Viet Thanh Nguyen
2016-02-04
It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong.THE SYMPATHIZER is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story, THE SYMPATHIZER explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today
This novel is a visceral dive into the complexities of identity and allegiance. The narrative grips you with its dual-edged perspective on the Vietnam War, and its prose is both sharp and evocative. It’s a literary journey that resonates with a Vietnamese-Australian heritage and it's also a refreshing take on historical fiction that doesn't shy away from the brutal truths of war.
