Winner of the Elsa Morante prize, Simona Vinci's first novel, A Game We Play, was a bestseller when published in Italy and has since been translated into eight languages. The controversy that accompanied its translation into English was telling, if predictable (the publisher's comparisons are McEwan's The Cement Garden and Golding's Lord of the Flies). This is the story of five children--three boys (Mirko, the oldest, is 14) and two girls--who play sex games with one another through a long hot summer. It's a "before and after" story that explores how an "innocent" and fumbling sexuality is provoked, and displaced, by something more unsettling, more violent, in the children's ambiguous desires. Vinci is deft in her shifts of perspective between the 10-year-old girls--Martina and Greta--and the boys who are playing with them. Mirko, in particular, is attracted by the fact that Martina does not play, she does not "provoke and then runaway ... Martina was easy to understand. She was a child." A powerful vision of an adolescent's desire for a child, as well as children's desire for one another, A Game We Play is also about the interruption of that desire, the role of an increasingly violent, and paedophilic, pornography--introduced by Mirko--in shaping the games children play: "There were no adults in the frame, but you could feel their presence". This is part of the novel's wager, the enigma on which it touches through the figure of Mirko, in transition between the state of childhood and manhood--a boy who can turn other children into "soldiers of the flesh". Again, the conclusion is predictable, as is Vinci's detached, yet lyrical, style of telling a story which may well seem familiar but has not failed to provoke that sense of shock. --Vicky Lebeau

Highly disturbing but compelling, 26 Feb 2007
I dont think anything can prepare you for the shock that this novel will give you, more so I was no where near prepared for the ending. I knew 'a game we play' was going to be shocking but it became so disturbing that I found it extremely hard to read in places which i have never found in a book before and I have read many a distubing book prior to this. However the story is beautifuly written and is innocently told through the eyes of a child. Im not really sure whether I can say I enjoyed it, but it definately opened my eyes to what could really happen. It made me what to literaly hug the children and drag them away from the world they are being subjected to. It left me thinking about what these children are (if they were real) going to go through as they grow up realising what happened as they learn about the world and sex. This book defiantely left me with odd, mixed feelings as to whether I would reccomend it or not, and Im still not sure, the controversy which it has caused in myself is amazing. Either way I couldnt put the book down.

Beautifully Shocking, 15 Aug 2003
I have ended up buying three copies of this excellent book.

The subject matter is tough, but the book is so wonderfully written through the eyes of the children and extremely readable. The sense of innocence and joy compared to the hollowness of the after, alone makes this a great read. However, be warned while written in a light readable way this does nothing to lessen the shock of parts of the book and if anything compounds it.

A heavy and strong book written in a very readable manner. Magic.

Over all I found this book strangly compelling., 10 Nov 2001
When I first picked up this book, I had expected to be shocked, and that I was! The characters were both reallistic and compelling, the imagery was fantastically created and was visually stimulating.
This book is not an easy read, it makes you ask questions about morallity and modern society.
As an A level English student I found it's structure to be well formed and the plot to be well developed and the ending left a yearning to go back several chapters previously and change the events.
Simona Vinci deserves the credit given for this, the writing was not at a moment bland or dull.

A disturbing and controversial book., 27 Jan 2000
Described on the cover as "the controversial Italian best seller" and after reading this book you will understand why it caused controversy in Italy. I wouldn't be surprised to see some try to get this book banned as it deals with controversial and disturbing subjects.

The mix of children and sex or pornography will always cause upset. If Lolita is considered to be a disturbing book then be prepared to be shocked by "A Game We Play" as it makes Lolita look tame.

A game we play is about children and is told from their point of view. There isn't any real adult involvement, just a passing mention here and there. A book that will cause a lot of heated debate if it is discussed as part of a Reading Group.

Whilst this book deals with the subject of children, pornography and sex it does not attempt in any way to trivialise it or suggest that it is OK. In fact it is very effective at showing the harm that can be caused. The book is certainly not erotic and is not portraying children as small or young adults who were consenting and therefore making it acceptable.

Don't wait for this book to be filmed, it won't be and if it was nowhere would be able to show it!

Definately, a very disturbing, unforgettable, book, 28 Sep 1999
This book is one of those book you can hardly leave from your hands once you start reading. The realistic descriptive narrative used by Vinci is extraordinary and very intense. The book recalls a very similar story as that depicted by William Golding' in 'Lord of the Flies', only this time, the environment is a sexual environment.

The most amazing aspect of 'A Game We Play' is how Vinci succeeds in involving the reader in the children`s games, up to a point, that by the end of it, you feel so utterly involved, (you feel almost a witness of what happened) that the whole experience becomes totally disturbing.

A must-read book !!!

Winner of the Elsa Morante prize, Simona Vinci's first novel, A Game We Play, was a bestseller when published in Italy and has since been translated into eight languages. The controversy that accompanied its translation into English was telling, if predictable (the publisher's comparisons are McEwan's The Cement Garden and Golding's Lord of the Flies). This is the story of five children--three boys (Mirko, the oldest, is 14) and two girls--who play sex games with one another through a long hot summer. It's a "before and after" story that explores how an "innocent" and fumbling sexuality is provoked, and displaced, by something more unsettling, more violent, in the children's ambiguous desires. Vinci is deft in her shifts of perspective between the 10-year-old girls--Martina and Greta--and the boys who are playing with them. Mirko, in particular, is attracted by the fact that Martina does not play, she does not "provoke and then runaway ... Martina was easy to understand. She was a child." A powerful vision of an adolescent's desire for a child, as well as children's desire for one another, A Game We Play is also about the interruption of that desire, the role of an increasingly violent, and paedophilic, pornography--introduced by Mirko--in shaping the games children play: "There were no adults in the frame, but you could feel their presence". This is part of the novel's wager, the enigma on which it touches through the figure of Mirko, in transition between the state of childhood and manhood--a boy who can turn other children into "soldiers of the flesh". Again, the conclusion is predictable, as is Vinci's detached, yet lyrical, style of telling a story which may well seem familiar but has not failed to provoke that sense of shock. --Vicky Lebeau

Highly disturbing but compelling, 26 Feb 2007
I dont think anything can prepare you for the shock that this novel will give you, more so I was no where near prepared for the ending. I knew 'a game we play' was going to be shocking but it became so disturbing that I found it extremely hard to read in places which i have never found in a book before and I have read many a distubing book prior to this. However the story is beautifuly written and is innocently told through the eyes of a child. Im not really sure whether I can say I enjoyed it, but it definately opened my eyes to what could really happen. It made me what to literaly hug the children and drag them away from the world they are being subjected to. It left me thinking about what these children are (if they were real) going to go through as they grow up realising what happened as they learn about the world and sex. This book defiantely left me with odd, mixed feelings as to whether I would reccomend it or not, and Im still not sure, the controversy which it has caused in myself is amazing. Either way I couldnt put the book down.

Beautifully Shocking, 15 Aug 2003
I have ended up buying three copies of this excellent book.

The subject matter is tough, but the book is so wonderfully written through the eyes of the children and extremely readable. The sense of innocence and joy compared to the hollowness of the after, alone makes this a great read. However, be warned while written in a light readable way this does nothing to lessen the shock of parts of the book and if anything compounds it.

A heavy and strong book written in a very readable manner. Magic.

Over all I found this book strangly compelling., 10 Nov 2001
When I first picked up this book, I had expected to be shocked, and that I was! The characters were both reallistic and compelling, the imagery was fantastically created and was visually stimulating.
This book is not an easy read, it makes you ask questions about morallity and modern society.
As an A level English student I found it's structure to be well formed and the plot to be well developed and the ending left a yearning to go back several chapters previously and change the events.
Simona Vinci deserves the credit given for this, the writing was not at a moment bland or dull.

A disturbing and controversial book., 27 Jan 2000
Described on the cover as "the controversial Italian best seller" and after reading this book you will understand why it caused controversy in Italy. I wouldn't be surprised to see some try to get this book banned as it deals with controversial and disturbing subjects.

The mix of children and sex or pornography will always cause upset. If Lolita is considered to be a disturbing book then be prepared to be shocked by "A Game We Play" as it makes Lolita look tame.

A game we play is about children and is told from their point of view. There isn't any real adult involvement, just a passing mention here and there. A book that will cause a lot of heated debate if it is discussed as part of a Reading Group.

Whilst this book deals with the subject of children, pornography and sex it does not attempt in any way to trivialise it or suggest that it is OK. In fact it is very effective at showing the harm that can be caused. The book is certainly not erotic and is not portraying children as small or young adults who were consenting and therefore making it acceptable.

Don't wait for this book to be filmed, it won't be and if it was nowhere would be able to show it!

Definately, a very disturbing, unforgettable, book, 28 Sep 1999
This book is one of those book you can hardly leave from your hands once you start reading. The realistic descriptive narrative used by Vinci is extraordinary and very intense. The book recalls a very similar story as that depicted by William Golding' in 'Lord of the Flies', only this time, the environment is a sexual environment.

The most amazing aspect of 'A Game We Play' is how Vinci succeeds in involving the reader in the children`s games, up to a point, that by the end of it, you feel so utterly involved, (you feel almost a witness of what happened) that the whole experience becomes totally disturbing.

A must-read book !!!

Highly disturbing but compelling, 26 Feb 2007
I dont think anything can prepare you for the shock that this novel will give you, more so I was no where near prepared for the ending. I knew 'a game we play' was going to be shocking but it became so disturbing that I found it extremely hard to read in places which i have never found in a book before and I have read many a distubing book prior to this. However the story is beautifuly written and is innocently told through the eyes of a child. Im not really sure whether I can say I enjoyed it, but it definately opened my eyes to what could really happen. It made me what to literaly hug the children and drag them away from the world they are being subjected to. It left me thinking about what these children are (if they were real) going to go through as they grow up realising what happened as they learn about the world and sex. This book defiantely left me with odd, mixed feelings as to whether I would reccomend it or not, and Im still not sure, the controversy which it has caused in myself is amazing. Either way I couldnt put the book down.

Beautifully Shocking, 15 Aug 2003
I have ended up buying three copies of this excellent book.

The subject matter is tough, but the book is so wonderfully written through the eyes of the children and extremely readable. The sense of innocence and joy compared to the hollowness of the after, alone makes this a great read. However, be warned while written in a light readable way this does nothing to lessen the shock of parts of the book and if anything compounds it.

A heavy and strong book written in a very readable manner. Magic.

Over all I found this book strangly compelling., 10 Nov 2001
When I first picked up this book, I had expected to be shocked, and that I was! The characters were both reallistic and compelling, the imagery was fantastically created and was visually stimulating.
This book is not an easy read, it makes you ask questions about morallity and modern society.
As an A level English student I found it's structure to be well formed and the plot to be well developed and the ending left a yearning to go back several chapters previously and change the events.
Simona Vinci deserves the credit given for this, the writing was not at a moment bland or dull.

A disturbing and controversial book., 27 Jan 2000
Described on the cover as "the controversial Italian best seller" and after reading this book you will understand why it caused controversy in Italy. I wouldn't be surprised to see some try to get this book banned as it deals with controversial and disturbing subjects.

The mix of children and sex or pornography will always cause upset. If Lolita is considered to be a disturbing book then be prepared to be shocked by "A Game We Play" as it makes Lolita look tame.

A game we play is about children and is told from their point of view. There isn't any real adult involvement, just a passing mention here and there. A book that will cause a lot of heated debate if it is discussed as part of a Reading Group.

Whilst this book deals with the subject of children, pornography and sex it does not attempt in any way to trivialise it or suggest that it is OK. In fact it is very effective at showing the harm that can be caused. The book is certainly not erotic and is not portraying children as small or young adults who were consenting and therefore making it acceptable.

Don't wait for this book to be filmed, it won't be and if it was nowhere would be able to show it!

Definately, a very disturbing, unforgettable, book, 28 Sep 1999
This book is one of those book you can hardly leave from your hands once you start reading. The realistic descriptive narrative used by Vinci is extraordinary and very intense. The book recalls a very similar story as that depicted by William Golding' in 'Lord of the Flies', only this time, the environment is a sexual environment.

The most amazing aspect of 'A Game We Play' is how Vinci succeeds in involving the reader in the children`s games, up to a point, that by the end of it, you feel so utterly involved, (you feel almost a witness of what happened) that the whole experience becomes totally disturbing.

A must-read book !!!