The World Played Chess: A Novel

Unbelievably incredible. As a Marine, it hit my emotions on every level. I laughed, I cried (sobbed really), I felt the fog of war, I felt the guilt, and I felt the recovery path, the PTSD.... all of it. I loved the chapter POV changes, vocabulary wasn't difficult, I could tell who the voice was in each chapter, the storyline and plot didn't have holes, the character development was on point, and the differentt themes of religion, chance, relationship and war all ties throughout!! 400 pages is typically above our threshold for book club, but I whizzed through this book so quickly that I could have read it twice! There were a few times I didn't want to put the book down. LOVE LOVE LOVE this book 💖

This and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell were so good! I really like this author.. The Crosswhite series is very good too! This book had me in almost tears regarding certain parts of the book.

I first learned of this author when I read his other standalone wonderful book The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. He is a great storyteller. In The World Played Chess he introduces us to 3 storylines about what it is like to 18 in 1968, 1979 and 2016. Three young men have all just graduated high school and are looking forward to the future, but their paths are completely different.

1967 William is looking forward to college on an athletic scholarship but sees it slipping away after an injury. He gets drafted to Vietnam and enlists with the Marines because it had the shortest line. His story is gritty, raw and real as he is thrust into a world where an 18 year is expected to follow commands without any explanation as to why. It was a year of hell, never knowing if he would survive or why his own country was there to begin with.

1979 Vincent just graduated high school is looking forward to spending the last summer with his buddies before they head off in different directions. He lands a construction job hoping to earn some beer money and money for college (large family can't afford to send him off to a large university) working alongside William & another vet, one suffering from PTSD (but of course nothing was known about that then...). Vincent gets more of an education than he ever imagined he would that summer.

2016 Almost 40 years later, and now Vincent's son, Beau, is 18 and just graduated high school. As Vincent is preparing to send his son off to college, he receives a journal in the mail from William from his days in Vietnam. Vincent is brought back to that summer when he worked alongside William and learned lessons that would last him a lifetime.

All 3 young men are looking forward to their future but have no idea what awaits them or how their future will change. How actions have consequences. I loved William's story the most and believe it is his story that has shaped Vincent, although he probably didn't realize it at the time. All 3 young men think they are invincible at that age. Really, don't all kids? It is a coming-of-age story weaved in with the horrors of war. It is heartbreaking and heartwarming. Do not skip the author's notes at the end. As William once told Vincent, "Growing old is a privilege."

Great historical fiction about Vietnam War and long-lasting impact on the soldiers who fought. In 1979 Vincent Bianco is working on a construction crew alongside two Vietnam Vets. One of them, William Goodman, suffered from PTSD, but it was not recognized as such or treated when he came home from Vietnam in the 1960s. While they are working together, Willlam shares some of his life experiencers with Vincent. William had a great expression, "every minute of every day is a gift, and growing old is a privilege, not a right."

Years later, Vincent is reconnected to William when he receives the journal that William kept while he was in Vietnam. It chronicles some very sad stories of hardship and atrocity. Vincent now begins reading the journal, reliving the horrors faced by William. He is also dealing with his own teen son who is in his senior year of high school.

This is a must-read book about the Vietnam war that is told with great compassion for the Vietnamese people and also gives us some understanding of the horrible decisions that had to be made in wartime.

Robert Dugoni did a good job throughout The World Played Chess toeing the line between flashbacks, talking about the past, and the the real-time life of Vincent. I found the journal entries to really be more emotional and sad, compared to the stories William tells, and I believe that to be a valid difference as the journal entries were written real-time in the horror of Vietnam. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would and appreciate all of the resources used for Robert's research in the back of the book to further research and learn of the Vietnam War. I would rate this book a VERY strong 3 star book with a few paragraphs here and there that really bump it up to a solid read and almost a 4 star book.