appreciate. -
5 Stunning Stars
Outstanding story told in three perspectives and two storylines on the impact of the political wars levied by the U.S. on foreign grounds to protect U.S. interests. The stories were compellingly told (Dugoni is such a talent!) and particularly the thoughts of each man as his thinking was shaped by his experiences. I didn't think I would like this as much as "The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell" but it came mighty close. Due to the propulsion of the story despite its length, it was powerful. I read the book straight through in less than 9 hours (allowing for a snack and preparation to sleep, which didn't happen until the last page).
Vincent, the primary narrator, is working construction to save toward college expenses. It begins on the night of graduation from High School and ends (for the most part) with his move to college. His experiences and interactions with his co-worker Bill (who is Vincent's mentor and "older" brother figure) and observation of his boss (also a Vietnam vet) both give him valuable insights on being a man, maturity, integrity and hard work. In the second part, we see Vincent dealing with his sheltered and spoiled children as the oldest child, a son, is completing his senior year. Vincent realizes that he has failed in some aspects to prepare his son for life but when circumstances intervene, Vincent steps up and grooms his son for adulthood.
Great themes of the power of adult male role modeling, friendship and choosing correctly not only for the present moment but thinking about the long-term consequences are also interwoven.
I highly recommend this story to those who enjoy family drama and cause and effect.
Dugoni did a great deal of research and includes these sources in the back (please read it). I watched Hamburger Hill (the movie of a 2 week period in Vietnam which caused a huge number of needless casualties) and this story did have lots of the movies overtones, I considered removing a star but decided this story was different enough to remain a solid and creative story standing on its own merit. -
First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Robert Dugoni, and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
While I have long had an affinity for Robert Dugoni’s series work, he is extremely talented, enough to pen some stunning standalone novels as well. This is another of those, taking the reader through three time periods as the characters explore themselves, the world around them, and struggles of young men in various situations. Dugoni’s theme of struggle is further strengthened by his depiction of one soldier’s view of the Vietnam War, sure to impact many readers who take the time to connect with that particular narrative. A wonderful piece that shows how versatile Dugoni can be in his writing.
Vincent Bianco has high hopes for the summer of 1979. Having just graduated high school, Bianco is hoping to make some pocket money before heading off to college. When he’s given the chance to work with a construction crew, he soon learns just how hard the work can be. He connects with two of the men, William and Todd, just enough to realise that they have quite the history themselves. Both served in the Vietnam War, with stories of their own. Throughout the summer, Bianco finds himself trying to emerge from teen to young man, while also seeing how different his struggles are from those of his coworkers, whose time in Asia eleven years before left an indelible mark, as well as remnants of PTSD.
In a parallel narrative, modern-day Vincent Bianco watches his own son, Beau, come to terms with life after high school and the choices he will make to shape his own future. The elder Bianco tries to steer his son in the right direction, but realises, thinking back to 1979, how important self-discovery can be. Beau suffers his own issues and must make sense of them as best as possible, while striving to better himself, both scholastically and as a young man.
A third perspective emerges in journal entries from William’s personal documentation in 1968 in the jungles of Vietnam. The young man questions himself, the choices of his fellow Marines, and the war as a whole. Seeing horrors unlike anything he could have imagined, he wonders how much is actually making it back home, where people read newspapers and see television news reports of the fighting. Death is everywhere, something no eighteen-year-old could have fathomed a few years before. All while the world seems somewhat ignorant to the real story.
Robert Dugoni is a master at the written word and is able to pull the reader into the middle of each story with ease. His standalone novels always resonate a little more with me, as the themes emerge independently from the series he has has crafted over the years, getting to the core of the reader and forcing them to reflect on what they’ve read. While stories of espionage and police procedurals are great, it’s nice to take a deeper plunge at times as the reader must come to terms with their own feelings, rather than read on autopilot.
The three young men featured in the piece could not be more different from one another, yet rate also so very similar. Just out of high school, each has a plan that is stymied by life events outside of their control. William, Vincent, and Beau all must have epiphanies to see what life means and how they want to leave their mark, wondering at times if they matter at all. The attentive reader will see these three struggles as well as a commonality between them, sure to bind the story together by the closing pages.
I have never had an issue with narrative momentum when it comes to Dugoni’s writing and this was no exception. The story takes hold of the reader from the opening pages and carries them along throughout. There are moments of humour alongside deeply pensive times, forcing moments of contemplation, all while keeping the story clipping along. Each chapter contrasts a longer narrative, set either in 1979 or 2016, with a journal entry from 1968. This permits the reader to contrast and compare effectively as they get to know the three protagonists. While some will bemoan the overly serious nature of the novel, many readers who can take a step back and enjoy something a little ‘meatier’ will likely want to delve deeper and see another side of Robert Dugoni. I loved it, as I needed something to pull me out of my drone reading, forcing me to take notice and ponder my own choices, as well as those of my young son.
Kudos, Mr. Dugoni, for taking the time to write this. Your efforts do not go unnoticed and I am eager to see what else you have in store for your fans in the coming months.
Be sure to check for my review, first posted on Mystery and Suspense, as well as a number of other insightful comments by other reviewers.
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/th...
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
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A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... -
So good. Moving. After war effects and the effects on family. Beautifully written. Really love Dugoni’s writing style.
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Some books don’t fall into a neat category. They won’t fit into a single box that gives you an idea of what they are about or how they will likely play out. Dugoni has written such a book. It is both Vietnam war experience and coming of age. It is a story of friendship and loss. It feels entirely authentic.
While growing up, my best friend’s father would occasionally tell us a little about his Vietnam experiences. This book reminded me of those stories, though Mr. W. was not very detailed or graphic in what he shared with his two 15 year old charges. He did, however, generally treat us like men and expected us to act accordingly.
If you are looking for a surprise read - a book that you might think isn’t for you, or that you approach with trepidation - this book will not leave you disappointed. I found nothing lacking in it whatsoever. I came to know and appreciate the protagonists and the secondary characters were developed to the proper level for advancement of the tale.
I give this book five stars; it is worth every one of them. Do yourself a favor: put on your grown up undies and read this book. You will be rewarded.
My gratitude to Lake Union Publishing and Robert Dugoni via Netgalley. -
This is a wonderful coming of age story that follows 3 young men in different decades at the age of 18. In 1967, William enlisted in the Marines and is soon sent to Vietnam and involved in heavy combat. During his time he keeps a journal of his experiences. In 1979, young Vincent befriends William while working a summer in construction. William shares many of his stories for the first time. and then 2017, the story moves to Vincent's son.
If you enjoyed Dugoni's Extraordinary life of Sam Hell, you will enjoy this one equally as much. The author intertwines the three timelines together seamlessly. The reader moves between the three lives as we learn about the triumphs and struggles of each of the young men in their transition to manhood.
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator made the novel an enjoyable experience.
At the time of this review, the book was available on Kindle Unlimited. -
The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni I’ve read such great reviews. I couldn’t connect with it at all.
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The World Played Chess is the fourth stand-alone novel by best-selling award-winning American author, Robert Dugoni. In early 1967, eighteen-year-old William Goodman joins the Marines and goes to Vietnam. In mid-1979, eighteen-year-old Vincent Bianco graduates from high school and works as a builder’s labourer to save money for college.
In 2015, lawyer and father of two, Vincent Bianco watches his eighteen-year-old son Beau going through the same process of graduating high school and heading for college. When he receives, in the mail, the journals that his friend William wrote detailing his experience in Vietnam, he recalls the wisdom this man passed on while they worked together.
As well as chronicling the events of that final summer with his high school friends, including a few close calls, his own journals of the time recorded his encounters with William, a man clearly afflicted by what was only just then being recognised as PTSD from his service year. Vincent wonders if experiences contained within these journals, his and William’s, which reveal the stark differences in their journeys to manhood, will help him prepare his son for this challenging time in his life.
William describes rude awakening that is training, the overwhelming fear that guerrilla warfare entails, the shock of watching the men he carefully refers to as platoon mates die in front of him: calling them friends would only increase the pain. And, after months in the Vietnamese jungle, the difficulty adjusting to ‘normal’ life: too luxurious, too comfortable, too quiet, the food too good, the lights too bright, for any of it to seem real; and the attitude and expectations of society, a burden.
The format of alternating journal entries gives William’s immediate perspective on what he experiences in Vietnam as well as then offering them in recall, with any insight gained, as Vincent hears them told. Occasionally interspersed with these are Vincent’s narrative as a father, reflecting with surprise and pride on how Beau handles the trials life throws at him.
Dugoni’s characters have an authentic feel: they display very human flaws but develop, learn and mature from what they have to face. He gives them wise words and perceptive observations, and rewards time invested in these characters with a moving, thought-provoking and uplifting read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing. -
FAVORITE OF 2021
Robert Dugoni is rapidly moving up my favorite novelist list. This is a fantastic coming of age story that is igniting all of my emotions. This story is segmented into three time lines and three points of views. William is a great character and his journal is a good thread tying the three timelines together. We see Vincent as a father, a high school student recently graduated and as a friend. It is the blossoming friendship with William, a former Vietnam vet, who he meets as a summer laborer that is the most touching. THIS is an depth look at life lessons and how we let them define us. -
Robert Dugoni is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. I have yet to read a dud by him and The World Played Chess is up there with his best.
Told in three different timelines, one during the Vietnam war, one 10 years later in the 70s and one in the mid 2010s, it’s the story of three different young men turning 18 but to me it was more about the first two and their relationship.
Harrowing in parts, this will have you crying, laughing, rooting for the characters and totally engrossed in the story.
There are large passages that are a soldiers journal from his time in Vietnam and even if you have no interest in the war or reading about it I guarantee you will enjoy it.
The character development here, story telling and story structure are just damn perfect. One of those books that you don’t want to end, and easy 5 stars for me.
Done miss this one.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley. -
Excellent book! Makes you really stop and think about the poor souls who had to go off to war and the conditions they were forced to live in. I really like Robert Dugoni's style of writing so much that I have purchased more of his books to read. He is like Michael Connelly whereby his writing easily flows.
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WOW - A very powerful novel. The story of three young men coming of age under extremely different circumstances. Probably one of the best books I have ever read.
Even though I was an adult during the Vietnam war, it never touched my life, so I knew very little about its history. I was playing checkers!! Kristin Hannah’s book The Women” enlightened me and gave this book a solid background. They make good companion books.
The verdict is in - Vietnam was hell on earth. How those men in the bush survived is beyond me. Mr Dugoni made me feel like I was crawling in the muck along side them.
All I can say is “Thank you for your service.” I still don’t understand why those vets were so despised. They were only doing what their country trained them to do.
I’d best describe it as a story of love and friendships. It reads like a memoir, even though the author insists it isn’t. He does admit that some experiences did play a part in his real life, he just fictionalized them!! -
I recently enjoyed reading ‘The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell’ by Robert Dugoni and made a pledge to myself to read more of his books. This is another excellent historical fiction novel with great characters and made an entertaining read.
In 1979, Vincent Bianco has just graduated high school. His only desire: collect a little beer money and enjoy his final summer before college. So he lands a job as a labourer on a construction crew. Working alongside two Vietnam vets, one suffering from PTSD, Vincent gets the education of a lifetime. Now forty years later, with his own son leaving for college, the lessons of that summer—Vincent’s last taste of innocence and first taste of real life—dramatically unfold in a novel about breaking away, shaping a life, and seeking one’s own destiny.
This is a really good story and takes the reader on the full range of emotions.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. -
William Goodman, a veteran of Vietnam and Vincent Bianco, a teenager contemplating military service meet while working on a remodeling project in 1979. Vincent is curious about Williams’ war experiences but William will not talk about them. Both had dreams of becoming journalists.
Fast forward to current day when Vincent is a family man and lawyer who receives a package in the mail from an aging William that includes an amazing heartfelt note along with his Vietnam diary. Vincent commits to read one diary entry per day.
I loved the diary style of writing and the stunning, complex portrayal of people and inspirations scattered through the pages. Masterfully written. I paused at times to wonder if the sacrifices and lessons learned during Vietnam have been forgotten related to the tragedy of current day Afghanistan. A great story by a gifted writer. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. -
Sometimes I encounter a book that is so mind-blowingly good that I can't put it down, I race to find out what happens next and then I'm sad it had ended. All of that is true of this book. It is a coming of age book of three eighteen-year olds, decades apart, and a man who binds all of their stories together. At times poignant to the point of tears, this heartfelt novel takes the reader back in time and explores the bonds of friendship, loss and the willingness to make one's own luck through good and bad decisions.
William is a Marine sent to Vietnam in 1967. His story is told through a journal he kept during his tour and later sent to Vincent, in 2016, along with a cryptic note to read the journal in order. William and Vincent worked construction together the summer Vincent turned eighteen, 1979, and their story is told through flashbacks by Vincent in 2016. Vincent, now married, has a teenage daughter and an 18-year old son, Beau, who has himself just graduated from high school. The story unfolds as Vincent reads the journal, remissness about his summer with William and the trials Beau is going through as he takes that same path to adulthood at age eighteen. All make mistakes, and often feel as though "the world played chess while I played checkers." They also realize that growing old is a privilege, not a right.
I started and finished this book in less than 24 hours and I am still processing my thoughts and feelings as I write this. It captured me from the beginning and held me to the last page. When I wasn't reading the book, I was often thinking about the characters and casting back to when I was eighteen and the bumpy road I took to adulthood. As the book points out, there is no manual saying, step-by-step, what to do. This is an entertaining and thought-provoking book that is not to be missed. I highly recommend it. -
A very good stand alone novel by Dugoni in the tradition of The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. Although not as humorous as Sam Hell, this novel nevertheless evidences Dugoni's excellent writing ability. Dugoni himself obviously has very strong family ties, is a man of morals and faith, and very capably writes with emotion and clarity about the issue of when and how does a boy become a man.
