Sympathizer

paperback

Published Jan. 1, 2016 by Corsair.

ISBN:
978-1-4721-5136-0
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4 stars (20 reviews)

2 editions

Review of 'The Sympathizer' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

By far the best book I read in a long time.

The author named his son Ellison and the book begins with an Invisible Man riff with some TS Elliot. The where parts that made me think of Tin Drum because the self described freak of a first person narrator witnesses a major war and ends feeling homeless. It was little Lolita too in the narrators seering critique of American culture and lob of the English language. That the narrator seduces a young girl and commits murder.

I want to read more Vietnam books. I am checking out the Decent Interval and The Phoenix Program.

Review of 'The Sympathizer' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Unsurprisingly for a Pulitzer winner, this book is phenomenal.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It's equal parts thriller, satire, and meditation grappling with the complexity of discovering one's identity. Both in terms of the title character's split allegiances and the struggle of his fellow refugees, but also in terms of Vietnam and America reshaping (or failing to reshape) their conceptions of self once the Vietnam War ended.

I'll admit I was skeptical about the writing style at first. The book is written almost as if spoken, sort of weaving and tangenting naturally. Nguyen also eschews some basic English style (like giving proper names, or having quotation marks and spacing to denote someone speaking) which can be a pretentious warning flag. Once you're immersed in the story, however, it's hard to imagine it written any other way and the natural flow and thriller pacing makes this book extremely hard to put …

Review of 'The Sympathizer' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Excellent book that lives up to its quickly established reputation. Balances a sharp criticism of the United States, Viet Cong, and South Vietnamese with a LaCarre-esque spy story. The last few chapters are whew.

A very worthwhile text that leaves a lot to think about, both in its critical message and storytelling. Highly recommend.

Review of 'The Sympathizer' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is an amazing book. The hero is an illegitimate son of a Vietnamese woman and an European priest. As such he is an outcast in his own society. It is from this position as an outcast that he became a revolutionary and due to this position he was ordered by his party to join the South Vietnamese secret services. There he had an illustrious career, due to his US education arranged for by CIA. Being a trusted aide of an important general, he leaves with other evacuees and goes on reporting on the Vietnamese refugee community to the Vietnamese Communist Party. After a while he joins the guerillas attempting to infiltrate Vietnam, arrested, and sent to reeducation. In this he is accompanied by his friend, a former member of the Special Forces who lost his wife and child during the evacuation. In the camp he encounters their third friend …

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